Jonah 1-4
I’m guessing we all have at least a passing familiarity with the story of Jonah and the whale (or fish). But what about Jonah and the worm? Though the worm may not seem as spectacular as the whale, it is every bit as much a part of the story, and every bit as much God’s instrument.
So what is going on in this book? The LORD calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian empire, an enemy of Israel. But Jonah rebels against this call, not out of a fear of failure, but out of a fear of success. That is, Jonah knows that the LORD is a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (Jonah 4:2), and that rubs Jonah the wrong way. He’d rather see the Ninevites destroyed as punishment for their brutality. So when Nineveh repents and the LORD relents of the disaster He would have brought upon them, Jonah sulks. The LORD then uses a plant — and a worm — to illustrate to Jonah how utterly out of step Jonah is with the LORD. His priorities are all out of whack. Jonah has more concern for a plant destroyed by a worm than he does for 120,000 people.
Let’s not maintain Jonah’s bad attitude. Jesus tells us that we are to love our enemies, which goes entirely against our nature. Loving our enemies does not mean that we support the evil that they do, but it does mean that we should hope and pray for their repentance, that they, too, might experience the grace and mercy of God.
It’s very timely to have Jonah in our reading schedule at this time. Jonah is next Thursday’s Bible lesson at Creative Arts Camp (CAC) and I’m the person sharing that Bible lesson with the campers. Timely! I appreciate John’s take on the worm. It’s a good reflection on Jonah’s selfish concern for himself over any concern that he has for Nineveh. Our theme for this year’s CAC is “gifts”. Jonah was a prophet and had a gift of speaking for the Lord to the Israelites – or to whomever God would send him. Well, God sent him to Nineveh and he went the other direction! Not a good use of his prophetic gift!! But then Jonah repents and goes to Nineveh and preaches a message of repentance, and the people of Nineveh believed God. (Jonah 3:5a) So I will be sharing with our campers about gifts that God has given them (USA, family, school, Avanza) – and whether they are using those gifts well. But I will also take the opportunity to connect Jonah’s three days in the “whale” to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s always good to keep those messages at the top of our sharing time. CAC is a lot of things, but mostly it’s about Jesus!