Why I chose to memorize the book of Jonah

Some time last year, 2015, I decided I wanted to my first complete book of the bible. I decided I wanted something that was more of a narrative, it needed to be fairly short, and  it needed to have a deep significance to me. 

The verse that really spoke to me, and convinced me to memorize Jonah, was Jonah 4:2

And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 

This verse was a reminder of something I had previously memorized: Exodus 34:6-7:

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

I memorized these verses some time ago and love how they speak to the nature of God which is truly beautiful. I believe that Jonah was familiar with these verses as well because he knew God. I admire how much Jonah knew God to the point that he knew what God would do.

I have read the assumption that Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he was afraid of the people. On the surface, it makes sense. I would be scared to be the bearer of bad news - especially to infamously evil people. The saying “don’t shoot the messenger” comes to mind. It was not uncommon for people to take out their frustrations regarding bad news on the messenger and what Jonah had definitely qualified as bad news ("Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown). 

However, Jonah makes it clear why it is that he fled to Tarshish. It was because he knew God and he knew what he would do. He hated the people of Nineveh. According to my Life Application Study Bible, “God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Many of Jonah’s countrymen had experienced the atrocities of these fierce people.” If Jonah would have taken the message from the Lord at face value, it seems to me, that he could have been excited. After all, his message was “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Why didn’t he take that message and say, “Yes, Nineveh will be overthrown! Great news!”?

Why? Because he knew the Lord. He knew the mercy of the Lord. God is merciful to the extent that to Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, a message of doom and impending judgment was simply a message of mercy in disguise. All they had to do was repent. And because he hated them that made him unhappy. 

All in all. I admire Jonah. Why? Because he knew the Lord. That is beautiful.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 comes to mind:

Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these I delight, saith the Lord. 

Jonah knew the Lord. There is glory in that. Even when we mess up. We don’t lose the glory of knowing him. 

Even as Jonah prayed unto the Lord from the fish’s belly, his faith in the mercy of the Lord did not fade. 

Jonah 2: 4

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. (emphasis mine)

Jonah did not listen to God. He was disobedient and there is nothing to indicate that at this point he had changed his mind. Yet, he had a deep confidence even in the belly of the fish. I imagine him saying to the Lord “I know you will get me out of this.” Even though, outwardly, there was not one reason to have this confidence. His physical circumstances did not cry out “Be confident!” But apparently, his trust in the Lord cried out “Be confident.” Loud and clear.

All the commentaries I read seem to cast Jonah in a negative light - he disobeyed after all. But, haven't we all disobeyed? (Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God) Yet, I still admire him because he knew and knows the Lord and he believed God. When God described himself as merciful and gracious, Jonah believed him. He believed and expected his life to align to the word of God.