Not Another Fish Story

I have always been amazed by toddlers going through the ‘terrible twos’ or the ‘trying threes.’ How can a child look up at its parents who are older and more than twice its size and say, “NO!”?

[1] The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: [2] "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
[3] But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Jonah 1:1-3 (NIV)

God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh, located about 500 miles northeast of Jerusalem. A rising world power, Nineveh would become the capital of the vast Assyrian empire. However, the rebellion in the heart of a toddler is not easily out grown. Jonah looked up at God and said, “NO!” Jonah got on a ship and headed in the opposite direction; Jonah’s intention was to get as far away from what God wanted him to do as he could.

Jonah hated the Assyrians and grew up to fear them because of their violence and power over other nations. God instructed Jonah to “preach against” Nineveh. Perhaps if all God wanted Jonah to do was preach judgment and condemnation to the Assyrian people he might have obeyed.

However, Jonah knew that his was not just a message of doom, but also one of mercy and hope; if the people of Nineveh would repent of their sins then God would forgive and judgment would be withheld. Jonah’s hatred was so strong that he did not want them to receive God’s mercy; he wanted them to die in their sin. And as Jonah feared, once God convinced him to preach in Nineveh, the people responded with repentance and God was merciful and forgave them.

Jonah’s reluctance to share God’s mercy with the others grew out of the Jews unwillingness to fulfill God’s purpose to share God’s blessing with all people (see Genesis 12:3). Like Jonah, the Jews did not want the Gentiles (non-Jews) to receive God’s favor; instead they wanted to keep God’s blessing to themselves.

How often are we just like Jonah? Our heavenly Father wants us to tell others about His love for them. Aren’t we just like the rebellious toddler not wanting to share his/her toys? Let’s stop running from what God has asked us to do. Isn’t it time we tell those we may not like about our Father God who loves them?