Next time you are in Baghdad, rent a car and take a drive up to the North to Ninevah, or Mosul today. It will take about four hours or so, barring any distractions or hazards. It probably took Jonah several weeks to reach the area from his home base on the Mediterranean Sea. How did Jonah decide that God really was speaking to him about this trip, that’s what I wonder about.
And why would God send him to such a, humanly speaking, God forsaken place and people? Now this is an important question, not because it gives us a chance to explore the Ninevite culture, which it does, but because it gives us insight into how far God will go to reach into the dark corners and minds of humanity and bring them into the light.
Jonah could never be the same after this trip, don’t you think? His reputation must have been destroyed. Think about it. There must have been so much that Jonah could have done for his people right along the coast there near his home, yet God has him pack his bags and move out to a strange place with horrible people. How could God ask this of Jonah? What did Jonah do to deserve such a bad assignment?
We are not really told if this is a punishment or a great honor for that matter, just this introduction;
“Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”
Couldn’t God have found some wicked people in Jonah’s neighborhood for him to prophecy to? Why is God so dead set on getting the Gospel to Ninevah? I’m afraid we don’t have a good answer to that in the book of Jonah. All we have is God’s voice, and that voice said go. Where does that leave us when we wonder if God is speaking to us?
Here’s a clue. God wants people to have better lives. He wants us to have a healthy planet as well, but He seems to focus in on people, no matter their history, culture, deeds or misdeeds. If they breathe and act as humans, God cares about them. That much is easily inferred from Jonah’s story. It could be argued that the more wicked they are, the more God wants to send resources to them to help them repent and recover.
Poor Jonah, I think, reminds me of John Adams after the Boston Massacre. As a patriot, the British were fast becoming his enemy. After the blood of fellow Americans had been spilled in the snow, how could this lawyer take their side and defend them? He put his reputation and worse, his family in jeopardy by this foolish endeavor. He seems to have heard a voice in his head that all humans, no matter where they come from should have competent representation and equal treatment under the law. It was the right voice to listen to.
Jonah gets a similar voice and does his best to ignore it, but God does not relent. God has a people in another place that he calls his own, even though they are very different from us, and He cares about them. That should be enough to get one to respond to God’s call.
Sometimes it is a far trip through unsafe lands and sometimes it really is in your neck of the woods like the story we see in Nehemiah as he rebuilds the temple walls in Jerusalem. In either case the cast of characters is similar, God the Caller has a people that are in trouble and He calls for a First Responder to serve the troubled. You might lose your reputation in the process, even your life, but through it all God has amazing foresight into the future and has plans to use you for His glory.
Is there some calling and voicing taking place in your life today? Are you hearing something from God but you haven’t quite agreed to His will? Maybe this is the time to lean into that voice and cup your ears and take the first steps toward Ninevah. Many will thank you one day.
My wife and I live on the side of a community park and lake in our town. Every morning we walk our walk at sunrise about 3 miles. We know that God asked us to take this journey with Him and the people we meet are in His love and care. We don’t have to travel far or brave dangerous neighborhoods to be faithful, we just have to wake up, dress up and go with God.
