The Story
I have written several articles about Jonah preaching to the city of Nineveh. They include Jonah’s interaction with the Ninevites and how God deals with them and Jonah. My first article gives some background of the story and is titled, Nineveh Revival, so I won’t repeat the story here.
Jonah preached to Nineveh, so he did what God asked, right? But I must ask the obvious question:
The Question
Did Jonah really obey God? At first, he ran, not wanting to see mercy bestowed upon the Ninevites. Jonah understood God’s love for mankind and His desire for righteous lives, knowing that God would not destroy the city if they repented.
Therefore we would have to say, at first, Jonah did not obey.
Then there was the great fish. The violent storm, Jonah in the sea, and then a few days in the great fish were a turning point.
God directed Jonah a second time to preach to Nineveh and Jonah obeyed -sort of.
I say sort of, because Jonah still had an attitude.
The Attitude
Jonah’s attitude toward the Ninevites was developed before God even gave the first command to preach to the city. Jonah’s attitude could be attributed to perhaps a couple of things:
- Nationalism
- Some don’t deserve God’s mercy
Nationalism is the idea that one nation is better than another.1 I am applying it here in the sense that Israel was God’s chosen nation. Perhaps Jonah concluded that his nation was so much better than any other nation, that God should just destroy Nineveh.
Another possible source of Jonah’s attitude was that he viewed the Ninevites as enemies of Israel. Therefore, the city did not deserve the mercy of God or His grace.
Whatever the reason for Jonah’s mental posture, after God’s first command to preach, Jonah’s attitude didn’t change. Post-fish, Jonah did what God asked, but kept the bad attitude. Maybe we could say that Jonah half obeyed?
Jonah’s attitude was so bad, that bible teacher Chuck Smith quips,
“One of the only preachers in history who was hoping that he would not have a successful ministry.”
The Reason
Jonah gives his reason in chapter 4:2,
“He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.””
The word ‘forestall’ used here by Jonah is interesting. I don’t believe Jonah was simply thinking that God would change His mind and not extend grace to Nineveh. It seems that Jonah was only wanting to delay the inevitable. Jonah anticipated what God was going to do and put it off as long as he could. (See the appendix for more on ‘forestall’.)
The Conclusion
Despite all his resistance and bad attitude, God still used Jonah. Jonah’s initial disobedience and opposition did not stop God from accomplishing His will.
We also can see God’s great love for people, and His desire for their good. We can see it in the life of Jonah, and, in the lives of the Ninevites.
One last thing is that God is willing to use flawed people; and by-the-way, we’re all flawed.
So, we should not wait until we can obey God perfectly before we do God’s will.
Appendix
To see a real contrast in how people respond to God, see my article, Daniel Honors God.
The Anticipating
The same usage of the Hebrew word for forestall is used in Psalm 119 in sense of anticipating. In verse 119:147 the NASB2 translates the word ‘I rise’, and in 119:148, the translation is ‘anticipate’.
147 “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Thy words.”
148 “My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on Thy word.”
The King James Version (KJV) translates the word ‘prevent(ed)’ in both Psalm 119 verses, making it sound like the thing is being kept from happening.
147 “I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.”
148 “Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.”3
So if you normally read the KJV, you might have wondered how the writer prevented the dawn or the night watches. The word is better understood to mean anticipated.
1 Webster’s dictionary defines it as, “Exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationalism 7/28/24
2 NASB: New American Standard Bible
3 Emphasis added.