(2) Chapter 2 : Verse 1 – Jonah who did not repent previously, finally prayed to God from the belly of the fish that swallowed him. In the last issue, we saw how Jonah was ready to even drown in the sea and die, instead of repenting (See Scripture Study – Blossom 06:July 10, para 08). But, God did not let him die, and He sent Jonah into the belly of a fish and permitted further hardship on him to make him repent. Even dying is a matter of few seconds. But, to be alive inside the belly of a fish, metres below the sea level must have been a horrendous experience. Pitch darkness. Even breathing must have been hard. The intensity of that hardship broke Jonah and made him seek God. Even when we err, God does not immediately designate us for destruction (See Grace – Blossom 31:August 10, para 07). He will create many opportunities to enable us to repent. He will allow hardships on us (Hebrews 12:5). Hence, we have to be awake always and understand what God is trying to impress upon us. Since, God takes care about even a hair of our head; we should never forget that no event will occur in our lives without a reason (Luke 12:7).
(3) Verses 2,3 – When Jonah put forward this prayer to God, he was still inside the belly of that fish. He must not have known for sure whether he would survive or not. Yet, he was sure that God would have responded to his prayer and forgiven his disobedience and hence he says that God answered his prayer at his time of distress. He was such confident regarding God’s grace towards him. Even when we pray to God to seek forgiveness or over any other matter in accordance with God’s will, we must have the same confidence in God. Jonah called the belly of the fish, inside which he was as the ‘belly of hell’ (KJV. NIV translation of ‘depths of the grave’ misses the connection to the belly of the fish. The Hebrew word ‘beten’ (Strong’s No: 0990) clearly means ‘belly’). Here, the word ‘hell’ is the translation of the Hebrew word ‘Sheol’ (Strong’s No: 07585). Its appropriate translation is ‘grave’. Hence for Jonah, the inside of the belly of that fish, felt like grave, like walking in the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ (Psalms 23:4). Though he cried to God from such a grave situation, God listened to him, says Jonah. Again, it is important to note that Jonah was still inside the belly of the fish, which he compared to grave. But, only because he believed whole heartedly that since he had repented, God would have forgiven his disobedience, he says boldly that God listened to his cry. And from the next few verses we can understand that Jonah also believed that his present horrid condition would end soon as God had forgiven him. Let’s study further.
(4) Verse 4 – Jonah felt that he had been banished from the sight of God. Indeed, Jonah knew very clearly that only because he was disobedient to God that such severe suffering was unfolding on him. Still, he says with enthusiasm that he will look towards the ‘holy temple’ and pray.
(5) Verses 5,6 – In these verses, Jonah remembers how God saved his life from the great danger of drowning he faced on being thrown into the sea. The engulfing waters threatened to take away Jonah’s life. Jonah sank to such a great depth that sea weed, which is found in the bottom of the sea wrapped around his head. The mountains mentioned here are the ones found inside the sea. There are many high mountains submerged inside the sea. Generally, those mountains rise from great depths. Jonah sank down to such great depths that he reached to the roots of such mountains. If a little more time had passed, the earth beneath him would have barred him in and Jonah would have died. What a great lesson to us is the experience of Jonah? It is a warning to us. Jonah disobeyed God and left his home town of Gath-Heper and reached Joppa, from where he boarded a ship to Tarshish. But what happened in the end? He only reached the belly of grave. He was about to be barred in by the earth. Indeed, anyone who disobeys God cannot hide anywhere. May be for sometime their life may go smoothly but it is certain that their destination is destruction. Truly, if we forget our baptismal covenant and fail to do Gospel-Church works, seduced by worldly comforts, then God will permit similar discomforts on us as well. However, God was willing to give Jonah one more chance to repent and hence he prevented Jonah from dying and made him to be taken in by a fish.
(6) Verse 7 – Though God had saved Jonah’s life, Jonah did not repent immediately. That is the reason that Jonah had to stay inside the belly of that fish for three days and three nights (as per Jewish calculations). If Jonah had repented earlier, God would have got him safe ashore earlier. But Jonah repented only when his life started to ‘ebb away’. From this we can understand the great patience God has towards mankind. He kept Jonah safe inside the belly of a fish till he repented. As time went by, the hardened heart of Jonah began to melt. Moreover, being immobile and lonely, Jonah would have had a lot of time to reflect on his behaviour and slowly he must have realised his mistake. Finally, due to hunger and exhaustion, Jonah’s life started to ebb away. And then Jonah prayed to God and his prayers reached God.
(7) Verses 8,9,10 – KJV translation preferred because it is more accurate. From these verses, we get to know that Jonah sought forgiveness from God for his disobedience. ‘Mercy’ refers to divine forgiveness. Those who hold onto ‘lying vanities’ forsake their divine forgiveness (‘mercy’), says Jonah. That is, God has a forgiving mind. But some refuse to accept their mistakes and hold onto the lying vanities of their own judgements and thereby forsake God’s forgiveness is what Jonah says. This is something about which even we have to be alert about. God is willing to forgive anyone who repents from any sin. But if we hold onto worldly or personal concepts about right and wrong, which are nothing but false vanities, we will also be forsaking divine mercy. Herein, Jonah was erring due to his patriotism and personal convictions. But now he had realised his mistake. So he says, ‘But I’ will not forsake divine mercy and will sacrifice to God and keep the vows of repentance with thanksgiving. This is again a huge lesson for us. Jonah had a very hardened heart. Even when he was in the belly of a fish that was comparable to grave, it took three days for him to repent. Still, he did not hesitate to seek forgiveness from God. He did not worry whether God will forgive him or not. We also should not hesitate from seeking forgiveness from God, no matter how great our sin is, fearing whether God will forgive us or not. If our repentance is genuine, we should approach the throne of grace boldly (See Grace – Blossom 32:July 10, paras 06,07). On the other hand, Jonah could have repented earlier. Then severe suffering would not have come upon him. But Jonah repents only after undergoing life threatening suffering. We should not be like that and we should make use of the opportunities provided by God and repent fast. That way, severe suffering can be avoided. Jonah ends his prayer by proclaiming that ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’. For the situation Jonah was in at that time, the immediate salvation he needed was reaching land safely. God grants that salvation to Jonah at once. That fish delivered Jonah safely onto dry land as per God’s command. After that Jonah must have given the sacrifices and kept the vows he had promised before.
(8) Chapter 3 : Verses 1,2,3 – God gave Jonah a second opportunity to obey him. He asks Jonah to go to Nineveh again and proclaim His message against the city. This time, Jonah obeyed God. Immediately, he got up and reached Nineveh. Nineveh was ‘exceedingly great’ (KJV), so much so that it took three days journey to visit all parts of the city. In the last issue of Scripture Study, we saw that archaeological excavations have shown that Nineveh was a city having 71/2 mile long wall (See Scripture Study – Blossom 06:July 10, para 03). Three days is indeed a little bit too much time to travel across a 71/2 mile walled city. But it has to be kept in mind that cities of that time had settlements beyond their walls which were also considered as part of the city. Hence, around the fort of Nineveh as well there would have been settlements for many miles on all sides. To visit all of them would involve three days is what is said here.
(9) Verses 4,5 – On the first day of entering Nineveh, Jonah travelled across the city and proclaimed God’s message. Since the previous verse mentioned that to 
visit all parts of Nineveh would take three days, it is clear that Jonah has not proclaimed the message to the whole city yet. God’s message was simple, in forty days Nineveh would be ‘overturned’. Herein, ‘overturned’ is the translation of the Hebrew word ‘haphak’ (Strong’s No: 02015). The same word is used regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:25). Hence, we can understand that a similar destruction awaited Nineveh. We can also understand that Nineveh was also filled with sin, like Sodom. Infact, in God’s message to Nineveh, there was not even a call, asking them to repent. But, right after just one day’s preaching by Jonah, the people of Nineveh believed in God. That is, they believed in the message delivered by Jonah to them. God’s message spread like wild fire across Nineveh. It shook the people of Nineveh and they humbled themselves before God and everyone in the city from the greatest to the least observed a fast and put on sackcloth. We read in the Bible that even the Israelites did not believe in God’s warnings many times. Hence, the faith shown by gentile city of Nineveh, as a result of just a day’s preaching by Jonah amazes us. Historically, a severe flood hit Nineveh in 765 B.C and an intense famine fell upon the city in 759 B.C. Some Biblical scholars contend that those natural disasters must have made the people of Nineveh afraid about the supernatural. And hence they say that Jonah’s message must have been delivered only after those events and it was because of their already existing fear that the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah’s message and humbled themselves. It is true that the ancients were bewildered by natural disasters and such events made them think about God. Hence, it is possible that the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah’s message and repented only because of their previous and recent devastations. Jonah’s mission would last for two more days. But the repentance of the people of Nineveh started even before that.
(10) Verse 6 – In one of the remaining last two days of Jonah’s preaching, God’s message finally reached the King of Nineveh as well. Nineveh was the capital of the great Assyrian Kingdom and hence the King of Nineveh was the Emperor of the Assyrian Kingdom. In the last issue of Scripture Study, we saw that the Book of Jonah must have been written between the period of 783 B.C – 746 B.C. (See Scripture Study – Blossom 06:July 10, para 02). Within that period, three Assyrian Kings rose. They were Shalmaneser IV (783 B.C – 772 B.C), Ashur-Dan III (772 B.C – 754 B.C) and Ashur-Nirari V (754 B.C – 746 B.C). In this, the natural disasters mentioned in the previous paragraph took place during the reign of Ashur-Dan III. Hence, some Biblical scholars consider him as the King of Nineveh of this verse. Despite being the emperor of a great Kingdom, the Assyrian King humbled himself before God by removing his royal robes and putting on sackcloth and sitting on dust.
(11) Verses 7,8,9 – From these verses we can understand how seriously the King of Nineveh and his nobles took the message from God. To further impress their regret and humbleness, they decreed that not only human beings but all the cattle in the land must also fast and put on sackcloth. They also decreed that all must call urgently towards God and give up their evil ways and violence. It has to be noted that the people of Nineveh did not know for sure whether God will forgive them or not. But they still repented, thinking ‘Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish’. They did not get discouraged by thinking that may be God would destroy them for their sins, no matter what. Instead, they hoped that God may forgive them if they repented. Their faith is great indeed. We also should never underestimate the greatness of God’s grace and repent towards him boldly from our sins. Also, when others sin against us, we should also show long patience towards them like God and be endowed with the spirit of forgiving.
(12) Verse 10 – God saw the humility of the people of Nineveh and noted their repentance from their evil ways. He was filled with compassion and did not destroy Nineveh. That is, Nineveh did not get destroyed at the end of the forty days. Infact, Nineveh was destroyed only in 612 B.C, a good 150 years after this incident. From this we can understand that during the Old Testament times, God was kind not only to the Israelites but also to those gentiles who were ready to repent of their evil ways.
(13) Chapter 4 : Verses 1,2,3,4 – If the prophetic book of Jonah had been like the other prophetic books of the Bible, then it would have ended with the previous chapter itself. On God’s warning through his prophet, a whole nation including its King repented. And God forgives them. It would have been a beautiful ending. But, Jonah did not behave like the other prophets right from the beginning. God’s forgiving of Nineveh; an enemy nation to his nation of Israel displeased Jonah and made him angry. Jonah says that it was only because of this that he ran away to Tarshish in the first place as he was aware that God was gracious and compassionate and would not destroy Nineveh if they repented. Jonah, who is angered by the gracious nature of God, has forgotten that it is the same gracious nature of God that made God forgive Jonah’s own disobedience. Jonah says that it was better for him to die. When the news about God’s forgiving of Nineveh reaches Israel, the Israelites would curse Jonah for being a part of gaining forgiveness to an enemy state. That is why Jonah felt that it was better to die. Also, since Jonah is mentioning the reason of his first disobedience again here, it is clear that he is repeating the same mistake again. Sometimes, due to fleshly weakness, we also do again the mistakes for which we repented for before. We should try our best to not be like that. God however was still patient with Jonah. He asks Jonah, whether he had any right to be angry.
(14) Verses 5,6,7 – Jonah did not get pacified easily. He set up a tent in one of the hills to the east of Nineveh and awaited the destruction of Nineveh. Jonah’s conduct was similar to that of a little child insisting on getting his/her candy. God made a vine to grow near Jonah such that it provided cool shade to him. Jonah was happy about that vine. Because the Mesopatamian region in which Nineveh existed was a very hot place. Hence, the shade of that vine provided comfort to Jonah. But at dawn the next day, God destroyed that vine using a worm. And it withered. The blossoming and withering of that vine was part of God’s plan to teach Jonah a lesson. Let us study further.
(15) Verses 8,9 – The ‘scorching east wind’ mentioned here is a phenomenon common in Mesopatamian region called, ‘Sirocco’. During such times, temperature rose sharply as the moisture in air gets reduced. God unleashed such scorching hot winds on Jonah which made him feel like fainting. From the Book of Jonah, we can see that God has full authority over seas-winds-fish-vine-worm and everything. For Jonah, the comfort provided by the vine was gone. And Nineveh was also still standing. Tired, Jonah felt again that it was better for him to die. God asked Jonah whether it was right for him to be angry about the vine. Jonah defiantly answered back that it was right for him to be so even till death.
(16) Verses 10,11 – God’s words to Jonah in these verses highlight His grace and long patience towards mankind and even towards His other creations like cattle. Jonah was upset about the withering away of a vine that was not tended by him and was there for only for a night. God asks Jonah, should not He be then compassionate towards Nineveh which had more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who were His creation and also many cattle. That too the people of Nineveh were so ignorant that they ‘cannot tell their right hand from their left’, that is were not aware of right and wrong. That is why when they got the message from God that their doings were wrong, they readily repented. Moreover, we can see that God was concerned about animals as well. They are also His creations. Hence, we also should not harass any living creature without good reason. We do not know whether Jonah repented after this incident. But the immense grace shown by God towards his creations is an important lesson and example for us as well. We also should be like God and have patience and exhibit grace towards others.
(17) Jonah did not have any love or kindness towards Nineveh. But that the people of Nineveh repented on the message from a man with a hostile attitude towards them is amazing. Also, we should not be like Jonah. Since, Nineveh was an enemy state Jonah could not love its people. But, we should love even our enemies. Christ has said that it is pointless to love only those who love us and that even the tax collectors do that (Matthew 5:46,47). Moreover, Jonah forgot that he was saved from the belly of the fish only because of God’s gracious nature and was upset about the people of Nineveh receiving the same grace from God. We should not be like that and should never forget that we ourselves stand before God because of His grace. And hence, we should show similar grace to those who sin against us. Just as God shows long patience and abundant grace towards us when we err, we should also display the same attributes towards those who sin against us. If we are not like that, Bible warns us that we will lose the grace of God (Mark 11:26). Hence, let us be careful. Truly, we learn from the Book of Jonah that despite being all powerful and being able to control seas and winds and everything, the God we worship is kind to mere humans. Great is his loving mind. Unless we have the same loving mind, we can’t be called as Sons of God. Hence, let us grow within ourselves the Godly love! Amen.
– from the next issue the Book of Revelations will be studied –