Roughly 750 years before Christ walked the earth, God’s people faced the looming threat of the world’s superpower, Assyria. The capital city, Nineveh, was the picture of all that was great, mighty, powerful (and evil) of that empire, a fearsome enemy of Israel. Into this setting God’s prophet, Jonah, is called to preach against the wickedness of that gigantic city—the largest of its day.

You would think that Jonah’s call to cry out against the wickedness of that land (Jonah 1:2) would be a welcome invitation for such an enemy of the Assyrians, but Jonah knew the mercy and grace of his God. As he says in Jonah 4:2, “I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

Jonah’s Apostasy

Knowing the kindness of God, and given Jonah’s personal hatred of the monstrously evil Assyrians, Jonah would sooner abandon his calling as prophet, abandon his people and his God, and abandon his very life than obey and see his enemies repent. This is exactly what Jonah is doing as he flees from the presence of the Lord and sails for the pagan land of Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). Jonah is apostatizing. Or trying, at least!

Here we see a prophet of God “running from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:10), calm in the face of death (v. 5), and resigned to the certainty of his death (v. 12). Apostasy and death are superior in his mind to the Gentiles repenting!

Jonah’s ‘Resurrection’

Amazingly, Jonah soon discovers, in the belly of a great fish, that even willful apostasy is not possible if God forbids it. Death itself is not attainable if God forbids it. After being vomited out of the great fish, Jonah resigns himself to obeying the Lord (Jonah 2:3). And, roughly 150 years before final destruction will come upon Nineveh, the city hears the good news of the God of the Hebrews, and the Assyrians repent (3:10).

You would think a man spared from death, being held by the Lord in a dramatic way and against all odds, would be thankful to have been shown mercy. But Jonah still desires to die. In the prophet’s mind, it is better for him to be dead than for his enemies to repent. Better to be in hell than for his enemies to be in heaven.

Jonah’s Jealousy

God asks him, in words that echo His questioning of Cain (Gen. 4:6–7), “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). Jonah would certainly recognize this reference, as God is subtly asking, “Do you belong to my people, or do you count yourself in the line of Cain?” Jonah refuses to answer. When he does finally answer regarding the death of a small plant that brought him temporal comfort and temporary relief from the sun and the heat, he says that his anger is righteous and he is right to wish to be dead (v. 9).

God’s reply is: Should I, the God who created the Assyrians, who established this great city, Nineveh, should I not have pity on those whose lives are infinitely more valuable than a small plant? (Jonah 4:10–11). The book ends abruptly without Jonah’s response, without answer to God’s powerful questions.

The Sign of Jonah

This is an inherently Jewish book. Here we have a pridefully Jewish man who desperately does not desire the gospel to go to the Gentiles.

The Jews of Jesus’s day received the sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:38–41), that is, the death of Jesus—where Jesus was in the belly of the earth for three days. Then, he rose from the dead and instructed Jewish men to take the gospel to all the nations (Matt. 28:19–20). The Gentiles overwhelmingly believed, and the Jews overwhelmingly hardened their hearts in jealousy (Acts 18:6; Rom. 11:11).

The Hope of Jonah

The book of Jonah offers a subtle picture of hope and repentance, for Jonah himself penned the book—signaling his ultimate acceptance of God’s lovingkindness to all nations, including himself. So, too, the sign of Jonah (the death and resurrection of Christ) stands as a constant free offer to Jews and Gentiles alike, to repent of our sins and believe on the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Even attempted apostasy, spiritual jealousy, hardness of heart, or once not being included among God’s people, are not sufficient in keeping us separated from God, if He has placed his loving-kindness and mercy upon us (Rom. 8:35–39).