Revised by Tyler Mayfield (5/24)
God’s mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God’s mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments.
The major theme of the book is God’s mercy. JonahJonah son of Amittai was a rebellious prophet who fled from the Lord’s command, only to be delivered by a big and fish and bring about the repentance of Nineveh. is sent to preach to the wicked city Nineveh but flees in the opposite direction because he knows that the Lord is “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast loveThe steadfast love (hesed) of God is the assurance of God’s loving kindness, faithfulness, and mercy. This assurance rings throughout the Old Testament, and is affirmed more than 120 times in the Psalms. In some hymns of praise the response of the people was likely…, and ready to relent in punishing” (4:2). Jonah needs to learn that God’s mercy and love are not just for the Hebrews, but for all people, even those whom Jonah has reason to hate. God’s mercy extends beyond Jonah’s people to include distant empires.
Following God
There is a gap between what Jonah “knows” and what Jonah “lives” – a gap between his head and his heart. Jonah knows that God created both the sea and the dry land, as he tells the sailors during the storm (1:9). Yet, Jonah tries to flee from God by going to sea. Jonah knows that God is merciful and gracious, and yet Jonah does not see that this is a good thing. Jonah loves the plant that God causes to grow yet does not understand that God loves all God’s creatures, even Nineveh. Jonah is called to consider anew how he might respond better to his knowledge of God.
God’s creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and…
In Jonah, God is active and present in creation. God appoints a storm, a big fish, a plant, a worm, and the wind to do God’s will. And God expresses concern even for the animals of Nineveh, who join the human residents of Nineveh in repenting! The book of Jonah even ends with the phrase “and many animals.” God is not merely the Lord of human life, but the Lord of all life.
God’s justice
Another theme in Jonah has to do with God’s justice. The book was likely written after the exile, which many in Israel believed was caused because Israel sinned against God. If that was so, then the question might have been asked, “What about other nations such as Nineveh, whose sins are worse than our own?” The story answers this question by pointing to the fact that God desires to be merciful and calls us to repentRepentance is a central biblical teaching. All people are sinful and God desires that all people repent of their sins. The Hebrew word for repent means to “turn away” from sin. The Greek word for repentance means to “change on’e mind,” more specifically, it means… of evil.
