And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ’Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’ Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. (Jonah 2:10-3:3 NIV)

The four verses on which this week’s lesson focuses are concise and to the point, and they come at a crucial juncture in the narrative of the prophetic book. They also serve to highlight and further develop a theological theme that is important for both the theology of the book of Jonah and for Scripture as a whole, namely, God’s eagerness to save.

When we reach the end of Jonah 2 a couple of major events have just transpired. First, the prophet has uttered the majestic declaration that some consider the high point of the entire book: "Salvation comes from the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). It is such a ringing testimony, so clear, so unequivocal. Though Jonah’s prayer of desperation contained more than a touch of smugness and was not devoid of spiritual pride (see Jonah 2:8), such a strong affirmation of God’s saving grace at its conclusion may cause the reader to wonder if Jonah’s attitude has now undergone drastic change.

Second, God in his gracious mercy has spoken to the great fish, and Jonah has been regurgitated somewhere on dry land, safe and sound. Ironically, both animate (the great fish) and inanimate (the great wind) nature have obeyed the word of the Lord, but the prophet, the one who should be the most receptive and responsive to the divine will, has thus far been stubbornly resistant.

But will that change now? For someone reading the narrative for the first time (it is helpful to try and put yourself in that role and read as if you don’t know the ending of the story), the question may arise: Is Jonah a changed man? Having experienced God’s mercy and salvation for himself, is he ready to share it with others? Has a new, transformed Jonah emerged from the belly of the fish? Has the narrow-minded, parochial prophet given way to an evangelist excited about proclaiming God’s message to a city that desperately needs it?

Alas, but no (as the story of Jonah will go on to indicate). However, it is not for lack of effort on the part of God. In fact, nearly every aspect of the book of Jonah, from the broad theological themes to the details of the narrative, reveal a God who is doing all he can to awaken his prophet to his salvific concern for all of his human children.

One strategy God uses to try and awaken Jonah is simply by the gracious way in which God gives Jonah a second chance to minister for him. After the fish deposited Jonah on dry land, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you" (Jonah 3:1-2).

Here God uses the same simple words of command that he did at the beginning of the book. "Get up, go to Nineveh," he declares (a literal translation of the Hebrew). This is clearly an echo of what happened at the book’s outset. We are back right where we started, indicating the Lord’s intention to give Jonah another chance.

Now there are many things God could have said to Jonah at this point. Things like, "You should have known better than to run away." Things like, "Why would you do something foolish like fleeing from me?" Things like, "If you ever do that again, you’re finished!" But God is not the "You’d better not do that again God." He is, as Peter would later learn at the time of his great collapse in faith, the God of the second chance. He always has been, always will be. Instead of berating Jonah, he simply commissions him anew and sends him out on his mission, a mission that presents Jonah with his own greatest opportunity to understand God and his ways with humanity.

The last verse under consideration this week states that Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh (Jonah 3:3). Now as the book will later go on to indicate, though Jonah’s outward actions may conform to God’s direction, he is still not in touch with the heart of God. But Jonah’s ongoing reluctance to carry God’s message has not yet been revealed. At this point in the narrative it is up in the air as to whether Jonah grasps God’s loving concern for the people of Nineveh.

This concern is alluded to in the latter part of Jonah 3:3, but many translations render the verse in a way that overlooks or obscures this point. The Hebrew literally reads, "And Nineveh was a city great to God." The JPS Tanakh translation renders this as, "Nineveh was an enormously large city." However, as Douglas Stuart suggests, in light of the entire book of Jonah, it is likely that the unusual Hebrew phraseology is not referring to the size of the city but to the city’s significance in the eyes of the Lord. He translates it in his commentary: "Now Nineveh was a city important to God."1

The question that emerges at the end of this week’s study is simply this: How will Jonah react now? Will knowing that Nineveh is a city important to God prompt a change in the heart of Jonah? Will his awareness that God cares enough to send him on an errand to arrest the Ninevites from their evil ways lead to a transformation in his attitude? Will that which is important to God—saving his lost children of Nineveh—be important to Jonah as well?

However, the question as to how Jonah will respond is not the lingering question the book poses. In the final analysis, the book is not so much about Jonah as it is about the one that we see in the mirror. And perhaps that is why it is appropriate that the book will ultimately conclude with a question (see Jonah 4:11). The ultimate question we must consider in connection with the book of Jonah is not how Jonah responded in the long ago and far away, but how we—you and I—respond in the here and now.

According to Scripture, the cities and the people around us are, to use the words of Jonah, "great to God." He has a purpose for them, he desires to bring them into a relationship with their Redeemer and bestow on them the wonderful gift of salvation.

Do we have the same concern about others as the Lord does? Do we reach out to them with love and care, with God’s gracious offer of salvation? The lingering question is not, What about Jonah? The question, What about us?

Notes and References

1. Douglas Stuart, "Hosea-Jonah," in Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Texas: Word, 1987), 31:483.

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