Nineveh EP: Justice and Mercy in Jonah

NOTE: This post catalogs the thought process behind our Nineveh EP. The following represents my own thoughts on Jonah. For a brief overview of major scholarly interpretations on Jonah, see this page.

Jonah was right to believe that the citizens of Nineveh deserved destruction because they disregarded the commands of God and acted with total lack of respect for human life. He knew it was possible, however, that if he prophesied God’s imminent destruction of their city, the Ninevites would repent. And, as Jonah noted, God had repeatedly shown himself to be merciful to repentant sinners. Jonah knew, therefore, that his mission might very well end in the pardon of a bloodthirsty people who were notorious for oppressing the smaller people groups around them, including his own. 

Rather than becoming an instrument of salvation for the wicked Ninevites, Jonah chose to run from God by boarding a ship headed into the Mediterranean Sea. In doing so, Jonah brought upon himself the same divine judgment that, in his estimation, should have been visited upon Nineveh. He made himself a vessel of wrath in order that the Ninevites might also be destroyed. To put it more succinctly, he sacrificed himself in order that others might die, demonstrating the antithesis of God’s love.

But God would not allow his plan to be co-opted. He sent a storm to intercept Jonah’s flight. The Gentile crew members rightly assumed that an angry deity had ordered the storm to pursue them, but they didn’t know which god to appease. Jonah told them that Yahweh, the God of Israel, had sent the storm to prevent Jonah’s flight. To prevent the Gentile crew members from perishing in the storm, Jonah ordered them to cast him into the sea. God calmed the storm, and the crew members feared God. 

Ironically, while Jonah refused to facilitate the salvation of Gentiles in Nineveh, he became the facilitator of salvation for the Gentiles aboard the ship. God’s plan of salvation for all peoples could not be thwarted, and was indeed aided, by Jonah’s actions.

Still, God would not let Jonah escape his path. Instead of allowing Jonah to drown, God sent a giant fish to swallow Jonah and keep him alive. The language indicates that God “had appointed” this fish for such a task, giving another indication of divine control over the entire saga.