(a) How did Jonah react to God's message ? (b) What two lessons do we learn about the nature of God from this episode?

Answer Details

(a) How Jonah reacted to God's message

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me." But Jonah did not want to preach to the Ninevites, so he rose to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare and boarded it.

The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and a mighty tempest arose so that the ship threatened to break up. The frightened sailors cried each to his god and threw the cargo into the sea, but Jonah had gone below and was fast asleep. The captain woke him to pray. They cast lots to find who was responsible, and the lot fell on Jonah. He confessed that he was a Hebrew who feared the God of heaven and was fleeing from Him, and told them to throw him into the sea to calm it. Reluctantly they did so, and the sea grew calm.

The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. There Jonah prayed to God, acknowledging His deliverance, and the fish vomited him out upon dry land.

God's word came a second time, and this time Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh. He proclaimed, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." The people believed God, proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least, and the king decreed repentance. So God spared the city. But this displeased Jonah greatly and he was angry; he complained that he had fled because he knew God was gracious and merciful. God then taught him a lesson through a plant (gourd) that grew and withered, showing that God cares for the many people and animals of Nineveh.

(b) Two lessons about the nature of God

1. God is merciful and forgiving - He spared Nineveh when the people repented, showing that He does not delight in the death of sinners but in their repentance.
2. God is sovereign and universal - His authority extends over all nations (not the Hebrews only) and over nature (the storm, the fish, the plant), so no one can flee from His presence or resist His will.