Many of us are taking the time to consider our relationship with YHWH during the Days of Awe and Yom Kippur (Atonement). Admittedly, it can be hard to reflect and swallow the truth of our actions over the past year in physical and spiritual deeds. It gets even harder to address our thoughts.
With this in mind, I have always wondered why the Book of Jonah is recommended for this season. It seems like an insignificant book with a whale of a story. There is a prophet who seems to be afraid of doing his assignment and runs away from doing it. A fish swallows him. He gives a lengthy prayer and gets up to do what he is told to do. But is this the real story? I don’t think it is. I believe the story of Jonah is more about personal views towards Yah and why at times we question His authority.
The book starts with the statement, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai.” This is very enlightening, in that “The Word” can refer to Yeshua (John 1:1-2) and the name of Amittai carries the Hebraic meaning “truth.” This might imply that Jonah came from a family of truth seekers and that he might be a man who appreciates the righteous judgment that comes with truth.
It’s interesting to note that people join religion or churches not just for fellowship, but for righteousness—which includes the concept of justice. Think about it. A person finds no justice in an evil world, so naturally, they would hope to find justice in a body that claims to follow Yeshua. Justice is big for people. Without justice, lawlessness becomes a reality which in turn makes the loss of hope extremely tangible. What does this have to do with Jonah?
Jonah is a prophet that is accustomed to doing the bidding of YHWH. His job is to deliver messages from Yah. Since Jonah serves the living King, I would say that he had a high sense of self-worth and strength. With this being said, why do we see Jonah running from Yah and wanting to die rather than live?
I think we can find the answer in Chapter 3. It is here that we see Jonah delivering a straightforward message, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” Notice this message does not call for repentance, but is instead a reality check for a group of people that have been violent towards Israel. Upon hearing the message, they fast, put on sackcloth, sit on ashes, and turn away from violence. God sees their deeds and does not bring on calamity.
Notice Job’s response in Chapter 4. He tells Yah that this is what he expected all along and why he ran away in the first place. He knows that Yah is compassionate. But he didn’t want mercy for Nineveh—he wanted justice. Therefore, when justice does not occur, Jonah states, “Please take my life from me, for death is better than life.” In short, Jonah believes that life is not worth living without his form of justice. Have you ever felt this way?
The concept of wanting to die is mentioned three times with Jonah. The first was when he told the sailors to throw him overboard. The second is when Yah does not destroy Nineveh. And the third is when Yah appoints a plant to cover Jonah’s head. In this final display, Yah says to Jonah, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work. . . should I not have compassion on Nineveh?” Yah then proceeds to tell Jonah that Nineveh is composed of people who “don’t know their right from their left.” Could this refer to “newbies” coming to the gospel?
Fast forward from the story of Jonah to Paul’s message in Romans 3. Like Jonah, the Jewish leadership only saw justice through the lens of the law. They have forgotten the mercy and compassion that can be given by the lawgiver. The message of the gospel is both spirit and truth, for the spirit of truth does seek compassion for those who want to leave their life of sin and experience life. In so doing, the law is established through faith. Nineveh is a picture of this process in that they proceeded to repent in faith. It displays the Gentile who comes to know forgiveness.
In my estimation, Jonah did not want to live, because his view of justice was turned upside down. To him, justice was the natural result of sinful actions and he wanted to see it done. But YHWH God He is the only judge. We are not. It is not our role to condemn the sinner, but it is our role to recognize that sin can separate us from entering Yah’s merciful judgment (I Cor. 6:9-10), therefore we should be more concerned about our sin versus the sin of others. (Matt. 7:1-4) We should be more concerned about telling others about the Kingdom of Life.
It’s fascinating to me to witness people who hold grievances towards what they perceive as justice. And if allowed to fester they we leave their church or fellowship in righteous indignation, for like Jonah they would rather die than be associated with a world or a God that does not deliver justice. The story of Jonah is more about this than anything else. Do we have enough faith to allow YHWH to be righteous and merciful? For He knows the heart of a person, while we do not.
The purpose of Yom Kippur is for us to be “at-one-ment” with YHWH. For only one day we are asked to humble our life and our agenda before Him and acknowledge YHWH—the outstretched arm who delivers us all from bondage through the clinched nail of the Messiah. May we find solace in this understanding.
Be blessed,
Rollyn