The Book of Jonah makes no claim of authorship. Nonetheless, given the details about the prophet found within the book, it is likely that Jonah himself was the human author. If this is the case, penning this text was perhaps one of the humblest acts ever committed by a child of Yahweh. After all, Jonah was a faithful servant of the Most High (2 Kings 14:25), but the book which bears his name invests much time into chronicling the prophet’s failures.
Jonah 1 is a passage which clearly depicts him as a disobedient, brooding, and selfish individual. In doing so, it serves as a powerful warning to believers about the dangers of resisting the will of God and forging our own paths.
The chapter begins with a command from Yahweh for Jonah to arise and bring a message of judgment to the Assyrian city of Nineveh (vv. 1–2). Jonah does arise, but instead of going to Nineveh, he flees in the opposite direction to Tarshish (v. 3; likely located near present-day Spain). It may be tempting to denounce Jonah for his impudence, but God speaks to modern-day believers through the Bible and our tendency is also to ignore its clear commands.
Jonah’s scheme to escape God seems to be well thought out. He goes down to the Phoenician city of Joppa to gain passage to Tarshish. The Phoenicians were expert mariners, so it would appear he intentionally sought the most skilled sailors to help him on his voyage. Such a journey would surely be expensive and require a large investment by the prophet. Perhaps he even liquidated all his property (never intending to return to Israel) to pay for his plot. If this was the case, in contrast to Jesus’ instructions to the rich, young ruler to sell all and follow Him (Lk. 18:22), Jonah sells all to get away from Yahweh!
Moreover, the Lord’s prophet spends much of the chapter acting like God does not really exist. While he freely admits that God created the sea (and land; v. 9), he seeks to escape the Almighty by sailing over the very sea He both made and owns. Jonah’s sinful state clearly clouded his reasoning.
This serves as a reminder that no matter how clever our plans may be, they can never thwart the will of God. For all of Jonah’s planning and investment, it seems like the ship no sooner left the harbor than God hurled a mighty tempest against the craft (v. 4). Jonah may have behaved like a man who did not believe God was ever present, but the raging storm was designed to force him to reconsider this foolish understanding.
Jonah, however, is so numb to his condition that he refuses to call out to God in the midst of the calamity. He does not even admit his role in the situation until he’s forced to when the lot falls on him (vv. 7–9). The pagan sailors, however, fully recognize that this is a divine tempest as they jettison their valuable cargo and cry out to their gods for salvation (v. 5).
How sad that the Lord’s prophet will not do the same and just wants to run from the true God of all creation. By the end of the chapter, he’s ultimately willing to be thrown into the violent sea to keep running even if it means plunging headfirst into Sheol itself!
Throughout the chapter, in fact, we see a physical representation of Jonah’s spiritual decline: He goes down from the high country of Israel to the coastal city of Joppa to the hull of the ship and eventually into the sea. Likewise, he descends further and further away from God in his rebellious spirit. Eventually, the LORD sends a great fish to save Jonah, but would not it have been far more pleasant for him to have simply obeyed rather than to end up in the belly of such an aquatic beast? Likewise, it is far better for us to bow the knee to God than to endure His merciful chastisement.