Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria was a city that was going to be destroyed by God because of the people’s sin. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but instead of going there, he intended to go to Tarshish. For me, I have no certain argument why Jonah deviated from what God had commanded him.
The story went on that Jonah sailed with a ship to Tarshish, In the middle of journey, the bible recorded that there was a violent storm attacked the ship. I found some insight when I read this part.
The people in that ship cried to their god. Well for me it is totally normal that the nature of man is a religious people. Nothing special with that reaction but what is new for me that I realize in a terrible situation like that, people don’t mind from what religion you are and what god you believe. But for sure I laughed that THEY EVEN TRY TO THINK OTHER’S GOD AS GOD.
Yeah, have you ever imagined that in “normal” life people try to be firm on what they believe? They choose this god and not that god because of their own thinking (and be grateful, O my soul, that being a Christian is only by God’s grace). But isn’t it funny that in a very depressed situation those people in that ship tried to wake Jonah and said "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."
What do you think? For me, this is the spirit of pluralism. Or maybe, even they denied that they started to also believe other’s god as a living god, so for me, it is also a point when they started to disbelieve their own god. I started to think my friends who also have this kind of spirit (pluralism).
“All religions are the same.” “FUNNY!!” I replied. I cannot place my mind in what they thought about God. “What do you mean by religions are the same? Do you mean that God has so many ways and denied His own words in this religion and say yes in that religion? Oh come on, don’t be so naïve! There is only one true religion”
After Jonah woke up, he said that he is the people of God who has the heaven and earth, and he is escaping from Him who ordered him. After they threw Jonah to the sea as he ordered, I started to amaze on what God has done in this scene. It was written that the rest on that ship that time feared the Lord and offered a sacrifice for Him and made a vow.
What I saw is that God changed this Jonah’s fault into a great way to preach the gospel of the Lord. I tried to think what about if Jonah did not deviated to Tarshish. Will they ever feared the Lord? But right now, my best answer is that Lord chose Jonah’s fault as his way to offer blessing to the people of the ship.
Arriving at Nineveh, Jonah started to shout the word of God., "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." To make it short, Ninevites repented and believed God. And God relented His plan of destruction upon Nineveh.
From what I learned, this is one of God’s ways to express His warning. Every words revealed to a prophet need not to be fulfilled as the prophet said if it is considered as God’s warning But sadly, Jonah now regretted that he had come to Nineveh.
"O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
Now come to the best part for me. I truly feel God’s love toward his people in this passage even not to His chosen people. And I truly amazed on how He taught Jonah about this thing.
4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
but I love the Indonesian term,
| 4:10 | Lalu Allah berfirman: "Engkau sayang kepada pohon jarak itu, yang untuknya sedikitpun engkau tidak berjerih payah dan yang tidak engkau tumbuhkan, yang tumbuh dalam satu malam dan binasa dalam satu malam pula. |
| 4:11 | Bagaimana tidak Aku akan sayang kepada Niniwe, kota yang besar itu, yang berpenduduk lebih dari seratus dua puluh ribu orang, yang semuanya tak tahu membedakan tangan kanan dari tangan kiri, dengan ternaknya yang banyak?" |
I laughed at Jonah’s reaction before God but suddenly I realized that sometimes I also have that kind of attitude before God, very childish reaction. I sometimes can be so selfish and even “push” God away from my side so that I can enjoy everything for myself and forget his presence. Like Pak Tong said, “something is wrong with his doctrine of God’s omnipresence.” Yeah, I admit it that sometimes it breaks down.
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