Lessons From the Scriptures: Jonah 1:1–4:11

AVOID calamity! Receive mercy! How? By heeding the lesson of a true story that is more than 2,800 years old​—the book of Jonah. Written about 844 B.C.E. by the prophet Jonah of Galilee, it is filled with spiritual insight.

Jonah Runs Away

We should trust in Jehovah to support us in his service. However, Jonah flees a God-given task instead of relying on Jehovah to uphold him. True, his was no easy assignment. He was to warn shamelessly wicked Nineveh of divine calamity. But Jonah goes in the opposite direction, setting sail for Tarshish, now Spain. En route, a storm becomes so fierce that survival of the ship and crew seems impossible. Jonah confesses, the mariners toss him overboard, and the sea quiets. A great fish swallows the prophet.​—1:1-17.

God’s servants can be confident that he will answer their prayers. Inside the fish, Jonah cries to Jehovah for help, prayerfully thanks God for deliverance from a watery grave, and promises to pay what he has vowed. In time, he is vomited out onto dry land.​—2:1-10.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Never evade an assignment from Jehovah. Apparently having learned this lesson, the once reluctant prophet preaches in “the great city.” Jonah sounds a simple but pointed warning: “Only forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown.” In a most remarkable turn of events, the Ninevites repent and avoid calamity.​—3:1-10.

Man cannot limit God’s mercy. Jonah’s anger grows because Nineveh is spared. But by means of a plant, Jehovah teaches Jonah that He will show mercy according to His own good pleasure.​—4:1-11.

Lesson for today: Calamity can be averted by heeding divine prophecy! Imitate the Ninevites. Humbly listen to Jesus Christ, a prophet greater than Jonah.​—Luke 11:32.

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BIBLE TEXTS EXAMINED

○ Jonah 1:17​—Because of its large head and gullet, the sperm whale is capable of swallowing a man. Although whales are rare in the Mediterranean, whalers once docked at Joppa. A fish known to follow ships in the Mediterranean and to eat whatever is thrown overboard is the great white shark. It too is capable of swallowing a man whole. In Jonah’s case, however, God used “a great fish,” perhaps a creature unknown to modern science.

○ 2:1, 2​—Jonah surely did not have ideal conditions for composing a poem while in “the inward parts of the fish.” But he later recorded his experience. From the depth of his heart came words echoing those in the Psalms that expressed his sentiments.​—Compare 2:2 with Psalm 120:1 and Ps 130:1; Jon 2:5 with Psalm 69:1.

○ 3:3​—The size of Nineveh is not exaggerated. Although the walls surrounding it were only about 8 miles [13 km] in circumference, the name of the city evidently included its suburbs, which may have covered a distance of some 26 miles [42 km].

○ 3:10​—The Hebrew word rendered “felt regret” means to “change one’s mind with regard to past (or intended) action.” Thus, Jehovah can ‘feel regret’ or change his mind about bringing punishment upon erring humans when they truly repent.