Jonah: Running from God | Bible Stories Retold

He ended up at the bottom of the sea, in the dark, inside a fish, with nowhere left to run. And that's where he finally prayed. Jonah was a prophet in Israel. One day, God told him, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, because I have seen what they are doing." Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, Israel's enemy, and it was known for cruelty. Jonah wanted nothing to do with it. So Jonah ran. He went down to the port of Joppa, and found a ship headed for Tarshish, the other end of the known world. He paid the fare and went down into the ship to get away from the Lord. But God sent a great wind on the sea, and a storm so violent that the ship was about to break apart. The sailors were terrified. Each one cried out to his own God, and they threw the cargo overboard. And Jonah, he was asleep below deck. The captain shook him awake, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God." Jonah told them the truth. "I'm running from the Lord. Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know this storm is my fault. They tried to row back to land, but they couldn't, so they threw him overboard, and the sea went still." Jonah sank down into the deep. But the Lord had prepared a great fish for him, and Jonah stayed inside it for three days and three nights. There, in the dark, Jonah prayed, "I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. From the depths I cried for help, and you heard my voice. Salvation belongs to the Lord." Then God spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out onto dry land. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Same message. This time, he went. He walked into Nineveh and called out. In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown, and the people believed God. From the king down to the poorest, they put on sackcloth and turned from their violence.

And God saw it, and had mercy, and did not destroy the king. "That made Jonah furious. I knew it," he said. "I knew you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and full of love. That's why I ran. He was glad to get mercy. He just didn't want them to get it. And God asked him, "Should I not care about that great city?" The book ends with that question. Jonah got a second chance. So did a whole city full of people he couldn't stand. That's how big God's mercy is. It's big enough for you, and it's big enough for the people you think don't deserve it. Maybe you're running right now. Maybe you're in the dark. Jonah prayed from the bottom of the sea, and God heard him. He'll hear you too. [Music]