Us and Them

Jonah 4:2, 10-11 (NLT)  I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.  Then the Lord said “But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

While reading a post by Rob Bell, I was reminded of the story of Jonah, often called Jonah and the Whale.  What do you remember?  How would you retell the story?  What is this message?

You probably remember that God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh (it’s OK if you couldn’t remember the exact city) and that Jonah ran the other way.  Somehow, Jonah is swallowed by a whale and transported back toward Nineveh at which point he follows God’s directive.  Is that about right?  Can you fill in more detail?  Is the message that we can’t run from what God commands us to do?  Well, yes, that’s part of it.

Rob Bell revealed the history behind the story and pointed out some important details.  The Israelites have suffered greatly at the hands of the Assyrians.  God wants Jonah to warn the Ninevites of His wrath and offer a plan of forgiveness and redemption.  Bell explains “the Assyrians were like a huge, gaping, open wound for the Israelites.  Bless the Assyrians?”  Not me! Jonah hops a ship full of pagan sailors.  Interestingly, when a storm kicks up, the pagans pray but Jonah tries to ignore God by sleeping.

After the fish part, Jonah begrudgingly complies with God and becomes outraged when the Ninevites repent.  Ironically, the enemy is more open to God’s Word than Jonah has been.  Jonah is so disgusted by God’s compassion toward these people that he becomes depressed and wants to die. 

Bell says the story “blasts our biases and labels to pieces with the declaration that God is on everyone’s side, extending grace and compassion to everyone - especially those we have most strongly decided are not on God’s side.  Religious people have been very good over the years at seeing themselves as US and people that aren’t a part of their group as THEM.  But in this story, the dude who sees himself as us is furious because of how chummy God and them have become.”

So is this story about a fish?  Or is the fish distracting us from the real message?