A Predictable God

The story of Jonah is a staple of children’s Sunday school classes. However, the big fish gets more of the attention than the theology of the book. As adults, I’m not sure we do it much more justice. The fish goes from an amazing story to a topic of debate. We need to let Jonah teach us an amazing truth about God.

Let’s review the basic details of the story:

Jonah 1 opens, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’” Nineveh was northeast of Israel across the desert, in modern day Iraq. Jonah books passage on a ship heading west. God sends a violent storm, and to keep the ship from being destroyed, Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard. They eventually do, the storm is calmed, and a “great fish” swallows Jonah. Inside the fish, Jonah reflects on the error of his ways. He repents, and the fish coughs him up onto dry land.

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’” Jonah is a bit more cooperative this time. He travels to Nineveh and goes deep into the city proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The leaders and people of Nineveh repent. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”

And Jonah is furious.

He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing 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. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (4.2-3)

Jonah fled to Tarshish because he wanted Nineveh to be destroyed, and he knew he couldn’t trust God to do it. Why? Our God has a “bad habit” of forgiving people.

Here Jonah refers to one of the passages of the Bible most commonly quoted in the Bible. In Exodus 34, YHWH “proclaimed his name” to Moses:

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.... (Ex 34:6-7) *

This is born out so many times in the history of Israel. Who is God? He is compassionate, slow to anger, eager to forgive. How many times did he begin to punish them but relent at the slightest sign of repentance in Israel?

Do you know anyone who is so set in their ways that they’re easily predictable? Maybe it’s the grump who can always be counted on to find the dark cloud in any silver lining. Or the hot head who is guaranteed to lose it in traffic. Maybe it’s the grandmother who will always bury the grandchildren in presents they don’t need or the lady at church who can be counted on to show up with a casserole when someone dies. Sometimes we just know what to expect from people. We can set our watches by them.

So many people at one time or another ask, “Have I sinned too much? Will God forgive me?” No, you haven’t. Yes, he will.

This is who our God is, “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” He’s as predictable as the tides. You can count on it.


* Yes, I stopped short quoting the passage. I finish the quote and flesh it out in more detail in What Does It Mean to Fear the LORD?

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