Chapter 2: Nineveh or Tarshish
Nineveh? Did the God of heaven and Earth just want Jonah to go to the wicked city of Nineveh? Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and the people there were everything but holy. They were so twisted and wicked that they were at the point where they didn't know right from wrong. However, the architecture of the city was admirable, but the people were blinded by their sin. How in the world could God ask Jonah to do something so...off and lunatic?
"You're asking me to do something that cannot be done." Jonah spoke to God, "Those people are vicious and mean. They are wicked and bad and satanic. Furthermore, the place is really bad. Please don't send me there with a message of Your mercy." Jonah was of the higher class in Israel. He didn't want to go to a dump like Nineveh.
I can't go to Nineveh. It's a forbidden city, and I'll never be able to be clean again, Jonah thought. He thought and thought but soon sleep won over his thinking process. The next morning, he came up with, what he thought, the perfect idea not to go to Nineveh. As the saying went in Israel: Never in Nineveh. The plan was...to run away from God. In a wide view, escaping from God's view would be like living without breathing. Still, Jonah went with it anyway. He packed his bags, went out the door, and started down the street to the harbor. The harbor was riddled with shouts and cries of sales, deals, and discounts. The vendors, with their multicolored shacks, tried to match the price of their competitors. The seagulls swayed low over the open sea. Boats and large cargo ships littered the harbor. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly. Jonah walked over to all ships and finally came to a ship that was going to Tarshish, the furthest place from Nineveh.
"Is this ship going to Tarshish?" Jonah asked the captain of the ship.
"Aye," answered the captain in a rusty voice, "we be going there after we get to Philippi and then to-"
"I'll go with you," Jonah interrupted, handing the captain a little sack of gold. He walked past the captain and boarded the ship. With a guilty conscience he walked across the deck. The shouts of men and the smell of seawater and sweat filled the air. Jonah decided to go under the deck and rest. The ship soon sailed away, and Jonah fell asleep. The ship was soon in open waters and the waves started to get rough
"Sir," one of the crew said to the captain, "it seems to me there shall be a storm brewing soon."
"It matters not," replied the captain, looking at the gathering clouds, "We've been through storms and rough seas before." So they sailed on, but the seas started to get rougher and rougher. The boat rocked dangerously back and forth, and the lightning flashed with a deafening thunder. All the while, Jonah was sound asleep. The rain, thunder, lightning, and waves crashed all around. One of the crew was thrown back from the force of the wind. He fell back into the room underneath the deck where Jonah slept. He looked over and saw Jonah resting peacefully among the cargo. The crew member got up and shook Jonah awake.
"What are you doing sleeping," shouted the man, "get up! This storm is the largest we have ever witnessed! Pray to your God and maybe we can get out of this!" The waves knocked him back into the wall. "Ah!" he said in agony, "Someone is responsible for this storm!" That gave him an idea. The man ran screaming the captain's name. Jonah looked around the room. It was dark and gloomy, and the top of the deck was the same.
As Jonah heard the monstrous thunder outside, he thought to himself, what have I done? He knew that this storm was sent from God. Now because of him the men of the ship were in danger. Jonah rushed up stairs and plunged into the chaos. He saw a circle of crew members and the captain casting lots. When the lot came upon Jonah, all the men stared at him while Jonah's skin turned pale.
The captain shouted at the top of his lungs among the storm, "What have you done? What have you done to bring this storm upon us? Who are you?" Worried and nervously shifting, Jonah said shaking,
"My name is Jonah. I'm a Hebrew and I was sent by the Lord to go to Nineveh, but I didn't want to go to that city, and I ran away from God." It finally made sense to the men. Tarshish was the furtherest place city humanly possible. However, it seemed now that the God of this man was very angry at him for being disobedient and ignorant. The storm got worse.
"What shall we do to get out of this storm," shouted the men?
"You have to throw me overboard! Then the storm will calm," Jonah replied. Even so, the men did not want to send Jonah to his death even if it was his fault that their lives were at stake. So they tried harder to ride the storm out, but it got worse and worse. They tried for and hour to get out of the watery deathtrap until finally they gave in and reconsidered their opinions.
"Lord," the captain shouted to Jonah's God, "We do not want to die nor do we want this man to die. Oh, God we know that you have sent this storm upon us for your good will. Lord, please let us not be responsible for this man's death." So with that he ordered the men to throw Jonah overboard. He splashed into the rough seas. Immediately, the storm calmed and the clouds rolled away. The seas were still and the ship stopped rocking. "It is true," the captain said, "his God is the God of the seas, air, earth, and skies." They brought guitars and flutes and praised the Lord. What about Jonah? He sank further and further down. His vision was blurred and he was running out of air. Suddenly a large fish, of which was a fish specially created by God, swallowed Jonah whole. Jonah could now breathe but the air was very humid and it stank. He sat in the dark with his knees tuck into his chest. What he sat on, he didn't know or want to. It was a horrible situation.
"What have I done?" Jonah muttered to himself.