Chapter 3: Forgiveness in Unlikely places
It was damp and dark and it must have been two days making this the third day. "Lord," Jonah prayed from inside the large fish, "I'm sorry. I know I should have followed you to Nineveh. It was because of my selfishness that I was blind. I have not only sinned, I have done iniquity. Please Lord, forgive me, even though I don't deserve it. If you deliver me from this pit of sin, I'll serve you and I'll go anywhere you want me to go. Still, if you don't, then you are still just and fair." He was prepared to die. Then, suddenly, Jonah felt himself rocking unusually fast. He heard a growl, and the next minute he found himself in the air. He hit the sand of a beach. Jonah slowly lifted his head while his eyes adjusted to the light. He was free! Free from the belly of the beast! He was covered in seaweed and gunk from the stomach. He smelled horrible and his tan skin was now pale. Jonah slowly got to his feet and shouted in a raspy voice, "Thank you Lord! Where do you want me to go?"
"Nineveh," God replied, "go to Nineveh." Without thinking, Jonah headed straight for Nineveh. He got drink and food by a traveling caravan and with his strength refilled, he traveled on. He walked across the hot desert until finally he came to the city of Nineveh. The city crawled with people, donkeys, pigs, and dogs. It was well-known that the people would eat the pigs and donkeys sometimes. Jonah looked around. Harlots were in dark corners talking to men. Men were fighting men for money or food. Kids were stealing bags of change from adults and adults were doing the same. Jonah walked to the center of the city where the ruler of the city was watching a fight. The two men were wrestling. The shouts of the crowd were deafening. The monarch then noticed Jonah in the cluster of the chaos. He stood still, not shouting or jumping, and the clothes he had left were Hebrew. The ruler felt that this man had something important to say. So he stopped the fight and asked Jonah to step forth. Everyone got quiet as Jonah walked to the center of the ring. The crowd started to sniff. The putrid and horrid smell coming from Jonah made the crowd hold their noses. Jonah stood confidently in the middle of the crowd.
"You must be a stranger to our city," the ruler said with his cloth over his nose and mouth, "are you friend or foe of our city?"
"I'm a messenger and prophet of the Lord God," Jonah shouted with divine power, "the Lord has told me that this city will be destroyed if you continue in your sin. Stop lying, stop cheating, stop committing adultery, stop stealing, and especially stop fighting and killing each other! Turn your hearts to the Lord or He will burn this place to the ground in 40 days!" The crowd shook with worry and concern. How could this happen? The ruler had a face of horror and consulted his magicians and wizards hoping it wasn't true. Yet after they came back with the same thing, the sovereign, in royal robes, fell on his knees to the ground. He began to weep and cry. He shouted for the scribe to issue a decree.
He said with tears,"Let the city weep and cry. Let everyone repent from their sin, little to big. Perhaps this God of great power who gave us this warning will give us...another chance." The people broke went from the crowd in sobbing. The whole city was in tears. The next day the city had people in sackcloth and ashes on their heads. Tall and short, young and old were in the street crying their heads off. In the midst of all this sorrow, Jonah stayed at an inn where he washed off the smell he had lingered around. He bought new clothes and some food to eat as he sat watching the people wallow in self pity. He had to admit that he had some pity on the people. However, it was soon swept away remembering their prior sins. In his own mind, they deserved to die. Thirty-nine days this went on.
On the fortieth day Jonah went outside of the city into the hot desert wilderness. He sat outside facing the city. This was the day! The day they were supposed to burn and suffer for their sins. Jonah built a small hut out of branches and sticks. It offered little shade, though, and Jonah was baking under the sun. Then he felt a shadow come over him, cooling him down. He turned to see a great vine with large palm leaves to shade him. Jonah smiled and watched in waiting for the city to burn down. Soon night came and Jonah wondered when God was going to destroy the city. "Maybe he will do it over night," he yawned as he went peacefully to sleep. However, while he was sleeping, worms came and started eating the plant. By the next morning the plant was dead and Jonah woke up with the full force of the sun's heat on him. He saw the dead vine and he was angry and upset. He marched out the hut to confront God.