Thursday, January 25, 2024  

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Scripture Reading
Jonah 3:1–5, 10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (NRSV)

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Reflection

Many of us are familiar with the children’s story arc of Jonah as the prophet who ran away, was swallowed by a whale, and was eventually spit back in the right direction, but I’d argue the second half of Jonah’s tale is even more intriguing!

As with many biblical passages, there is a lot of history lurking under the surface that helps explain why Jonah was so disinterested in his prophetic mission. Nineveh was (for a time) the capital of the Neo-Assyrian empire — the empire that utterly destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE and was absolutely despised in the Ancient Near East. Because of this, Jonah had zero desire to see the Assyrians repent or be recipients of God’s mercy, so he begrudgingly offers them one sentence of prophecy in verse 4: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Simple as it is, this prophecy contains layers of meanings: “Forty” is often used as an indeterminate time period of testing or judgment in the biblical text, and the Hebrew word for “overthrown” can either mean “destroyed” or “transformed.” Jonah wanted their destruction, but the Ninevites instead transformed themselves and were forgiven by God — much to Jonah’s dismay.

The book of Jonah challenges us to embrace the full ramifications of believing in God’s boundless love and grace, knowing we too often sit in judgment of our neighbors. There are no easy answers here — in fact, Jonah is one of the two biblical books to end in a question — but we are asked to look closely for those times when we are like the petulant prophet, hoping for others’ destruction rather than desiring their transformation.

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Prayer
God of grace and compassion, help me to be ever expanding the limits I place on my love — seeking always to be more like you. Amen.

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Written by Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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