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Thoughts on Jonah's spiritual journey (part 1). . .

Jonah's Journey Preparation

by Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer

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." 

I like to observe that God must have inserted Jonah's spiritual journey into the Bible because it is the perfect example of how not to journey!  In Endless Possibilities (pages 88-89), I've included a brief synopsis of Jonah's journey mistakes.  In this and next month's articles, I'd like to explore Jonah's journey in order to bring out journey lessons that are not mentioned in the book.

Jonah's Preparation for the Nineveh Journey

Jonah's spiritual journey account obviously begins with phase 2 of his Nineveh journey (Jonah 1:1-2).   God calls him to travel to the Assyrian capital in order to confront the population with its wickedness (in the hope that they would repent).  From a spiritual journey perspective, the following question naturally arises: "How did God prepare Jonah for this call?"  The answer is hinted at not in Jonah, but in the prophetic history book of 2 Kings:

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. The LORD had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.  (2 Kings 14:23-27)

This passage indicates that Jonah was from Gath Hepher, a town near Nazareth, and that he prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.).  Jonah's prophetic ministry was broadly patriotic in nature; he predicts the enlarging of Israel's territory.  The positive tone of Jonah's message is troubling, however, because Jeroboam II was an evil monarch.   Normally, leadership of his kind invited God's judgment, not blessing (no wonder the writer of 2 Kings takes great pains to explain the anomaly). 

For our purposes, the passage explains why Jonah was selected by God for the Nineveh journey.   Only someone with such impeccable pro-Israel credentials could get away with the blessing of Israel's enemy.  Anyone else would have been instantly branded a traitor, and Jeroboam II would have wasted no time in punishing such a messenger.  Jonah's patriotic predisposition also explains his personal distaste for the call he receives from God.

Jonah's Preparation for Blessing His Enemies

There's even more to the story, I believe.  There is a spiritual journey principle that God often calls us to fulfill the unfinished journeys of those who precede us.  There are two ways this plays out:

1. We are called to complete an unfinished journey by reaching a journey goal (destination) that others have not reached.  Two examples will suffice: Abram completes the unfinished journey of his father, Terah (Genesis 11:27-12:3), and Joshua completes Moses' journey by bringing the people into the promised land (Deuteronomy 31).  

2. We are called to a journey which will amplify a theme which has previously been expressed by someone else's journey.   This is illustrated by John the Baptist and Jesus.   The redemptive Messianic theme of the former's ministry is amplified by Jesus' journey; Jesus takes the theme to its logical conclusion.  The same can be said of the relationship between Israel and the Church; both are God's covenant people.  The Church's journey amplifies the "covenantal people" theme through its inclusion of Gentiles.   When a journey amplifies a theme, it takes it to the next level of expression.  The journeys which expressed the theme in the past are not unfulfilled (as in "1" above); rather, they are successfully completed journeys which express the theme adequately, but not in its totality.  As such, they are part of God's plan, for they serve as preparation for the next expression of the journey theme.

The historical amplification of a journey theme is illustrated by Jonah's journey.  Jonah is presented by the writer of 1-2 Kings as the third in a line of three prophets; the other two are Elijah and Elisha.  The journeys these two men of God embraced prepared the way for Jonah's journey, and when we examine those journeys, we see a clear progression of the journey theme of "blessing one's enemy".

1. Elijah is called to travel to Zarephath in Sidon to bless a widow (1 Kings 17:7-24).  Sidon was a Phoenician city, and the Phoenicians were hostile enemies of the Jews.  Nevertheless, Elijah blesses one of these people - a widow.  The theme of "blessing one's enemy" is thus initially expressed in an innocuous way.  Who could object to this journey, since it can't possibly harm Israel in any way?

2. Elisha is called to take the theme of "blessing one's enemy" to the next level when he is called to bless a Syrian army commander (2 Kings 5:1-19).  Unlike the widow of Zarephath, Namaan did represent a fairly significant threat to Israel. 

3. Next comes Jonah's journey.  The threat from the Phoenicians and Syrians paled in comparison to the political and military threat posed by the dominant empire of the eighth century B.C. - the Assyrians.  Jonah's phase 2 call certainly represents a quantum leap in the "blessing one's enemies" theme previously expressed by Elijah and Elisha!   Not only are the numbers increased (he is to preach and save hundreds of thousands of people instead of just an individual), but the potential impact on Israel's security is magnified.  By saving the enemy's capital city, Jonah preserves Assyria's ascendency (which eventually leads to the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel).

I wonder if, when Jonah received his Nineveh journey call, he reflected on the experiences of his predecessors.   Jesus, years later, certainly did:

"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown.   I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.   Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.  And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed - only Naaman the Syrian."  (Luke 4:24-27)

Although the logic of the historical progression of the journey theme is compelling, Jonah rejects the call and begins a shadow journey away from God's will.  Rather than basing his decision on his personal dislike of the Assyrians or his political ideology, Jonah would have made a wiser decision by contemplating how his prophetic ministry was linked to the journeys of Elijah and Elisha.   Their journeys validated his call, and should have given him courage and faith to embrace God's will. 

Journey Discussion Questions

1. As you review your past spiritual journeys, what credentials has God given you which enable you to fulfill your present journey themes?
2. Can you identify any unfulfilled journeys of others that God has given you to complete?
3. Can you identify any journey themes you've embraced which are amplifications of the journey themes of others who journeyed before you?

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