It would be surprising to come across a person who doesn’t know about Jonah. Most that know about Jonah only know that he was swallowed by a “great fish,” and was in its belly for “three days and three nights.” However, being swallowed by the fish is certainly not the most important part of the record. Following are some lessons learned from the account of Jonah.

1. The Lord wants us to preach to “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). The Lord told Jonah to cry out against the great city of Nineveh “for their wickedness has come up before Me” (1:2). Nineveh was a wicked gentile nation. However, the Lord still loved them. He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Like Jonah, we are messengers of God. We are the light of the world, and we need to let our light shine (cf. Matthew 5:16). Jonah initially did not want to preach to Nineveh. He showed his partiality by fleeing to Tarshish. We humans do not have the capability of judging the heart of man. It is impossible for us to know whether or not a person will obey. We should not “hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (James 2:1). The gospel is for all.
2. Like God, we should have a general concern for every man’s soul. After Nineveh repented, “God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (3:10). This made Jonah angry. The question arises, “why would Jonah be angry about God sparing Nineveh?” It seems as though Jonah had a sectarian spirit. Jonah stated that he knew the Lord would be merciful to Nineveh, and so he originally fled to Tarshish. While we indeed learn the previous lesson from the account, it appears that Jonah had no doubt they would repent. It was made manifest through Jonah’s actions that he wanted Nineveh to perish. Why is this? Nineveh was a wicked, gentile nation. They were not a part of God’s chosen people. Jonah was obviously prejudiced toward them. The Lord showed Jonah the error of his way by preparing a plant to shade Jonah (cf. 4:6). He then prepared a worm which destroyed the plant (cf. 4:7). Jonah pitied the plant and the Lord pointed out to him his crooked way of thinking. He cared more for the plant than he did for the people of Nineveh! We must, like God, “desire all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
3. Disobedience arouses God’s wrath. “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me” (1:12). Jonah disobeyed a direct command from the Lord. This was unacceptable. Many do not understand the true nature of God. Yes, “the goodness of God endures continually” (Psalm 52:1). However, “consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22). God’s goodness is conditional upon our obedience. Jonah was being used by God to do good works, but when he refused, God’s wrath was aroused. So it will be in the end. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19).
4. God is merciful and forgiving upon repentance. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (1:17). While in the belly of the fish, Jonah showed his repentance by offering up a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. He recognized that the things that happened to him were caused by the Lord. He was being taught a lesson. Jonah recognized that “Salvation is of the Lord,” (2:9) and that he had no right to neglect Nineveh of the message God instructed him to deliver. “So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10). The Lord gave Jonah a second chance to do what he was told. The Lord is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Each day the sun rises, God is giving us another opportunity to be right with Him.

The account of Jonah is beneficial to our faith. There is a lot more to Jonah’s history than merely him being swallowed by a great fish. Remember that the things written before were written for our learning, and we need to utilize them (cf. Romans 15:4). May we always keep in mind that we are responsible for preaching to all the nations, we must have a concern for every man’s soul, God punishes disobedience, and He is merciful and forgiving.