God's Pursuit

The story of Jonah has been a great children’s story, told and re-told so many times that as with some familiar stories, it can lose its impact over time.

It is the story of one man running from a mission from God he did not want to do. Jonah's attempt to flee from God reminds me of the poem by Francis Thompson, titled "The Hound of Heaven."

"I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days; 

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways    

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.        

Up vistaed hopes I sped;      

And shot, precipitated, Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears, 

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after [italics added] [sic]" (para. 1).

This dynamic story of Jonah and God illustrates an unusual aspect of God not often seen in scripture. Can you think of any other story in the Bible, where God pursued someone who was running from a task to which God called them?  Was God chasing Jonah to show him who was boss? Or is it possible that the mission to which God called Jonah was important, and therefore, why was Jonah's mission so important?

Is it possible that this story isn’t about Jonah but about the group of people God was trying to save? 

Consider the last verse of the book:

“But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city [italics added]” (Jonah 4:11, NIV).

Consider also His response to the city’s repentance: “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened [italics added]” (Jonah 3:10).

Could it be that God’s pursuit of Jonah in this story is not about Jonah, though Jonah certainly thought it was (Jonah 4:1-9), but about His pursuit of the nation of Assyria? The over-arching theme in this story shows God’s love for everyone, even a despised Gentile nation who were not the chosen ones of Israel. This story reflects God's love, His compassion, and His love for a despised people. This story is about God, not Jonah, and His pursuit of a group of people upon whom He wanted to show compassion.

This story, as are all Biblical stories, are about God and how His story connects to humanity’s story….

References

Thompson, F. (2000). The Hound of Heaven. In D.H.S. Nicholson and A.H.E. Lee (Eds.), The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse (239.). New York: Bartleby.com.