Revisiting Jonah
 

The story of Jonah begins when God calls the prophet to go to Nineveh, an enemy city, and tell them to repent or be destroyed. Instead, Jonah flees from God’s call and gets on a ship heading in the opposite direction. A hurricane-force storm blows up and at Jonah’s suggestion, the sailors on the ship throw him overboard to stop the storm and save themselves. But instead of drowning as Jonah undoubtedly expected would happen, the reluctant prophet is swallowed by a huge fish. What happens next may surprise you.

Listen

Imagine yourself swallowed and lodged in the digestive track of a large predatory fish. What do you smell, feel, and hear in the dark? Are there other things in the digestive tract besides you? Now, read the second chapter of Jonah aloud. As you hear these words, imagine them being spoken from within the digestive tract of a large predator fish.

1. Where did you first hear or read the story of Jonah and the whale when you were a child? What is difference between your memories of this story and your understanding of this story now?

Connect

The story of Jonah is the story of a person in a very difficult place in his ongoing relationship with God. It is also the story of each of us who have ever allowed very strong thoughts, feelings or beliefs lead us to take matters into our own hands with unexpected results. Finally, Jonah’s story is also the story of God’s faithfulness in the face of those thoughts, feelings and beliefs and the consequences of the choices we make.

1. Why do you think God summons a large fish to swallow Jonah instead of letting him drown? If you were in Jonah’s shoes, what would you be thinking and feeling?

2. Remember a time when, for some reason, you were running away from God and stopped or were stopped. What did that feel like for you?

3. What changes occurred when that happened?

Reflect

When Jesus is confronted by questioners seeking a sign to prove his divinity, Jesus calls his upcoming death and resurrection the sign of Jonah—a reference to Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish—and says this is the only sign they will get. Paul tells us that, as believers, if we share Jesus’ death, we are also sure to share his resurrection.

1. In addition to the length of time, what are some other comparisons you might be able to make between Jesus and Jonah, their experiences, and their relationship with God?

2. What is a dark, cramped, scary, unknown or unusual and unexpected place or event in your life where you found yourself saying wonderful things about God? Can you explain why?

Direct

Research has shown that human beings tend to think that the way things are at the moment is the way they will be forever. Personally, that’s when I’m the most likely to say, “poor me.” Once I go there, it gets easier and easier for me to believe that God expects me to fend for myself. I’ve dug myself into more than one hole because I decided to believe that God doesn’t care about my predicament. A friend of mine calls this trench warfare—a place where, like Jonah in the belly of the fish, I’m called to stop running away and do the hard work of remembering God’s faithfulness. To practice this, think of a place, difficulty or concern in your life (or the life of someone you care about) where you do not understand what or why something is happening. Try to name at least three tangible ways God is present in this situation.

1. If you were to make a song about your story inside God’s story, a story of your and God’s history together, what events, memories, etc. would your song include?

2. What might God want to add to your song?

Julie Gochenour, contributing editor for F@W Magazine, is both an Episcopalian and a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Julie works for the Virginia Center for Health Outreach at James Madison University and she and her husband live on the family farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.