Essay on God's Prophet Jonah: Disobedience & Rebellion or Faith in Change?

Introduction

Jonah, being chosen as a prophet by God, brought about behaviors that did not make sense when differentiated with the other people chosen by God in the Old Testament. His actions portrayed disobedience and rebellion. However, Jonah meant no harm to come to God's people and in going against God's will. Being a prophet during the times in Israel, seeing the idolatry and many other sins committed by the people of Israel, he lacked the faith whereby God would change his people's hearts or foreign men's hearts. He also had a fear of what he may become due to disobeying God's will. The second disconnection came when Jonah prioritized his country over God and other countries. Judging by Jonah's actions, he lacked to understand what faith meant, which is the opposite of what he taught his people. He also felt that dying would be better for him and God since he rebelled against God several times. Even though the Ninevites did not seem to resist to change their actions in the presence of the threat as God had instructed Jonah to give them the message, Jonah still resisted relaying the message to them. Hence, disconnecting from God.

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Things that happen when Christian Leaders cease to live by God's Call

One of the essential roles of Christian leaders is to live by the call to love God and their neighbors. However, when they cease to live by that call, problems occur in the leaders' lives, the people around them, the ones called by God through the leaders and the world in general. The solution can only be offered by God by choosing other prepared followers. According to Hayyim Angel, most leaders in the current world are as tricky as Jonah, hence fixing them can be a challenging process. The result of not living by the call of God brings about terrible things; thus, leaders perish so as the people of God. It is because the people of God are left to do the duties which are meant to be done by the leaders chosen by God. Hence, every person under the leaders bears the costs of their disobedience because of their (leaders) actions against God.

Ways in which Jonah's disobedience was part of his Ethical Development

Ephesians 6: 12 says that "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places." It generally means that Christian leaders, getting into God's will, and having the willingness to remain in God's will is a huge struggle for them. One way in which Jonah's disobedience became a part of his ethical development is when he was thrown overboard by the men in the ship in which he boarded. A fish then swallowed him for three days without any food or water. His disobedience brought him those misfortunes, and he finally decided to pray to God to forgive and save him. Hence, this led to his ethical development since he went to Nineveh and conveyed God's message to the people. Meaning that, even if Christian leaders try to defy God's will in their lives, it will reach a point where they will be broken until they accept His will.

How my Ethics have been shaped by the tough Seasons of Life

There have been many tough seasons that I have gone through in my life. Many of those seasons have left me losing faith in God and disobeying His will for my life. The sins and mistakes I have made in my life are what has shaped me to be who I am today. I have gone away from God just like Jonah did during his seasons. I have been rebellious and disobedient to God's will. However, since I got to know what God entails of and how much He cares for me and my life, I have come to appreciate Him more and giving Him the all that is meant for Him. For example, my time when I praise his name, I have always given my life fully for Him to do His will. During my toughest seasons, God has been patient with me, shaped me, and developed my ethics in ways I could not imagine. He had sustained my life even when I did not believe in His will on my life, just like God sustained Jonah's life when he was facing his troubles. We should. Therefore, all trust God with everything that we do, for he will deliver His goodness on us even during the toughest seasons in our lives. For instance, the king of Nineveh chose to trust in God when the message was conveyed to them by Jonah. He did not consult his councilmen on what to do, but he decided to believe in God wholeheartedly and do His bidding.

Two Ethical Principles in the Book of Jonah which can inform my Ethics and Values

The first ethical principle I have learned is God's will. The will is deduced from personal experience, and numerous narratives in the bible, particularly the one of Jonah, no matter how much we try and evade God's will, it will always come to pass. We always try to do things against God's will; thus, it brings us misfortunes and problems, until we accept His will. Hence, we should always put God first in everything that we do and pray to God to fulfill His will on our lives. The second ethical principle I have come to learn is God will choose anyone and anything, anywhere to make sure that His will is done. God made Jonah do His bidding by making a big fish swallow him for three days for him to accept His will. Despite Jonah's disobedience and rebellion against God, His will prevailed, and it was Jonah who fulfilled it.

Bibliography

Andrews, Michael W. "The Sign of Jonah: Jesus in the Heart of the Earth." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 61, no. 1 (2018): 105-119.

Angel, Hayyim, "The Book of Jonah: A Call to Personal Responsibility" (September 1995):56-67. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed August 29, 2017).

Levine, Etan, "Justice in Judaism: The Case of Jonah," The Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5, No. 2 (2002): 170-197, accessed August 28, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

Sadun, Rina, "Sometimes, Everyone Lives: Jonah and the Genesis Flood Story," Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa 38, no. 2 (September 2014): 1-12, accessed August 29, 2017, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

Timmer, Daniel C. A gracious and compassionate God: Mission, salvation, and spirituality in the book of Jonah. Vol. 26. Intervarsity Press, 2016.