The story of Jonah is one of the most popular stories from the bible. Most of us will remember the story of Jonah as one of the bibles greatest miracles. The story of Jonah however much deeper than that of a big fish with a big belly. We pick up the story in Jonah 1:1-4 where God asks Johan to go to Nineveh with a message. “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” We find out later that Jonah ends up being thrown out of the ship.  God also prepares a big fish to swallow up Jonah and he ends up spending three days in the belly of the fish before crying out to the Lord and agreeing to deliver God’s message to the people of Nineveh. Jonah ultimately makes it to Nineveh delivers the message and they all repent from their sins and God spares their destruction.

When God asked Jonah to deliver the news to the Ninevites he was not happy because it meant that God would forgive his enemies. The fact that his enemies would be spared and would be shown the same kindness that God showed his own people angered him to the point that he decided to run away and disobey God instead. Jonah just could not be happy for the Ninevites and he made sure to let God know that he wasn’t happy either. Jonah even tells God  “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” 

We see God teach him a lesson to let Jonah know why he cared for the Ninevites by providing him a plant for shade in the desert but kills it later. Jonah gets angry and we see in Jonah 4:9-11. “Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

What we learn from the story of Jonah is not just about obedience to God but also a lesson in loving your enemies. This is a hard teaching but Jesus teaches the same thing in the New Testament that God tried to teach Jonah in the Old Testament. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” If you still take joy in the destruction of your enemies and the misfortune of those you hate then just like Jonah, you are still in the belly of the fish disobedient to God.

God has a plan to deliver your enemies and he loves them just like he loves you. This is not easy for anyone to accept and it will even cause some of us to run away from God, just like Jonah did but this is the ultimate test of your faith. To love your enemies and to pray for them and to be happy when God blesses them is obedience to God. Is it easy to do? No! that is why you need God to help you do it just like he did for Jonah. Being happy for others(even those you may hate) and seeing them as God sees them is the true lesson in the story of Jonah. After all to love your enemies you have to remove your hatred towards them.