Fleeing God's Call: In the 8th Century BC, God called on Jonah to go preach to the people of the city of Nineveh. Jonah didn't want to go because the people there were enemies of Israel. Jonah was fearful, so to avoid God's call he boarded a boat bound for Tarshish.
Once on the boat, a terrible storm came up. Jonah confessed to his fellow travelers of his refusal to do God's will. Jonah blamed himself for the storm and wanted to die. He actually asked to be thrown into the sea. So they threw Jonah overboard. There was an immediate calm over the sea and Jonah was instantly swallowed by a great fish.
In the Belly of the "great fish" or whale-like creature, Jonah prayed to God that he might be saved.
God Answered Jonah's Plea and after three days and three nights, the whale coughed up Jonah onto the shore. Jonah once again heard God's call and immediately went to the city of Nineveh. The city was large and dangerous. Jonah spent days warning the people there that they must turn from their sinfulness or their city would be destroyed. Even the king of the city, when he heard Jonah's message, commanded all his people to repent. Success! God was pleased and the city and the people were saved.
Angry with God: Jonah wanted to keep God all to himself and his own people. He was angry that God saved the people of Nineveh. Jonah was exhausted from the task and was resting on a hill over looking the city. In God's infinite mercy, He gave Jonah a tree as shelter from the sun, yet Jonah was ungrateful and still angry. So God sent a worm to destroy the tree and an east wind which made things worse. Jonah was angrier and again, as in the beginning of this story, wanted to die.
Be sure to read this very short book of the Bible for yourself to discover the messages you hear.
Lessons from Jonah
Acrylic on cradled birch panel - 14 X 14
Inspiration: The story of Jonah and the Whale has many layers of learning. There is so much written on the book, one could spend months on an in-depth study especially on Chapter 4 where Jonah's anger says so much about how one responds to life's challenges. I'm not qualified to comment on those things. However...
I do see three BASIC lessons. ONE, always say YES to God's call, TWO, be grateful for whatever God sends, perceived good and ill. THREE, we are all God's children. He loves us all, each and every one, not just a "chosen" few.
About the painting: Because this story is so much more than simply Jonah and the Whale, I wanted to paint more than Jonah praying to be saved. NOTE: Taking some creative license, I painted the worm red in the form of an earth worm, read below.
I made an interesting discovery in the process of creating this piece. Apparently, the worm has greater meaning in the Old Testament. In Hebrew the word for worm is Tola which means to devourer. The red worm was used as a key source to create crimson or scarlet dye used to create textiles. Read more.
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