How does Jonah inspire Christians today?

Answer 1

The question makes you wonder if Jonah is an inspiration... for anyone. To me he comes off as pretty much a "coward," running away from God as he did [where do you run to on planet earth to get away from God? I don't know]

Jonah just doesn't come across as being particularly spiritually adept at dealing with life. He whined and complained about his situation, like you hear any carnal minded person do every day.

"The LORD gave this message to Jonah... But Jonah got up and went THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION IN ORDER TO GET AWAY from the LORD..." (Jonah 1:1-3 NLT New Living Translation)

Perhaps if there is inspiration in Jonah, it is that "he finally did what God commanded him to do" -- which is the very thing God has always commanded of all of mankind:

"...Abraham OBEYED MY VOICE..." (Gen.26:5).

"...IF YE WILL OBEY MY VOICE..." (Ex.19:5).

"...this thing commanded I them, saying, OBEY MY VOICE..." (Jer.7:23).

"Ye are My friends, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU." (John 15:14)

But even after Jonah complied with God's command, his apparent lack of the Holy Spirit within him left him "spiritually empty." In fact when God didn't destroy Nineveh as He warned:

"This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry." (Jon.4:1 NLT)

Jonah's inspiration would seem somewhat less than inspirational regarding one's potential "obedience to the LORD":

"So he COMPLAINED TO THE LORD about it... JUST KILL ME NOW, LORD! I'd rather be dead than alive because NOTHING I PREDICTED is going to happen." (verse 3)

If anything, this sounds more like an inspiration for the carnal minded of this world to whine, complain, and discount God [and everything else] as having any relevance in life and the world.

The True inspiration in Jonah's book comes from God's comments, not Jonah's comments or over all attitude.

"The LORD replied, 'Is it right for you to be angry about this?'" (Jonah 4:4 NLT)

Then God comforted Jonah with the cooling shade of a leafy plant. Then the plant died and Jonah once more "wished he were dead":

"...'Death is certainly better than this!' he exclaimed.

Then God said to Jonah, 'Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?"

"'YES,' Jonah retorted, 'even ANGRY ENOUGH TO DIE!'" (verses 8-9)

God's Words are the inspiration here, while Jonah's negative, carnal minded attitude remains less than inspirational.

"...'You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And the plant is, at best, short lived. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 PEOPLE living in SPIRITUAL DARKNESS, not to mention all the animals. SHOULDN'T I FEEL SORRY FOR SUCH A GREAT CITY?'" (verses 10-11)