Jonah, Porcupines & God’s Compassionate Love

 Have you ever seen a group of porcupines trying to keep warm in a blizzard? They huddle close together but just as they begin to feel the heat, their sharp quills begin to prick each other and they move apart. Soon they are cold and need to come together yet again. Porcupines in the cold can be like the church; they “need” each other but often end up “needling” each other.

As a brand new preacher, I was invited to a banquet given by a national organization. By our plates were brochures describing their beliefs and inviting us to join. On the last page was a list of questions each beginning with, “Do you believe…?” One question came from the book of Jonah: “Do you believe Jonah spent three days in the belly of a big fish?” Can you feel a quill stinging?

An enthusiastic answer of, “Yes, Jonah was fish food!” would pass the test and I would be welcomed as a fellow porcupine, oops, I mean member of the group. (Hooray!?)  A “No, Jonah was a fable designed to teach a lesson.” answer would get me a sharp quill and an invitation to get warm with another group of porcupines. An, “I’m not sure!” answer would be a signal for them to swarm around me like flies over honey trying to convert me to their beliefs. I was in trouble.    

The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh! Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked it’s people are.” (Jonah 1:1) What is Nineveh? Let’s modernize the story: The Lord gave this message to Larry son of Davies: “Get up and go to the great city of Baghdad, Iraq because of the wickedness of it’s leader, Saddam Hussein…” In other words, the city of Nineveh was feared and hated by all Jews.

Jonah reacted as many would under these circumstances… He ran and boarded a ship heading in the opposite direction. Why? He could have been afraid, but mostly he ran because they were the enemy and he detested them. That’s understandable. If you’ve ever wished for one of those smart bombs to land in Saddam’s living room you can appreciate what motivates Jonah.

A violent storm seizes the ship and Jonah is eventually thrown overboard. A big fish swallows him and for three days, he cries out to the Lord. The fish gets a bellyache and out comes a reformed Jonah, ready to carry out God’s commands. Is it possible? Yes and no, but that is what miracles are all about. However, if you spend too much time here, you miss God’s lesson.

Jonah goes to Nineveh saying that within forty days, God will destroy the city and all of it’s inhabitants. Everyone from the king on down begins to repent. At first, this may sound strange but in Assyrian society, if the king repented… everyone repented, or else. Jonah should have been overjoyed but he was actually angry. “I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” Truly, Jonah wanted God to destroy his enemies.

Here is the lesson: Jonah, still angry, sets up camp to see what happens next. During the heat of the day, God provides a plant to grow behind him and give shade. This makes Jonah happy but the next day, a worm chews up the plant and during the oppressive heat, Jonah gets angry again.

God said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people… Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (4:10-11) What is the real message of Jonah? God’s love, compassion and mercy can include everyone who seeks it… the people of Nineveh or Baghdad, the people who believe Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and those who aren’t really sure. Maybe that is why we all desperately need to regularly read and learn from the Bible?

Yes we are like porcupines in the cold. We come together for warmth and often stick each other in the process. Only God’s compassionate all-forgiving love can remove our quills. A child wandered off and could not be found though everyone searched all day. The next morning, one and all decided to hold hands and search every square inch together. They found the child, but due to the cold night he had not survived. In her anguish and tears, the mother cried, “If only we would have held hands sooner!”

Yes indeed, if only we would all hold hands sooner!