The story of Jonah and the Whale has many lessons to teach us. It has a great deal to say about faith, and about doing the right thing, and about finding the light at the end of the tunnel when all seems lost.
The story begins with the city of Nineveh, where the people had turned away from the Lord and were doing many evil things. Jonah was asked by God to venture to Nineveh and tell the people to correct their ways, or they would be punished. But Jonah didn’t want to help the people — he knew they were doing bad things, and he wanted them to be punished for their deeds.
So instead of doing what God asked, Jonah ran away. He found a boat that was going to a far-away port, and he paid the Captain to take him with them. He went to the bottom of the boat and went to sleep as the boat headed out to sea.
Soon, the boat ran into a terrible storm. The men on the ship were scared and knew that they might capsize soon if the storm didn’t let up. The captain came down to the bottom of the boat and found Jonah was still asleep! He woke him up and asked him how he could possibly sleep at a time like this…they needed his help!
Jonah knew the storm was his fault. He had displeased God. He told the men to throw him overboard and the storm would stop. They didn’t want to hurt him, so they refused, but soon, the storm was bad enough that they had no choice. They threw Jonah overboard and immediately the storm quieted and the men were safe. But Jonah was not…the men watched as he was swept into the mouth of a whale.
Jonah was in the whale’s mouth for three days. During that time he realized that God had sent the whale to keep him from drowning, and he was grateful. He prayed and told God how sorry he was, and asked for another chance. After three days, God commanded the whale to let Jonah go, and it did, placing him on dry land.
This time, Jonah did just what God asked. He went to Nineveh and told them what God had said. Much to Jonah’s surprise, the people believed him, and set about to change their ways. When God saw that they were turning to good instead of evil, he was pleased, and made the decision not to destroy their city.
But Jonah was angry. He believed they should have been punished for their sins. God came to Jonah and explained that forgiveness is given to everyone if they do what they should do, and pointed out that Jonah was freed from the whale — should he have been punished without mercy for disobeying God?
The lesson learned is that God loves everyone, even when they do bad things, and that turning away from evil and finding God will not result in punishment, but rather, in forgiveness.