Jonah was greatly concerned over the condition of his people. He exercised his calling zealously. Yet in the book of Jonah, he receives an unexpected calling. He is called to speak God’s grace and mercy to the enemies of his people and his God. Nineveh is a wicked city at the heart of a wicked empire, proverbial for its rebellion and sinfulness. But one great theme we see in Jonah is God’s mercy to the Gentiles. Christ would come as the Savior of both Jew and Gentile a promise given even in the Old Testament to a pagan world.

God commands Jonah to go: “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah …, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’” Jonah goes immediately, but not to Nineveh. Jonah knows God’s gracious character and sees God’s gracious plan. And it is not what Jonah wants. So Jonah flees from God, the Ninevites, and his calling. But God is sovereign. It is God’s will, not Jonah’s, that is the last word. God is not finished with Jonah. In His sovereignty, He pursues him, and He shows mercy. Mercy that comes through discipline. Along with the wicked Ninevites, Jonah is shown the grace of God. Believer, the God who is sovereign in salvation in this book is also sovereign over your salvation. If you are His, it is because He has pursued you and brought you to Himself. Joining this Lord’s Day as we examine Jonah 1:1-16 and consider the fleeing prophet and the sovereign God.