Jonah: God's coward

One thing I know y'all know is the story of Jonah (Jonas). Anyway, a while ago, my nephew and I had gone over the story, and decided that Jonah is “God's coward”.
Let's start with what Jonah was called to do. Now, because of copyright, and because like most Americans, I'm sure that you own a Bible (and if you're not American, BUY a Bible, this is the version I used to put this together, Ignatius Bible (RSV), 2nd Edition/), I can't type every verse.
Anyway, “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah, son of Amit'ai, saying, “Arise, go to Nin'eveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me”.

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And what did Jonah do in response? “But Jonah rose to flee to Tar'shish, from the presence of the LORD. (Jonah 1:3).
And what did God do in response? He brought about a “great wind” (Jonah 1:4) .
And that's just in the first few verses!
And it even looks like the people he was with (presumably pagan), knew that they were suffering because Jonah was trying to escape his responsibility! (Jonah 1:5-6).
And of course, they cast lots and blamed Jonah (Jonah 1:7).
They then ask Jonah what the deal is, and what he does (Jonah 1:8-9). And they knew the problems they were having were because of him.
(Jonah 1:10).
And afterwards, after they ask what they should do, Jonah asks what any sane person would do, tells them to throw him into the sea (Jonah 1:11-12).
The men tried to row back to shore (Jonah 1:13), (The Highwaymen - Michael (Row The Boat Ashore))
and petitioned God for to save them, and even thanked God, (Jonah 1:15-16). And of course, the completely predictable turn in any good story, a giant fish eats Jonah (Jonah 1:17).
So, Jonah prays for deliverance (Jonah 2:1-9). And the fish vomits out Jonah, ”And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land”, (Jonah 2:10).
And so God tells Jonah to tell Nineveh to repent (Jonah 3:1-2), and he does exactly that (Jonah 3:3-4).
And wouldn't you know it? The people of Nineveh repented (Jonah 3:5).
Even the king repented (Jonah 3:6). even the King repented! (Jonah 3:6), and called on his city to fast.
(“And he made proclamation and published through Nin'eveh, “By the decree of the king, and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows? God may yet repent and turn from the fierce anger, so that we perish not”? (Jonah 3:7-9).
And God didn't overthrow the city! (Jonah 3:10).
Yet Jonah still finds a reason to complain! (Jonah 4:1-3), and God responds (Jonah 4:4), and the Jonah, WHO HAD JUST WARNED THE CITY TO REPENT, apparently waits for the city to be destroyed, (Jonah 4:5).
God does give Jonah some relief from the heat. (Jonah 4:6), and God sent a worm to kill the plant (Jonah 4:7), and brought about a great wind after the sun rose, so that Jonah was “faint” (Jonah 4:8).
Jonah, who had just spent the entire story RUNNING AWAY FROM GOD, asks to die, , and God (quite rightly, I might add), points out to him that Jonah had nothing to do with the plant that was giving him shade, and has no real right to be angry at it, and Jonah responds like a teenager (Jonah 4:9). And the books ends with these words, “And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nin'eveh, that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle”?
(Jonah 4:10-11).
God is right. Jonah doesn't really have a right to complain. He kept fleeing his responsibility, and is complaining because of things happening to him.
None of those things would have happened to him, had he just done what God told him to begin with.

Adam Charles Hovey is the founder of the Catholicism, News, and Whatever community on Locals, and the host of the weekly Bible study, Coffee and Christianity

*All verses from  Ignatius Edition, Copyright 2006, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.