What mistake is that?  I’m glad you asked.  The mistake they make in “Jonah” is to assume that Jonah is the central character of that story.  I know it sounds kind of silly that the main character in the BOOK OF JONAH is not Jonah, but its the truth.  They have a song that’s playing in my twin’s room right now that says:

“Jonah was a prophet, but he really never got it
And if you watch him, you can spot it
He did not get the point. . .
Compassion and mercy, from me to you and you to me
Exactly what God wants to see, and yes that is the point.”

This is kind of like a Bible study curriculum I saw recently on the book of Jonah whose subtitle was “A whale of a lesson on obedience.”  Or how about the popular kids’ song I grew up singing:

Come and listen to my fearful tale
Of the ocean blue
How a man got swallowed by a whale
Yes I know it’s true

(Chorus)
Jonah! Jonah! Did not obey God immediately
Jonah! Jonah! Down in the depths of the deep, blue sea

Jonah did not like what God had said
So he made a plan
Jonah sailed the ocean blue instead
Then a storm began

(Chorus)
Jonah! Jonah! Did not obey God immediately
Jonah! Jonah! Down in the depths of the deep, blue sea

If you try to run from God, BEWARE!
You’ll discover too
That the Lord above is everywhere
Watching all you do

(Chorus)
Jonah! Jonah! Did not obey God immediately
Jonah! Jonah! Down in the depths of the deep, blue sea

We continually see the book of Jonah center around Jonah.  At this point you might be thinking, “Duh.  Its called Jonah.  The book is named after the guy.”  But the book of Jonah is very unfulfilling and disappointing if Jonah really is the central character.  The book becomes this lesson about obedience that teaches you that God is standing there waiting to smite you (or feed you to fishes) if you step out of line.

But lets step back from this simplistic look at the book of Jonah for a minute and consider who the main character really is.  I would contend that the main character in any Bible story should be God.  And each story should be approached with the question, “What does this teach me about God?”  It matters a lot less to explore the question, “What does this teach me about Jonah? or Joseph? or Daniel? or David?”

So what does the book of Jonah teach us about God?  First, I think it teaches us that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.  Did the Ninevites deserve God’s grace?  Obviously not.  Jonah certainly didn’t think so.  Notice that so often we hear that Jonah didn’t go to Ninevah because he was afraid of the Ninevites.  But the truth is that Jonah wasn’t afraid of the Ninevites, he was afraid that God would show mercy to the Ninevites.  He didn’t run away from God’s command because he was afraid of the Ninevites.  He ran away because he thought he could thwart God’s plan of redemption for the Ninevites.  But even though the Ninevites didn’t deserve God’s grace and mercy, He chose to show it to them.

Secondly, I think Jonah teaches us that God will move Heaven and earth (and fishes and reluctant prophets) to accomplish His purposes.  When God set out to show His mercy to the Ninevites, He didn’t let a disobedient prophet get in His way.  The story of Jonah is not primarily about Jonah’s disobedience, but rather about God’s persistence in bringing His message to His elect.

Third, we learn that God is not a respecter of persons in the sense that the gospel is for all people of every class, nation, tribe, and language.  The Ninevites were not members of the Israelite covenant.  They instead were their enemies.  But God showed His mercy to them anyway.  We become like Jonah when we fail to realize God’s saving purposes for people of all types.  We should never turn down our noses towards someone and think that they couldn’t possibly deserve God’s mercy or our time and energy.

The problem with VeggieTales is that you never really see God show up.  The stories are a bunch of moralistic tales that teach a lesson that is a good lesson, but is missing the power behind the lesson.  I can tell my kids to be compassionate unlike Jonah, but they can’t work up compassion in themselves.  They need Christ to do that in them.  So rather than focusing on themselves and trying to become more compassionate, they need to focus on Christ and let Christ create the compassion in them.

So let me encourage those of you who are teachers of the Word of God.  Let God be the main character of every Bible story.  The story of Jonah is not about a disobedient prophet.  The story of David is not about a courageous young boy.  The story of Daniel is not simply about praying despite the consequences.  The story of Joseph is not just about a dreamer of dreams.  Jonah is about God moving Heaven and earth to show His grace and mercy to a people group who didn’t deserve it.  David is about God saving His own people in a most unusual way so everyone would know it was God that won the victory.  Daniel is about God preserving His children, even when they were under persecution.  And Joseph is about God sovereignly moving men’s hearts and nature’s forces to preserve His chosen people.  Let kids walk away from a Bible lesson, not thinking what a great guy Daniel was or what a lousy prophet Jonah was, but rather, what an awesome God we serve.