Tarshish In The Book Of Jonah

In this essay, I will argue that the book of Jonah illustrates the process God takes to refine the characters of His servants, and how He chooses to work through sinful people to bring about redemption. This process is first exemplified by God’s orchestration of events to redeem Jonah from his disobedience. Secondly, the narrative demonstrates Jonah’s prideful nature, in contrast with the humble nature seen in the Ninevites’ repentance, which kept him from experiencing true, lasting repentance. Lastly, God was able to work to redeem his people, even through Jonah’s imperfect and rebellious attitude. As part of the redemption process, God orchestrated certain events to take place to initiate the process of refining Jonah’s disobedient nature.
God sent a storm, not for the purpose of destruction, but to lead to the redemption of His servant. We can infer that God was beginning to work on Jonah’s heart during the storm, as the prophet who was not willing to sacrifice his will to follow God’s calling was now inclined to sacrifice his life for the sailors. He realized that ‘for [his] sake this great tempest [was] upon the [sailors]’, and commanded them to ‘cast [him] forth into the sea’ (verse 12). This was the first moment noted in the narrative where Jonah, laying aside his selfish priorities, was willing to give up his comfort—in this case his life—for the well-being of someone else. As they cast Jonah into the water, the ‘Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow [him] up’ (verse 17). This is another instance of God using any means possible to refine the heart of Jonah. It was during the uncomfortable experience in the stomach of this fish that Jonah called out to God, seeking deliverance. During his prayer, Jonah explained his situation in past tense, but then switched to present and future tense saying, ‘I am cast out of thy