But before the big fish, there's this fascinating little prelude, a kind of "Jonah tries to flee" masterclass.
So, picture this: Jonah gets the divine call, a mission from God. But instead of heading where he's told, he decides to hop on a boat to Tarshish – basically, the opposite direction. He's trying to get away! He arrives in Joppa (modern day Jaffa), hoping to find a ship. But wouldn’t you know it, there's nothing there! No vessel in sight.
Now, here's where the story gets interesting. God, it seems, isn't quite ready to let Jonah go. To test him, to show him, perhaps, that you can't outrun the Divine, a storm brews. And this storm doesn't just happen – it miraculously pushes a ship that was already two days out at sea back to Joppa. Think about that! A ship, already well on its way, forced back to port by a divine wind.
Jonah, interpreting this as a sign of approval, sees this as his golden ticket to escape. He’s so excited about this “opportunity” to leave the land that he pays for the entire cargo of the ship upfront! We're talking a hefty sum here – four thousand gold denarii, according to the tale. That's one expensive getaway!
He sets sail, feeling pretty smug, I imagine. He's outsmarted God, right? Wrong.
Only a day out from shore, a truly terrifying storm erupts. But here's the kicker: it only targets Jonah's ship. All the other vessels are fine. Just Jonah’s. As Ginzberg retells it in Legends of the Jews, this was no ordinary storm. This was a carefully orchestrated lesson.
What's the lesson? Well, it’s pretty clear. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, God is Lord over everything! Heaven, earth, and sea. There's nowhere you can go to hide from Him.
It makes you think, doesn't it? About the times we try to run from what we know we should be doing. About the futility of trying to hide from something bigger than ourselves. And about the gentle, but persistent, ways the universe has of nudging us back on course. Jonah learned his lesson the hard way, tossed about on a stormy sea. What about us?