Changing the Way we Think

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord."

Isaiah 55:8 NKJV

Jerusalem was attacked and invaded by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC, the temple was destroyed, and the Jews were deported to Babylon. Seventy years later, following Cyrus' edict, some returned to their homeland, while others decided to remain in the diaspora. Returning to Jerusalem meant rebuilding the city walls and the temple, but above all rebuilding the identity of the people. The Jewish community rose again under the umbrella of priests and scribes, whose work became a mixture of nationalism and religion. Thus, in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, in order to recover the identity of a pure people according to Mosaic law, all contact with foreign populations was forbidden, and those who had married foreign women were commanded to send them away (Ezra 9-10, Nehemiah 9). However, the women who were driven out were the mothers of the children who remained there and who were deprived of their mother's love. God, who is especially interested in those who cannot distinguish between right and left, how could he ignore them and neglect their children? We come to the book of Jonah, probably written during this period, which can be divided into two sections: in the first, the prophet does not respond positively to the call, as he will do in the second. He is too conditioned by his resentment towards the Ninevites and chooses the opposite direction (Tarshish). In fact, he hides on a ship with a crew of pagans, who through various vicissitudes come to believe in God.

By rejecting the Ninevites, salvation reaches the crew of the ship in the midst of a storm. In fact, those men recognize that the God of Israel is the true God. He is thrown into the sea and swallowed by a large fish. Only after praying is he vomited out by the animal and sees the light again. In the second section, Jonah enters the city of Nineveh. A parallel symbolism unites the two stories. The ship and the city represent humanity, to which a voice of hope is addressed, which can also become a voice of condemnation if rejected. Jonah's preaching is limited to announcing doom; he does not ask the Ninevites to repent or to straighten their paths. His message is as brief as it is effective: it leads to conversion and a total change in spiritual, moral, and material conditions. Total change. Many words are not needed, but what we declare can produce a reaction, just as in Jonah's announcement. The Ninevites believe and react to the words and proclaim a fast. They were so touched and struck in their consciences that they extended the process of conversion to animals, covering them with sackcloth and ashes, something that had never happened in Israel. Even if one were to object that what is recounted in the book is a fable and not a real event, it is of little importance, since the whole story would still be paradigmatic of our lives. In it, we first see the conversion of the Ninevites, then that of God, who decides not to destroy them as he had declared.

The two conversions lead us to consider that it is Jonah (and we with him) who must convert and change his way of thinking. In fact, the prophet believed that God's mercy could not (but also should not) reach the Ninevites. He was fully aware of God's possible change, while he himself was unable or unwilling to change his mind. A pedagogical action triggers a process of change in the prophet, which culminates in a series of strange events. God is the only one who remains credible despite what the prophet thinks of him. Jonah is like a long-term patient suffering from a terminal illness triggered by his resentment towards the Assyrians and pagans in general and his hatred of God. The Lord, however, sits at his bedside and, with a series of “therapeutic” tools, slowly frees him from his ills, until he becomes an instrument of redemption for others. The one who initially did not have the courage to denounce becomes the voice of change and conversion for the Ninevites. The invisible hand of God made him fit for the mission and able to shake a great city of his time. I am convinced that his figure can be an inspiration to a generation challenged to challenge, called to change in order to change, to renew in order to renew, to listen to the voice of God in order to speak with power in His name. Our thoughts are not His.

---

Weekly Bible Reading Plan #28

July 7, Job 34-35; Acts 15:1-21

July 8, Job 36-37; Acts 15:22-41

July 9, Job 38-40; Acts 16:1-21

July 10, Job 41-42; Acts 16:22-40

July 11, Psalms 1-3; Acts 17:1-15

July 12, Psalms 4-6; Acts 17:16-34

July 13, Psalms 7-9; Acts 18