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Sing-a-Long with Jonah
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Jonah
Cartoon’s transcript
Narrator: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city…
Boy: Hey excuse me mister, are you pretending to be God?
Narrator: No little boy, I am only the narrator…
Boy: Oh ok, thank you for the clarification!
Narrator: As I was saying… or as God was saying to Jonah “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” However, the hero of our story was somewhat reluctant to carry out this task and instead he hoped on a boat heading in the opposite direction.
While he was on his way to Tarshish a mighty tempest began to blow across the sea. The terrified mariners began crying out to their pagan gods for help while our friend Jonah was fast asleep.
Captain: What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish. Argh!
Jonah: I er… let me get dressed and I’ll meet you on deck.
Mariner #1: Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.
Narrator: As the lots were cast, the lot fell on Jonah!
Boy: Hey Mr. Narrator man, what’s a lot?
Narrator: Hey… interrupting child, it is how they used to appeal to God to try and determine the answer to something they could not know by themselves. Like drawing a long straw out of a handful of short straws.
Boy: oh I thought it was lots of something, like lots of chocolate. That sounds good, I’d like lots of chocolate.
Narrator: Yes, that sounds delicious. However! The sailors discovered that Jonah was the cause of the storm.
Mariner #1: Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is ye occupation? And where do ye come from? What is ye country? And of what people are ye?
Jonah: Ye am, er I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
Mariner #2: What shall we do to ye that the sea may be calm for us? For it be tempestuous!
Jonah: Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of ye, I mean me!
Narrator: And so the sailors reluctantly picked up Jonah and threw him overboard, praying for God’s forgiveness for fear of being found guilty of ending Jonah’s life. When the seas ceased from raging the fear of God came over the sailors who offered sacrifices and made vows to the Eternal.
Narrator: And yet, as he was sinking in the vast waters, Jonah’s life did not come to an end that day for God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.
Boy: Wasn’t it a whale?
Narrator: No, it says it was a fish.
Boy: But a whale’s big and makes more sense.
Narrator: It says… fish!
Boy: ok, I kind of like whales better.
Narrator: Listen! … dear sweet boy, Jonah was in the belly of the FISH for three days and three nights! Which is highly significant, by the way, but that’s for another story. As he was sitting in a rather smelly, soggy and saddened state Jonah prayed to God.
Jonah: … The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You…
Narrator: After three days and three nights God spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Fish: hurgh! Urgh! HURGHH!!!
Narrator: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” And this time Jonah did as he was instructed. Now, Nineveh was a HUUUGE city and Jonah cried out saying:
Jonah: Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!
Ninevite: Here!? Wot he say? Forty days and this place is toast? We’d better change our ways!
Narrator: The people of Nineveh surprisingly responded the right way and the king made the following proclamation:
King: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
Narrator: And so, God relented from destroying Nineveh.
Boy: phew, that was a close one!
Narrator: Indeed, it was, but Jonah wasn’t happy! In fact, he was angry that Nineveh repented and asked God to take his life.
Boy: That’s strange, Jonah did his job, the people were sorry and God was merciful. Isn’t that a happy ending?
Narrator: Well, you’re right, but maybe the lesson of repentance was more for the benefit of Jonah rather than the people of Nineveh.
Narrator: You see, as he sat on a hill outside of the city God caused a plant to grow and provide him with shade. But then the plant died and without the shade he grew faint under the hot sun and Jonah became angry again and just wanted to die. But God said to Jonah, “is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”. And Jonah said…
Jonah: It is right for me to be angry, even to death!
SONG! Oh you silly little plant, you were once alive and provided me with shade but now, you’ve just gone and died. And I’m so mad, I’m so so mad, in fact I’m so mad I’m angry, angry even unto death! No, that’s enough of that! I’m so mad oooh I’m so very mad oooh I’m so so mad, I’m even angry even unto death! To death! It’s that bad. I’m serious, you are a silly plant, you were once alive but now you aren’t. In fact I’d like to… find some other source of shade because it’s ridiculously hot out here. I’m mad, I’m so so mad, I’m… so very mad I’m even angry, angry unto death.
Narrator: Then God said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” And so Jonah learnt the lesson of the magnitude of God’s love and forgiveness, that even while the whole world commits sin, He is merciful and has a plan to bring the whole world out of slavery to sin and into a life of godly righteousness.
Boy: Yawwwwn …The end?
Narrator: Yes, little boy, that is the end of this story.