Jonah: Too Horrifying for Kids?
by Suzanne Hadley on 03/27/2008 at 10:46 AM
The book of Jonah was the focus of my college inductive Bible study class. The instructor (who had written his master's thesis on Jonah) forced us to get beyond the storybook Jonah (by reading the book some 20 times) and arrive at the book's true implications: God shows mercy to whom He chooses, and He will use even the disobedient to accomplish His will.
In "Eaten Alive," Ronald F. Marshall addresses the way children's books have sanitized the story of the disobedient prophet and in so-doing removed its gospel message.
Jonah is a horrifying book, with its raging storm and fierce sea-monster, a suicide attempt and near drowning, and, at the end, a confrontation with a massive enemy city. But in American children's literature it is largely a harmless adventure story, all about travel and intrigue, underwater hideouts, success and fame.
Jonah may not have been eaten alive in the Bible, but he has been in the children's books. In the nineteen versions I examined for this essay, the horror of the story has been extracted and removed from sight, and with it an important theological and imaginative preparation for the gospel.
Marshall observes that many storybooks justify or romanticize Jonah's disobedience, ignore the consequences of his sin and completely overlook the "death" of being swallowed by a whale. This treatment of God's Word extracts its power.
The New Testament itself presses this connection when it says that only the "sign of Jonah" will point to Christ (Matt. 12:39; Luke 11:29). Just as Jonah was thrown to his (expected) death in the sea to save the sailors from the storm, so are we, "the entire boat of humanity," as the church father Jerome put it, saved from sin by Jesus when he is nailed to his death on the cross. So Jonah's headlong leap into the deadly sea prefigures Jesus' willing ascent to die on the cross.
Additionally, only a few versions included the scene in chapter four, in which God sends the worm to eat the shade tree and Jonah is left pouting and sulking. I'm ashamed to admit that it wasn't until college that I found out Jonah was not a role model. His obedience was unwilling even to the end. Marshall points out that we should not shield children from the scary truths of God's Word -- including the horrifying results of sin.
Forget about cleaning up Jonah. Instead, tell the story the Bible tells. It is the story God wants your children to hear.
1. Amir Larijani said the following at 11:48 AM on Mar 27
What Jonah did NOT tell the Ninevites:
"If you repent and turn away from your sins, God will do for you what He did for me!"
2. Christina (in green) said the following at 11:48 AM on Mar 27
Hmmm...
I musta missed the version he heard as a child. Though I tended to side with Jonah when I was younger, that was due to my own problems =p
I don't remember any cleaning up...and I always connected it to the resurrection story...so...don't know. Still like Veggie Tales version (which does include the worm eating the shade).
But then, I was 8 years old when I read about Tamar for the first time...lol...that's not your typical sunday school story =p
3. John D. said the following at 11:55 AM on Mar 27
Somewhere I read an account of a more recent mariner who was temporarily swallowed by a whale. He survived, but was left hairless and discolored by exposure to the animal's digestive juices.
It has been speculated that Jonah may have had a similarly unusual appearance when he (reluctantly) entered Nineveh to proclaim God's impending judgment. It certainly would have gotten people's attention.
Another Scriptural nicety about Jonah: note that Jonah boarded a ship at Joppa in order to avoid the call to preach to the Gentiles whom he detested (Jonah 1:3). Centuries later, Peter found himself in Joppa when he, too, was called to preach the Word to the Gentiles, whom he considered to be unclean (Acts 9:43). Unlike Jonah, Peter went willingly.
4. Bethany said the following at 11:58 AM on Mar 27
Even worse than the way the Jonah story is sanitized is the way the story of Noah's Ark is made to be about cute, furry animals.
Last summer I was a children's musical production of Noah's Ark. The children were singing something like, "And rain came down, down, down." My dad leaned over to me and said, "And we think this is a cute story because...?"
It's a horrifying story! Thousands of people were drowned. Children wrenched away from mothers in the worst storm the world had ever seen. It's like singing a cute song about the tsunami in Indonesia a few years ago!
I think teaching children the Bible this way is more dangerous than helpful. It turns the Bible into a collection of fairy tales which are doubted as the child gains more reasoning capabilities.
5. Paul said the following at 12:00 PM on Mar 27
I think that the Veggie Tales version is pretty accurate while still being humourous. It does show Jonah's reluctance to go to Nineveh and his gleeful waiting for the fall of the city and subsequent dismay at God's mercy. It even portrays chapter 4. I do take your point though that most children's stories (not only of Jonah) are too sanitised. Children are stronger than we think.
6. Matthew said the following at 12:03 PM on Mar 27
Other fun aspects: Jonah is probably also a nationalist and a racist-- a good part of his motivation for running away from God and then pouting outside the city can most likely be ascribed to not wanting to help Israel's enemies, who are of a different culture, ethnicity, race, and religion. It's pretty clear from the story that he is rooting for Ninevah's destruction (he gives the shortest and most culturally irrelevant sermon in Scripture.) He's the prototypical Christian who is scared to obey God by going into "the wrong neighborhood," some scary foreign country, or dealing with lost people from a different culture. Try translating that aspect into a children's book!
Mark Driscoll and Tim Keller had some great sermons on Jonah that take God's holiness and wrath (as well as His mercy and grace) very, very seriously. I'd recommend those (and Driscoll is usually engaging enough that slightly older children can follow him easily.)
7. Amir Larijani said the following at 12:15 PM on Mar 27
Christina:
::::tongue in cheek::::
The coolest Sunday School lesson: Jael. Tent peg right through Sisera's head.
Boo-yah!
8. tom said the following at 12:28 PM on Mar 27
John D. (#3)
The modern-day Jonah story is an urban legend.
9. obewan said the following at 12:40 PM on Mar 27
#3. John D. had the following to say on Mar 27 at 11:55 AM:
“Somewhere I read an account of a more recent mariner who was temporarily swallowed by a whale. He survived, but was left hairless and discolored by exposure to the animal's digestive juices.”
I read the same story in the Houston Chronicle in 1981. It was for real but it seemed like something you would see in the National Enquirer. It was a boost to my faith, but I have yet to find someone who believes me when I tell them. I usually get a lot of raised eyebrows.
10. DannieA said the following at 12:47 PM on Mar 27
Do people really see Jonah as a hero? I used to feel sorry for Jonah when I was a child...because he obviously didn't want to do what God asked of him.
I honestly don't think Jonah has been sanitized....the story I think has been sanitized has been David and Goliath....the stone just stunned him...what really killed him was David decapitating him. How many kids know that story when they are young?
11. Amir Larijani said the following at 12:53 PM on Mar 27
Bethany: Good point. That is what the liberal Bible scholars want you to believe: that the miracle accounts in the Bible are just theological fairy tales.
12. Kenya said the following at 1:10 PM on Mar 27
Why hasn't anyone commented on the truly unbelievable aspect of Jonah - NOT that he was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell about it, but rather that the entire city of Ninevah repented?!
13. Chris Krycho said the following at 1:13 PM on Mar 27
Matthew, good points all, but I'd elaborate: racism and nationalism aside, no one would want to go preach to them, even if they had no bone (so to speak) racially. The things that the Assyrians did were - quite literally - unspeakable. Atrocities. The sort of thing they don't put pictures of in documentaries and skip over because, no matter how unflinching you are, they make you flinch. And they enjoyed it. The nicest thing they did was lead people away with hooks in their cheeks in a big line to take them back to Assyria.
Perhaps part of the point of the story is that, as Suzanne mentioned, God will save whom He will save - and, our misconceptions aside, that includes the wickedest of the wicked.
It is, to us, a call to stop being comfortable with talking to nice people about Jesus and to get up and go tell everyone about Jesus.
14. Matthew said the following at 2:35 PM on Mar 27
Chris, I strongly agree with your conclusion and I certainly don't mean to minimize the fact that Assyrians were nasty, brutal people that I would probably not be eager to preach to.
15. Claudia Riley said the following at 2:45 PM on Mar 27
I agree, many bible stories are taught as just that,cute stories. And our children grow up to be young adults in college, where they are told that, yes, Noah's Ark was a myth. Perhaps a local flood, elaborated on through time. And, of course the world couldn't have been created in six days. It's only a step from that to doubting the Virgin birth, the resurrection, etc. etc. - pick and choose what you want to believe from God's Word.
16. Michelle said the following at 3:30 PM on Mar 27
quote: I honestly don't think Jonah has been sanitized....the story I think has been sanitized has been David and Goliath....the stone just stunned him...what really killed him was David decapitating him. How many kids know that story when they are young? by DannieA
Good point here...I did go and read it and he was decapitated after David killed him, just a small point and not meant to be taken as a jest, but that I've read many versions and it says that no sword killed David, then right after it says he killed Goliath then chopped off his head...
17. Rachael said the following at 5:56 PM on Mar 27
Hope I'm not hijacking the threads even more today. I use Boundless too much to sort things out (in my mind), but it's been helpful.
Matthew (6) wrote:
"He's the prototypical Christian who is scared to obey God by going into "the wrong neighborhood," some scary foreign country, or dealing with lost people from a different culture."
-->You know, I wonder if for some people it's emotionally EASIER (provided the support-raising element is removed) to go to foreign countries or/and sharing with people from 'other' cultures...maybe I'm just weird. I guess I'd like to get better at sharing the gospel period, but I wonder if I'd be more intimidated by co-workers I don't really know (granted I haven't been working at my current workplace too long, and perhaps if I spend time with them outside of work it would be easier or natural to share or somewhat share the faith) than people in other countries. I think the emotional (un)easiness could at least partially relate to the relationship For example, if there was a friendship, it would be easier to share no matter whether they were a co-worker or someone on an island far away... Okay. Thanks. I think my thought is at least partially sorted out. :)
Now as for Jonah.
So I just so happen to have a children's book ("An Alice in Bibleland Storybook" :) )in my apartment.
It includes the plant part, but it doesn't talk about a worm, it says:
"The next day God destroyed the plant That Jonah learned to love;
He questioned why God did this
And God answered from above:..."
Yeah, that's right. It's a poetic story about Jonah :).
This post states Marshall as writing:
"But in American children's literature it is largely a harmless adventure story, all about travel and intrigue, underwater hideouts, success and fame."
-->Though I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of cute and cutely illustrated books out there, I guess I'd guess that they'd not fail to mention his disobedience, as that was what led to the storm and fish-sitting in the first place...but I never did any kind of study so I have no idea...
Peace!
18. Beth L said the following at 6:44 PM on Mar 27
Amir #7
When my mom teaches Sunday School for JR. High kids she always uses the book of Judges. She says with stories like Jael putting tent peg in Sisera's head, and Ehud sword being sucked into the king's fat, the book is perfect for getting 11 & 12 year old boys interested in the bible.
19. Sarah P. said the following at 5:56 AM on Mar 28
Amir, no, wait! The absolute best Bible story of all is Eglon and Ehud. Ehud shoves in the sword and "the fat closed over the wound." I mean, how cool is that?
20. Jo said the following at 5:57 AM on Mar 28
I agree about David and Goliath. As a child I found it very odd that a small stone could apparently kill a huge man. My parents, when I asked them about it, were honest - but I seem to remember being unconvinced because the sword was certainly not in the version I had heard. I think I thought they were just guessing, not realising that the Biblical account was different from the one I knew.
I do think stories need simplification, but not sanitisation. The full implications of a story like Jonah (racism, the brutality of the Assyrians etc) would be lost on a child, but the basic story should remain intact. We shouldn't create any kind of situation where as a child grows older we have to change the story - we should merely be expanding on it and developing it according to their level of understanding. The gospel is founded on the fact that human beings are sinful and our world is fallen, so any attempt to shield children from that reality will not help them come to a real understanding of Christ.
21. Jo said the following at 6:04 AM on Mar 28
Also, we should be engaging our kids in discussion with these stories.
- Why do you think Jonah didn't want to go to Ninevah?
- Are there times when you don't really want to do what God wants you to do?
- Do you think God was pleased with Jonah in this story?
- How could Jonah have done things better?
- Do you think the people of Ninevah were glad that Jonah eventually did what God asked him?
- What if he hadn't?
Those are just off the top of my head. But a young child can think about those things and through that process of discussion the stories will become real and will mean something and won't be just abstract fairytales that they've never connected with on a deeper level.
22. Leah said the following at 7:49 AM on Mar 28
Can't say I ever heard the version that was "largely a harmless adventure story, all about travel and intrigue, underwater hideouts, success and fame", and neither have I come across it in children's books since I was a kid myself. I never saw Jonah as a hero when I was a kid (despite my exposure to all these supposedly sanitised children's versions of Jonah)- I more thought him to be a silly wuss who tried to run away from God and got what was coming for him, but then turned out to be ok once he finally did what God told him to.
DannieA- you're quite right that the story of David and Goliath has been sanitised a bit, but it wasn't the decapitation that killed him,it was the stone.
"The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword." (1 Sam 17:49-51)
And the whole decapitation thing is being revealed to younger and younger audiences, I believe (although still not little kids).
23. Julia said the following at 8:59 AM on Mar 28
This is the BEST sunday school story:
From Judges chapter 3:
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace [g] and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch [h] ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not a man escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.
24. Vincenzo said the following at 11:41 AM on Mar 28
Heck the whole Bible is written like a Conan epic, immortal beings fighting it out to the end, decapitations, intrigue, sex, wars, political treachery, the supernatural, sex (oops, said that already).
Hmmm....maybe the sanitized God of the Western church is different than the God who wrote all of this. LOL
25. Melissa* said the following at 9:54 PM on Mar 28
In my Bible study class, we touched upon Jonah after discussing Nineveh and the Assyrian culture. Many of us went from, "Jonah, God called you and you didn't go?!" to, "Would I have done the same thing?"
And, yes, of course the most amazing part, all of Nineveh repented, from king to cows. When you consider the horrid wickedness of that city, that just highlights the power of God.
26. BDB said the following at 11:03 PM on Mar 28
Vicenzo (#24) wrote:
>>Heck the whole Bible is written like a Conan epic, <<
Hmmm...I'd honestly never thought of it that way before. But you're right, there are a number of thematic similarities. Huh. Maybe someday I'll see the governor at a fundraiser or something, an ask him if he's noticed that...
I've often wondered how Jonah got chosen to be in the Bible. It is so rich in lessons:
1) It's easier to obey God the first time he asks.
2) Even if God tells you to go save people you believe "have it coming," you'd still better do it.
3) God's chosen vessel is not always happy about being chosen.
4) You have to do what He says, but he's willing to discuss it with you and explain why.
5) Sometimes God's wrath is only delayed - Ninevah was eventually destroyed anyway. (See Nahum 2:6-11)
27. Lauren T. said the following at 2:33 PM on Mar 29
The biggest lesson I've taken from Jonah is this:
Jonah 4:6-8
6 THEN THE LORD GOD PROVIDED A VINE and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.
7 But at dawn the next day GOD PROVIDED A WORM, which chewed the vine so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, GOD PROVIDED A SCORCHING EAST WIND, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
(NIV)
I didn't really have any Children's Bible-type stories - my early childhood knowledge of the Bible came from the TLB-version dramatized Bible cassettes I played constantly. Sure, it's the Living Bible translation and it's simplified, but I was aware of Ehud and Jael and the terrible story of the Benjaminite perverts and David cutting off Goliath's head (and being taken in to see King Saul still holding the severed head...blech...). I was pretty fascinated by the story of Jonah, but I never noticed the little sentence in Jonah that says "...God provided a worm."
I have a tendency to think of good things being from God and bad things being...well, from Satan or from consequences to bad things in the world or pretty much anywhere except from God.
Problem is, God sends worms just as surely as he sends beautiful vines. He does it for a reason and I don't always understand why, but it does make me look at things I think are bad differently.
Not that I want to be someone who just sighs over bad things and says, "Well, that must be God's will." In some ways I think that's ridiculous too: you don't tell a mother who's just lost a baby that "Oh, it's better this way; and it must be God's will." That's a way to end up helping her to be bitter with God.
However, when I was in a similar situation - suspecting the imminent loss of a baby - someone pointed out the story of Jonah to me and said, "The thing we absolutely know about God is this: he's good. No matter what happens, he's always good. And he also provided the worm just as surely as he provided the vine."
28. Dave said the following at 11:46 PM on Mar 29
On the same note, sensationalism is also not going to be of much help for the truth.
29. Leah said the following at 8:10 PM on Mar 30
Jo- check out my last comment- the bible says quite distinctly it was the stone, not the sword, that killed Goliath.
"The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword." (1 Sam 17:49-51)
And we don't know that it was a "small stone"- the bible gives no measurements. And even if it was small, who cares? A bullet is small too. It's not the size that kills, but the speed at which it's thrown. Keep in mind this weapon (sling and stone) was used to kill bears and lions to keep them away from the sheep. If something can kill a bear or lion I'm quite sure it could kill a man, even if he was nine feet tall. You get bears that big.
30. Jo said the following at 8:57 AM on Mar 31
leah - you're right, i wrote that comment before you posted your correction.
31. Marc said the following at 11:22 AM on Mar 31
I find it disheartening that some Christians are making the Bible/Bible-stories politically-correct. They think they're doing the world a service, but, in reality, they're hindering the message that is God's Word.
32. Lynne said the following at 12:56 PM on Mar 31
As someone who has kids (1 1/2 years and 7 years) this is something I deal with all the time. It's important to remember that kids are pretty cognitively limited to quite concrete things until they're at least 7. Abstract reasoning is a bit challenging for all but a few. I don't feel like I "sanitized" my older sons experience by not going into the whole plant/vine thing. We'll get there eventually.
I like Jo's comment (#20)
" we should merely be expanding on it and developing it according to their level of understanding."
As another example, one of the things I teach my kids is that "God is pleased when we obey" Simple, concrete, lots of everyday examples. Over time, we emphasize that "God loves us even when we're bad" again, simple, concrete. While these don't comprehensively cover the totality of how God regards man, they provide a basis that we build on.
Like many things about parenting, there's not always the quick verification that you (the parent) did the right thing.