Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 451
IMMERSED IN JONAH
J O N A H W A S A P R O P H E T, but
the book of Jonah is not a book of prophecy. Instead, it is a book about the prophet himself. Unlike the other
books in this volume, it doesn’t present a collection of oracles that
Jonah spoke. Rather, with great literary skill, it tells a story about him.
And it appears to do so from a later vantage point, not like the messages of other prophets, which were recorded during or just after their
lifetimes.
According to Samuel–Kings, the prophet Jonah lived in the northern
kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, that is, in the first half
of the eighth century bc . It is hard to be certain, but there is evidence
that the book of Jonah may have been written after the return from
exile in order to bring a particular message to God’s people in that day.
In the story, Jonah is sent to announce God’s message to the city
of Nineveh, the capital of the powerful Assyrian Empire. God is going
to destroy Nineveh because of its wickedness. But Jonah has a problem with this assignment, and he tries to run from God. What’s the
problem? He is afraid that Israel’s enemies, the Assyrians, will actually
repent of their wrongdoing and that God will not punish them after
all. As Jonah says later in the story, “I knew that you are a merciful and
compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
You are eager to turn back from destroying people.”
Jonah’s description is exactly the language God used to describe
himself to Moses after he rescued Israel at the time of the Exodus. But
Jonah believes God’s compassion should only be for Israel. He doesn’t
share God’s concern for the other nations of the world. So, through an
unusual series of events, God gets Jonah back on his mission. Jonah is
thrown overboard during a storm at sea, swallowed by a great fish, and
then spit out on the land. Ironically, Jonah sings a song thanking God
for rescuing him from great personal danger while he is trying to make
sure God doesn’t rescue the people of Nineveh.
Jonah finally gets to Nineveh and delivers a one-sentence warning
to them: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” And sure
enough, as Jonah feared, the king of Nineveh responds by telling his
people, “Everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from
their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even
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