Jonah's flight from God, three days in a fish, and Nineveh's great revival.
Key themes: missions, repentance, God's mercy, reluctant prophet.
| Author | Jonah son of Amittai |
|---|---|
| Date Written | c. 760 BC (events); written c. 760–400 BC |
| Original Audience | Israel; all who resist God's call |
Jonah is the most narrative of the prophetic books — a short story about a reluctant prophet and a surprisingly merciful God. God calls Jonah to preach to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (Israel's most feared enemy). Jonah boards a ship going in the opposite direction. A great storm arises; Jonah confesses he is the cause and asks to be thrown overboard; he is swallowed by a great fish. From inside the fish he prays a psalm of thanksgiving — confident of deliverance even before it comes. After three days he is vomited out, preaches the shortest sermon in the Bible ('Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown'), and the entire city of 120,000 people repents in sackcloth and ashes. God relents. Jonah is angry. The book ends with God's gentle rebuke: 'Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people?' Jesus cited Jonah's three days in the fish as a sign of his own death and resurrection (Matthew 12:40).
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