Those following the two-year Bible reading plan with me will begin reading the book of Jonah tomorrow, November 22. (Link to the Two-Year Bible Reading Plan Bookmarks)

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn the people that he was going to destroy their city, but Jonah didn’t want to go. He hated the people of Nineveh so he boarded a ship intending to go as far as he could in the opposite direction. The book of Jonah is very different from the other prophets in that it is almost entirely a narrative of the results of Jonah’s response to God’s command. The actual message to the Ninevites was very brief: God is going to destroy this city in forty days.

The basic account is very familiar to most people. Jonah takes a ship in the opposite direction, the storm at sea, Jonah thrown overboard, rescued by a big fish, Jonah prayed and repented, fish spat Jonah out on land, Jonah went to Nineveh delivering God’s warning, Nineveh repents and is spared, Jonah sulks because he still hated the people of Nineveh.

Sadly, many choose to dismiss the account of Jonah as a myth or a parable. We know Jesus saw it as an actual event because he referred to Jonah and compared his time in the belly of the fish to the time he would spend in the grave. He also credited the Ninevites for repenting. (Matthew 12:38-42)

Image credit: Drawing by Kimberly Merritt, colored by Janice D. Green, taken from the book Jonah, the Fearful Prophet by Janice D. Green (that’s me).