Jonah: God's Holy Runaway

The Book of Jonah is far different than what we have been taught in Sunday School, acted out with a felt board whale, Jonah, and an evil Nineveh. But the book is not primarily about the fish. The Book of Jonah contains so much more: nationalism, hatred, unspeakable violence, and pagan omens. In it, the reader encounters a series of unexpected shocks. Jonah foolishly ran from God, while Gentile sailors ran to God. Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a large fish. After Jonah delivered one of the worst calls to repentance, the entire city of Nineveh repented and turned toward God.

This small book of 1368 words contains tales of storms and seas, winds blowing in the desert sands, a fish with a considerable gut, a fast-growing plant, Sheol, and penitent pagans. It challenges our precon-ceived notions about who the Gospel is for and hits at the heart of deeply held religious discrimination. Jonah is about second chances, bringing death to life, and how salvation belongs to the Lord.