Jonah starts his story in 2 Kings 14, where he prophesies to King Jeroboam, son of Jehoash. Even though Jeroboam had acted evil in the eyes of the Lord, He allowed him to reclaim land which had been lost to Judah.
Book of Jonah
We next meet him in the Book of Jonah. This a short story with 4 chapters.
It starts where Jonah is called by God to preach repentance to the Ninevites, who were not only Israel’s enemy, but almost everyone else’s enemy too.
Jonah runs in the opposite direction, hires a boat, which is hit by a storm and he is eventually thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish.
Jonah repents and after he is vomited on the beach, he heads off to Nineveh. He preaches and the city’s residents repent.
Jonah sulks outside the city and God teaches him a lesson.
Parallels Between 2 Kings and Nineveh
In both circumstances, God was gracious to Israel and the Ninevites. Even though they acted evil in the eyes of God.
Maybe the events in Ninevah were before those in 2 Kings. Which means Jonah was not surprised by God’s grace shown to King Jeroboam, even though Israelites didn’t deserve it.
Jonah Shrine
In July 2014, a shrine dedicated to Jonah was demolished by Isis. When archeologists eventually came to the site in 2017, they inspected the damage. Under the former shrine were extensive tunnels which were covered in Neo-Assyrian reliefs and inscriptions. Isis destroyed a mosque and instead created a great opportunity to learn more about the Neo-Assyrians Ninevites.
God’s Plan
A point to make here, is that God’s plan is never diverted. We may have free will, but God’s plan seems to take into account our decisions. After all, existing outside of time, He knows all things, past, present and future.
Jonah is my favorite book of the Old Testament, and not just because it is the shortest. I had no idea he made more appearances than just his eponymous narrative! A preacher in Herman Melville's Moby Dick has an interesting discourse on Jonah. For such a short narrative of the Prophet, we really do get all of salvation history in microcosm, even the sulking disappointment and confusion after the prophet leaves town. Thank you for this!