thin king

Good Morning,

Jonah the Prophet

Jonah, son of Amittai, was a Jewish prophet who lived about 500 B.C.
God told him to go to Nineveh, the city of the Assyrians, to warn them
to repent or be destroyed. The Assyrians were the traditional enemy of
Israel. For his own reasons, Jonah disobeyed God and set out on a ship
bound west for Tarshish instead.

While at sea, a violent storm broke, frightening everyone on board. The
crew threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship, and every one prayed
to his own god. They got Jonah to do the same. They also cast lots to
pin-point the one responsible for the calamity. The lot fell on Jonah, who
confessed his disobedience to his God.

The crew became more frightened, and when the storm grew worse, Jonah
asked them to throw him overboard to save themselves. Fearfully, begging
the Lord's mercy, they threw him into the sea. Then, as he sank, a large
fish swallowed Jonah who remained in its belly for three days and nights.
There Jonah prayed to God that God had been merciful to him before, and
vowed to repay God's deliverance. Thereafter, the fish spat Jonah on shore.

Again God told Jonah to deliver his message to Nineveh. Jonah obeyed
this time. It would have taken him three days to traverse the city, yet when
he had done one day's preaching, "Forty days more and Nineveh will be
destroyed", the people believed in God and repented. When the king heard
about it, he too repented. Then, with a proclamation, he ordered the whole
nation including all the animals, to cover themselves with sackcloth and
ashes, to fast, to refrain from evil and violence and to pray for God's
forgiveness. Seeing this, God stayed his hand.

However, Jonah was very unhappy with the outcome, saving the Assyrians.
He vented to God that this was the reason he had run away from his earlier
mission and because he knew that God would be gracious and merciful to
the Assyrians. Thus he wished to die.

Then he built a hut outside the city and sat in its shade. Overnight, God
grew a gourd plant over Jonah's head; this gave him comfort and he was
happy. But the next day, God killed the plant and sent a burning wind,
and the hot sun made Jonah faint. And again, he wished to be dead.

When God asked Jonah whether he was angry over the plant he replied,
"Angry enough to die". Then God told Jonah that as he was concerned
over the plant on which he had not spend any effort, should not God be
concerned over the great city of Nineveh whose 120,000 people could
not distinguish what was right from what was wrong, not to mention the
animals.

Die dulci freure.
Ronald