Jonah

Jonah was a prophet of Israel who served at some point during the reign of King Jeroboam II. He is most known for the extraordinary events recorded in the book that bears his name, the book of Jonah. There it is recorded that Jonah was given a message from God to relay to the capital city of Israel’s greatest enemy, the city Nineveh in Assyria. However, Jonah did not want to relay this message because it was a message calling them to repentance and faith, and Jonah felt that the people of Nineveh did not deserve God’s grace. While fleeing from his responsibility to preach this message, God sent a great storm that caused Jonah to be thrown overboard into the sea, at which point God sent a great fish to save Jonah by swallowing him for 3 days. After being released on shore, Jonah made his way to Nineveh, preached the message of repentance, and the people were saved from pending calamity. The account of Jonah not only shows God’s grace for all people, but his 3-day episode within the fish was also referenced by Christ as a picture of his resurrection from the dead (Matthew 12:38-45; 16:1-4).