Jonah is a petulant prophet. He fumes, he expresses his frustration with God by running as fast and far as he can to get away. All of which is why the book of Jonah is one of my favorite Biblical books. One can give credit to Jonah for honesty. He does not mince words with God about  what he thinks and what he wants to do. He runs from God’s call to go to Nineveh because he simply doesn’t like the people. He’d rather they were not warned. What he hopes for is that God rains down fire, brimstone and tons of lava on the city of Nineveh and its people. So he runs from God.

God has a way of searching after us when we run and Jonah’s run from God was no exception. Caught in a storm and with the throw of lots indicating he was the reason for the storm, he just asks to be thrown into the sea. Jonah would rather die than see the Ninevites’ saved. It would be a final escape from the persistent call of God. Even there his plan fails. Instead of certain death, he is rescued by a large fish and eventually spit out on the shore. Once again he encounters the call of God to go to Nineveh. Fresh from his near death experience one would suspect there would be an authenticity about his message as he walks the city. So, Jonah shouts for the people to repent, hoping they won’t.

Yet, he is incredibly successful. Maybe it was the way he described being held in the stomach of a giant fish or being thrown into the stormy waters. For three days he walks the streets of Nineveh, fuming about being there. Having completed his task, he goes to edge of town and waits for  Operation Nineveh Storm to rain from the sky. But it doesn’t. Frustratingly for Jonah, the people believe him and repent. Even the king’s heart changes.

Jonah’s problem is that he doesn’t want God to love other people. He wants that for himself and his people.

Jonah’s strange trip to Nineveh is meant to teach him compassion. The story of Jonah ends with a word from God, after a plant gives Jonah shade for a day, then withers the next. He is distraught. God compares Jonah’s concern for the plant with his lack of concern for the 120,000 people living in the city. We are left wondering if Jonah’s heart was changed. Did the word mean anything to him. Was this reluctant prophet able to open his heart to love the other people God loves. Are we?