Minister's Column; Johnah: God's Thoroughly Human Prophet

Ah Jonah, Jonah, Jonah...God had given him the mission to go to Nineveh to deliver a prophetic warning, “In forty days Nineveh [will be] annihilated!” But Jonah, in an effort to outrun God’s will, left immediately for Joppa in order to set sail from there to Tarshish, which was 2,000+ miles away from Nineveh.

Jonah, having failed to outrun the will of God, earned a three-day ‘time out’ in the belly of an enormous fish/whale, during which Jonah repented of his disobedience. He was then vomited onto dry land and, as requested, finally delivered God’s message. Upon hearing the prophecy, the Ninev...