Jonah

Most Christians, especially those who grow up in church attending Sunday school, know the story of the prophet Jonah.  However, do they really know what it means.  We probably all remember the fact that Jonah was commanded by God to go and preach to the Assyrian city of Ninevah.  However, Jonah refused out of fear because of the brutality of the people in Ninevah.  Therefore, Jonah flees from God and ends up on a ship and caught up in a storm where he was swallowed by a whale.  As Jonah is in the mouth of the whale he cries out to God and God delivers him fromm the motuh of the whale who spit Jonah on the seashore.  Jonah then goes to Ninevah and preaches that the judgment of God is coming if they do not repent.  The Ninevites upon hearing this declare a forty day fast before  God and thus he relents of his anger and does not pour out his judgment upon them.  Now the story of Jonah is debated as to whether or not it is pure allegory or history or both.  Liberal theologians refer to it as an allegory that represents the failure of the Isrselites to preach to other nations.Conservatibve theologians think the book is historical in facts.  The book does represent the fact that Israel did not reach out to its neighbors in spreading the message of God.  Rather, they misinterpreted the concept of what it meant to be the chosen people and thought they were chosen to bask in the presence of God as his mighty people when they were chosen to carry the message to the entire world.  At the end of the book, Jonah becomes angry that the Lord has compassion and spares Ninevah.  This represents the fact that the Israelites wanted God all to themself which is part of the representation of the story of the Prodigal Son.  We as Christians often are guilty of wanting God all to ourselves.  We need to repent to such an action and realize that God didn't set us apart just to save us, but also to use us to spread the message of his love.