1) Jonah’s story in the Bible depicted that God does not discriminate or choose people whom to save from destruction. It showed how understanding and patient He is to the believers and the non-believers because when Jonah disobeyed God’s calling to preach in Nineveh, He gave him a chance to repent. Likewise, the Lord was set to destroy Nineveh for their sinful ways, but when the people of Nineveh repented clad with sackcloth, He gave them another chance and halted the decision to destroy the people. In the story, God wanted people to repent from their sinful ways and welcome them to His kingdom. God’s actions in Jonah’s story offered an inclusive kingdom where even sinners are welcome as long as they repent and follow the righteous way.
The disobedient Jonah on the other hand displayed narrow-mindedness as he sulked when God spared the people of Nineveh from destruction. Jonah’s sulking was caused by the fact that the people of Nineveh are the enemies of his people in Israel. He however, understood clearly that his calling is inevitable and no matter how he tries to escape the calling, God will always find a way. However, his stubbornness and narrow-mindedness hamper him from deeply understanding why God wants to save the sinful.
2) Based on Jonah’s story, callings find the people who are most fitted to it. God choose Jonah to deliver his message to Nineveh. Jonah tried all means to disobey God as he did not like to preach in the land that are occupied by the enemies of Israelites like him. Also, he considered Nineveh as a place of wickedness that deserved to be destroyed. For him, it is unbearable to save the souls of the said people. He went to another direction but God ordered his dumping into the sea. As understanding God, he ordered a whale to swallow him and dump him ashore in Nineveh once he repented and promised to obey his calling. The story reflects that people are called to specific line of work where they are best fitted, and escaping the calling will only cause emptiness and restlessness because it is only in executing the right calling that people find their life’s meaning.
References
Smith, J. (2013). “Jonah Summary.” Bible Hub. Retrieved from http://biblehub.com/summary/jonah/1.htm
Zavada, J. (2014). “Jonah and the Whale: Bible Story Summary.” Retrieved from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/a/JonahAndTheWhale.htm 2/4
