Quick Take on Jonah

From my new book, Thus Sayeth the Lord — I''m sharing a sample chapter this week. (Read part 1 here.)

Let's get a quick look-see at what the book of Jonah is about.

Quick Take on Jonah
God tells Jonah to preach in Nineveh. Nineveh’s the capital of Assyria, the most powerful and ruthless nation of the time, which all Israelites reading this book would’ve known. Not a place you just want to pop into. Jonah, as we have seen already, hot-foots it in the opposite direction to a ship at the edge of the known world. God raises a huge storm, causing the pagan sailors to toss Jonah overboard, where God saves him by having a huge fish swallow him. Bonus: The sailors begin worshipping God.

After three days and three nights, the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land. (Vomits. You’ve got to love the way the Hebrews keep it real. Jonah gets zero respect.) God repeats his command and, unsurprisingly, Jonah finally obeys.

And — are you ready for this? — the people of Nineveh surprise everyone, probably including themselves, by believing Jonah the very first day and promptly doing penance. They also make their animals do penance. These Ninevites are all in. This might be a first in the history of biblical prophecy.

God forgives them, which makes Jonah hopping mad. He furiously sits on a hill, watching the city, wishing he were dead, and complaining to God that this is why he ran away. “I knew you would forgive them,” he says. God has a plant grow, providing Jonah with much-needed shade, and then has a worm attack the plant so it withers and dies. Jonah gets even more infuriated, giving God some great talking points. The ensuing conversations provide God’s point of view.

We'll skip tomorrow since it will be Ash Wednesday - and pick up on Thursday in part 3 we'll see what Jonah has to do with our own lives.

Thus Sayeth the Lord comes out on March 31. Preorder your copy now!