Key People: Key People From The BibleSample

Jonah

This story is one of the most famous from the Bible. Jonah is sent to Israel’s northern neighbor Assyria, whose capitol is Nineveh. The Assyrians are Israel’s number one enemy, and Jonah doesn’t want to preach to them. He would rather see them continue offending God and be destroyed. Jonah runs away, but God uses a storm and a big fish to show Jonah who is in charge.

Jonah has an interesting problem; he has enemies that he would rather see God destroy than see them change. Whether or not we mean it, it is common to hear people tell someone where to go or curse something to damnation. Do we reach a point where we would rather see God judge someone than save them - a terrorist, someone who took advantage of us, or an ex-spouse? God used some pretty strong methods to turn Jonah around. Hopefully we will be less stubborn.