JONAH
In his argument about the style of Jonah, or rather
whether it is history or not, Dummelow thinks of it as a parable, comparing it
to the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. And he finishes the section, Character
of the Book, with: “It is of great interest to observe that in the OT, as
in the NT the natural human love of a story is so often appealed to, so that
'truth embodied in a tale may enter in at lowly doors.'”
In his Commentary of the Bible Dummelow's next sub-topic
is Aim and Teaching of the Book. The writing about God and
man's relationship to Him is beautiful. He considers that no other book of the Old Testament
approximates I John's great saying: “...For love is of God, and every one that
loveth is begotten of God and knoweth God” (I John 4:7). He concludes that Jonah provides a
high-water mark of Old Testament teaching, and that it is of priceless value: a
great teaching of the love of God for man.
For myself, I don't think I had really appreciated,
before this reading, what a good man Jonah was when he got the call. God knew
he could accomplish the task. He must have proved himself before this message
came. He listened and eventually was obedient and God's purpose was fulfilled. The sailors on the ship seem to have been converted to
worshipping Jonah's God, or rather to appealing to Him as “Lord”. Thus in Jonah 1:14: “We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not
perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood.” Though it
could be that they merely added Jonah's God to their list of gods.
However, Jonah was displeased with the outcome. He
didn't feel that the city deserved to be saved from the effects of their
sinning ways.
I finally thought to look on www.jsh-online.com for items about
Jonah.
I found a poem which includes the lines:
I also found Jonah, by Journal Staff, (April 1903 edition of The Christian Science Journal helpful. See https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2003/4/121-4/jonah
A couple of other ideas I noted include:
1. The Nineveh people
had invaded Israel and been cruel to the Israelites, so, no doubt Jonah felt he
had good reason not to be part of their pardon.
2. Don't wish evil on anyone, or about anyone; rather, claim their son-ship with the Father,
God.
Now I have found an article about Jonah by Madelon Maupin Miles. (The Christian Science Journal January 2004 - https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2004/1/122-1/jonah-a-little-book-with-big-lessons).
Madelon lists four ways in
which Jonah's story has helped her - it is a great favourite of hers:
- For comfort
- For guidance
- For help in relationships
- For encouragement
All the JSH Online articles on Jonah provide evidence that one simple story can bring different inspiration to each one
who reads it. How grateful we are for that treasure-trove of good thoughts and
examples that make up the web-site JSH On-line!
My heart is singing, “I found it on JSH.”
Joyce Voysey
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