Introduction to the prophet Jonah

The 32nd book of the Bible, consisting of 4 chapters
A truly “strange” prophet of God!

The fifth of the “minor” prophets, Jonah—which means “dove”—lived during the time of the prophet Joel, who ministered in Judah, and the prophet Amos, who also lived in Judah but whose message was primarily directed at Jonah’s homeland, the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
This was the period around the turn of the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.E.; Jeroboam II was king of Israel, and in Judah, Kings Amaziah and, after him, Uzziah/Azariah reigned.

Now, the prophet Jonah came from the north, from Gath-Hepher in Galilee, a town just an hour’s walk northeast of Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up—but to proclaim God’s warnings in Jonah’s homeland, a prophet from the south was chosen—and Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, the ruling world power at that time 🙂

So any “prophet” named Jonah, from any small vassal state, was to threaten the Assyrian world power, in the name of whatever god, with the complete destruction of their capital—the largest city in the world at that time—and all within just 40 days—unless they repented and turned back!

Now, regarding Jonah, we are told of no other prophetic words, but only of this one and only mission from God—go 1,000 kilometers east and proclaim to the Assyrians their doom if they do not repent “immediately.”

So what does this prophet of God named Jonah do? – Exactly the opposite!
He tries to flee 4,000 kilometers west, to Tarshish in what is now Spain, to the edge of the known world at that time, just to avoid having to carry out God’s command.

Now you might think that’s completely understandable; from a purely human perspective, the mission would likely mean a death sentence for Jonah.
If he ever made it to Nineveh at all—and even managed to stand before the rulers there—what would they do?
Laugh, have a grand time of it, and then cut Jonah’s head off….

But that is not what Jonah fears at all—on the contrary—the prophet Jonah’s fear is not for himself!
Jonah’s fear is rather that the Assyrians might actually repent, do penance—and that the Almighty might therefore spare them!
So the prophet doesn’t want to grant them that after all!—after they oppressed his country so…

The following story, that Jonah is swallowed by a “fish”… I’m sure every one of us has heard it before—ridiculous and completely unbelievable—right?

In my youth, I had heard of two incidents in the 20th century in which a man was swallowed—once by a whale and the other time by a great white shark—and both are said to have survived!
The man they managed to free from the shark’s jaws in the English Channel was reportedly already slightly “digested”—well, as I said, I’d heard about it, even though I wasn’t there…

But just recently—in February 2025—a kayaker off the coast of Chile was swallowed by a humpback whale—and then spat out again. Anyone can read about this incident online today, and even the German news program Tagesschau reported on it.
Consequently, it’s entirely possible that a baleen whale—which aren’t “carnivores” but feed on krill, tiny shrimp-like crustaceans that they “suck in” while swimming with their mouths open. These “baleen plates,” after which they are named, serve as filters to keep out larger pieces.
A humpback whale—which here apparently accidentally took a bite that was too big—belongs to the “smaller” species of baleen whales; a blue whale, for instance, is about twice as large.

You’ll have to read the rest of the brief story of Jonah—a bitter, stubborn, and obstinate donkey like me—whom God nevertheless called to be a prophet and whom He, in His love and grace, “compels” to repent, but then also preserves and saves—for yourselves.

A God who, through His divine commission—His message to the nations—also teaches Jonah about himself, Jonah’s own nature, corrects him, and grants him the grace of repentance.
There are many “lessons” we can learn for ourselves from the book of the prophet!

God’s love and the offer of His grace are extended to all people—even those who are still His “enemies” today—He calls EVERYONE to repentance. He is patient, but also just; at some point, He must punish sin—but He warns us and, out of love for us, tries to avoid judgment.
But what about our love for our fellow human beings???

For God, there is no hopeless situation from which He cannot lead us out—for the Creator of the universe, nothing is impossible!
Not even if we find ourselves in the belly of a whale in the middle of the ocean. He can help us through much or through little—and now the big BUT:
It is up to us to take His path; His arms are always open to us—Hallelujah!

The Book of the Prophet Jonah is in itself a “prophecy” concerning Jesus Christ and at the same time a mirror of the religious “selfishness” that a part of Israel or the Jewish people, as God’s “chosen” people, still harbors today toward the “Gentile nations.”
Only in the “very last” days, when they acknowledge the Messiah—the Christ who came as the sacrificial lamb for all people from every nation—when they “grant” this “election” to people from all other nations as well—will they experience God’s salvation, HIS glory, and HIS presence in Israel!

Jonas’s “swallowing” also foreshadows Jesus’ death.
The three days and nights in the belly of the fish correspond to the time Jesus spent in the realm of the dead.
The “spitting out” points to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead—death has lost its power!

The book of this strange prophet therefore requires no further oral prophetic announcement of the coming of our Lord Jesus. 🙂
And even in the Old Covenant, which God had made only with the people of Israel, the same was true then as it is today:
God’s love and His call to repentance apply not only to Israel—God calls all of humanity!

Outline of the Book of Jonah:

Content of the prophet Jonah:

Jonah chapter 1
Jonah chapter 2
Jonah chapter 3
Jonah chapter 4