Jonah had plenty of time to get second thoughts. After being vomited onto the land, he was still over 400 miles (644km) from Ninevah (modern day Mosul, Iraq). Whether he walked or rode a camel doesn’t really matter—it still took him quite a while to get there. That was plenty of time to think and ponder over what the Lord was showing him. But the message hadn’t fully sunk in. He ends the book pouting under the gourd. Sometimes our lessons, even the dramatic ones, don’t penetrate our thick skulls very quickly. How thankful we can be that our God is a patient and gracious teacher! Who was in the grip of the Spirit of God and then a dependent recorder of all of Jonah’s failure? Jonah of course. He had learned his lessons of humility at last. Our patient teacher will take us all the way through to graduation day!