Minor Prophets — Jonah
Jonah had a message to present to the wicked city of Nineveh. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me” (Jonah 1:2). However, Jonah was a disobedient servant who decided it would be easier to run from the Lord than to have his reputation as a prophet spoiled. This is indicated by what he said later on, when he complained to the Lord regarding the sparing of the city. “I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil” (Jonah 4:2). He knew if the people repented that the Lord might not carry out the judgment and that he would lose his credibility as a prophet.
The account of Jonah is prophetically the story of the unfaithfulness of Israel as a witness for God in the earth and His governmental dealings with them.
Jonah is also a type of the Lord Jesus in His rejection, death, and resurrection. This is confirmed by the Lord when He stated: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
