Introduction: story of Jonah.
Jonah tells the story of a man who is sent by the lord to instruct a unfamiliar city of non-Jews to regret their sins, otherwise they be destroyed[1]. Jonah personally doesn’t want to pass on this message as he doubts that they will repent and will surpass the behaviour of the Jews who don’t repent[2]. This would then cause God to destroy the Jews. Jonah eventually makes it to Nineveh and calls on the people to repent, and they do[3]. Jonah becomes miserable at this point and God teaches him a lesson by showing him that even though they were not Jews, God still loves and cares for them because they still are his creations[4].
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Jonah was always concerned that God will apply all the levels of mercy and justice to Nineveh as he grants Israel.
This clarifies that Jonah very well knew he could not escape God but wanted to emphasise that it is outside of Israel. Applications of God’s mercy outside of Israel according to Jonah should be different because there is no holiness there. God’s response to Jonah reveals an opposite attitude to the application mercy as explained that in Gods ‘eyes’ each person deserves a certain level of mercy and forgiveness .
Certain issues that arise in the book and are addressed are justice, mercy, and forgiveness.[12]Jonah mainly argues about the difference between the universal man and the Jewish peoples are in the covenant.
As explained previously the verse that mentions Jonah being vomited on to land has proved the theme of the book and motivation for Jonah’s actions. Jonah is mainly concerned with the possibility of exile for Israel and destruction of the northern kingdom.
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[1] Jonah 1:2
[2] Jonah 1:3
[3] Jonah