The Jonah Story

I saw the video below today through Facebook. I was initially overwhelmed at the little girl’s expressions. For a moment, I thought she was using a teleprompter but alas she was not!

I am not sure I will want this girl around me all the time. She seems like the talkative type. But then, she’s so adorable. If you never heard the story of Jonah, then this will do for good emmm…listening and viewing.

She ends the story by saying, “Jonah went home and tried to love as God had taught him“. Nowhere was it recorded that Jonah went home, or tried to love as God taught him. I’d try right here to share my thoughts on the ending parts of this history.

For a long time now, I have enjoyed laughing at ‘Jonah’. I love the story. The ending of this account, just like the records of the end of Elisha and the Prodigal Son, has always got me thinking.

I don’t need to do a recap if you’ve watched the video above, but for those reading over a non-supporting agent, I’d just do a tiny winy summary.

Jonah is a prophet. Jonah is called by God and asked to go to some place called Nineveh to preach His love and repentance. Jonah decides to run away from this responsibility. Some believe that he ran away because he was lazy but that wasn’t the reason. Jonah is on a ship to Tarshish, the escape city. There is a great storm. The ship is about to sink so they throw things in the water so that the boat becomes lighter. Finally Jonah owns up. Tells them to throw him in instead, because he was the cause of the storm. Jonah is thrown into the sea. The wild tides subside. Jonah is swallowed by a large fish(not a whale) and then after 3 days, he prays to God and then God commands the fish to bring him up out of his belly. Jonah then decides to preach to this community. The people listened to Jonah, prayed to God to forgive them. And then God had mercy on them and didn’t destroy them as the original plan was.

The funny part starts right here: Jonah becomes angry that God forgave them. His anger knows no bounds as he begins to plead to God to kill him. The height of selfishness!! Can you imagine!

Jonah then tells God that he knew God was going to forgive them and that was why he didn’t want to go in the first place. “Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live“. Just so funny!!!

Then next, God decides to give him a little drama to act in. Jonah in his anger went to the east of the city and then made himself a shade just to watch what would happen to the city. Then God made a plant to grow over his head to ease the discomfort Jonah was facing(while waiting for the people to die). Just when comfort was seeping in, he caused a worm to eat up the plant and then God sent a scorching wind and the sun blazed over Jonah’s head so that he was faint.

Jonah wanted to die and once again said “It would be better for me to die than to live“. I think Jonah must have been a comedian!

Hereafter, God tells him why he did what he did with the plants and the sun. God asks Jonah “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

Jonah’s response was even more hilarious to me. He said, “It is!!! And I’m so angry I wish I were dead“. That ended the Jonah scene!

Two things come to mind. One, he was a proud, selfish and difficult person. Next, he is very much like many of us who don’t share out of the good we have.