The book of jonah is in the group of prophecy books of the old testament, but it is not a prophecy, it is an account about the prophet jonah and the trouble he got into when he had to do God's will. Since he was a prophet his office was to speak on behalf of God. However, Jonah did not want to do the work that God had given him to do. The problem was that jonah hated the people of other countries. jonah represents those Israelites who did not understand that God loves all people. God had a message he wanted Jonah to give to the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, but Jonah was not willing to do that. jonah refused to obey God, so God made Jonah suffer a terrible experience with a huge fish, to force him to obey. After saving him from certain death, God gave Jonah another chance. This time Jonah obeyed, went to Nineveh and gave God's message to the people there. They listened to him and were very grieved for all the evil they had done. They begged God to save them. However, Jonah's feelings against these people did not change but he continued to hate them. He even became angry because God did not want to destroy the city. Then God taught Jonah another lesson. This time, he did it using a plant that grew very fast.
The story of Jonah is about a hatred as big as a whale, the hatred that Jonah had for the people of Nineveh. But it is also about the even greater love that God has for his creation. it tells of Jonah's pride and his refusal to obey God. it is also a story of second chances. the book of Jonah tells us of God's love for the whole world. it also teaches us that God continually corrects those he loves. Here we read how Jonah rejects God's command and faces certain death (1:1,1-16), is saved from death by God and prays to him (1:1,17, 2:10), finally obeys God and the people of Nineveh, prays to God for mercy (3:1-10), fails again and God corrects him again (4:1-11), AMEN, written by orlando torres.