The Lord told Jonah: "Go to Nineveh and warn of its impending doom on account of its great wickedness." But Jonah chose not to obey and instead boarded a ship sailing in the opposite direction.

As he lay asleep below deck, a great storm of wind came up so fierce it threatened to destroy the ship and everyone on board. The sailors, afraid for their lives, began each one to pray to their god. They cast lots to determine who onboard may be responsible, and the lot fell to Jonah. Jonah was awakened and came up on deck whereupon he confessed to the truth, "...it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

"What shall we do?" they asked. "You're only hope is to throw me into the sea," was his reply, but they weren't too keen to do that. Shortly, however, the storm became even stronger, so they took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the raging sea became calm and the men were in awe of Jonah's God.

Jonah thought all was lost as he sank below the waves, but the Lord was not finished with him yet. As incredible as it may seem and doubly dubious in these modern times, the tale continues with Jonah being swallowed whole by a huge fish. And there he remained, as the verse above states, contemplating his fate.

Finally he raised his voice in prayer in which he described - quite accurately - what it must feel like to be drowning. But also, from the dark and dank belly of the sea creature, he thanked the Lord for saving his life and vowed to fulfill the Lord's command. Lo and behold, the fish vomited and Jonah found himself on dry land.

I don't know about you but if I, not a prince or prophet, had been thrown into the depths of the sea, nearly drowned, swallowed by some huge sea creature, then heaved back out onto the beach filthy and slimy, I would definitely have a new perspective on the nature of the Divine. Especially after acknowledging everything that happened was the result of my disobedience.

And so it seemed to be with Jonah. When the Lord instructed him a second time to go to Nineveh, he obeyed.

Nineveh was the royal city of the Assyrian empire. It lay some 600 miles (956 km) northeast of Israel. To get there Jonah had to cross mountains, deserts, plains, and the great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris of Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). We are not told how he got there or how long it took. Most likely he traveled by camel; as many did in those times. Once Jonah arrived he spent three days covering the length and breadth of that great city, proclaiming the message God had given him to say: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." _{Jonah 3:4}

Word of this reached the king of Nineveh who, most likely, sought to know more about Jonah. The book isn't specific on this point except to record that the king humbled himself before God. There was a tradition in those days where people would put on sackcloth and sprinkle ashes on their heads. Today we can google "sackcloth and ashes" and it would return any number of possible meanings. In this case it indicates the king believed the warning as did many Ninevites and became penitent. In fact, the king issued a decree that all people should humble themselves and turn from their evil ways. "Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger..." _{Jonah 3:9}

Now we come to the crucible of this story; not for the Ninevites but for Jonah, because the Lord did indeed relent and did not destroy the city. The reason I say the hammer fell on Jonah is because he had just spent three days preaching destruction. This turn of events made him very angry, and that anger was directed at God. "This is why I ran away. I knew this would happen - I knew all along you are a loving and forgiving God. 'Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.'" _{Jonah 4:3}

Jonah left the city feeling mighty depressed. He sat down in a poorly sheltered spot and waited to see what would happen, but the Lord had one last lesson to impart on him. He caused a leafy bush to grow and give shade to Jonah to ease his discomfort. Jonah was glad for the leafy bush, but the next day the bush was attacked by insects and when the sun rose high it withered and blew away. This made Jonah angry again. The lesson was this: Jonah showed more gratitude for the leafy bush than he had for the people of Nineveh who are also 'children of the Most High God'. I think Jonah understood and I hope we all would take this lesson to heart.