Do we sanitise the story of Jonah?

Jonah’s wandering away from God is somewhat legendary … and a little fishy.

He didn’t just stray from God; he ran. And he ran from God because he was disobeying Him. As a prophet of God, Jonah was supposed to be one of God’s elite. Yet when God sends him off to be a street preacher in what is modern-day Iraq, to a people who are Jonah’s equivalent of the Islamic State, Jonah hauls off in the other direction (Jonah 1:3). And who can blame him? A holiday in the Mediterranean sounds a lot more appealing.

Lost in a dark place

So, this fickle and disobedient prophet runs away ‘from the presence of the Lord’ (Jonah 1:3). And while Jonah sleeps soundly in his getaway ship, God stirs up a wild storm (vv.4-6).