JONAH: Rebellion, repentance and revival
By William Wade
Day One. 64 pages. £5
ISBN 978 1 846 256 127
The author works through the Book of Jonah on a verse-by-verse basis, but this is not really a commentary. Being part of the series on People in the Bible, the author has to tell us about the dramatic life of Jonah, but his real conviction is that the book of Jonah is much more about a compassionate God than it is about a reluctant prophet.
It’s easy to read, the style is lively and the author works hard to relate the story of the prophet to ordinary Christians living in the 21st century. Such an approach inevitably involves a certain amount of speculation. Sometimes this was thought-provoking. Sometimes it was just frustrating.
God’s call
The book begins with the way God calls the men he intends to use. In Jonah’s case the call came suddenly and he did not like it. Jonah was uncooperative, but God would not give up and was even prepared to use what looked like judgment to restore Jonah.
Wade suggests that we might see Jonah as the prodigal son of the OT who, in the Great Fish Hotel, was brought back to God through prayer. The restored Jonah was finally willing to do what God had wanted him to do all along, but he clearly did not understand the mercy of God or share his compassionate heart. Disillusionment with ministry, a misplaced concern for his own personal reputation, and a basic self-centred-ness are suggested as possible reasons as to why this might be the case.
God was still dealing with Jonah at the end of the book asking him questions that were designed to ‘pierce through the veneer of superficiality’ and get to the root of the matter. What questions would God want to ask us as we consider the example of Jonah?
