The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm : Whither Shall I Go from Thy Spirit? or Whither Shall I Flee from Thy Presence? Psalm 139:7

Jonah is a book artfully constructed, with one chapter devoted to a psalm. It is a book that will reward careful reading and meditation. But more than that, in the drama of Jonah we find charted the course not just of this angular prophet but of Isreal's attitude toward its most despised neighbor in the Mediterranean world. Jonah refuses to answer God's call to go and proclaim judgement because he knows God is just the kind of God who respond in mercy and grace should the Assyrians repent. Jonah will have no part of it--until he is compelled. And even then he pities himself.