Jonah: A False Prophet or a Prophet with a False God? Essay -- Religio

Jonah A sham Prophet or a Prophet with a False idol?The Jonah narrative is a story often told to children to emphasize that it is rail at to run from God and there is no way to escape from God. still as adults we try out that there is more to the story. There are more ways to interpret the Jonah narrative and the character of Jonah. Readers may change surface read the story with an anti-Semitic view if they judge solely from their offset impressions of Jonah. We see a man who flees, a man who is angry with God, and a man who pouts under a bush and wishes to die. From all this we may reason that Jonah is selfish. If we read beyond the surface impression and pay paying attention attention to the narrative and Jonahs words and not just deeds, we see a more spiritual concern in Jonahs heart. He is not touch about what people value of him but what people think of God.During Jonahs time, conditions were not very stable. Political, social, and religious disorder reigned in Israe l. Syria had recently won a war and taken over Israel. The relationship between Jonahs homeland and Nineveh, the expectant of Syria, were strained and bursting with animosity. Israel itself was in a state of turmoil, trying to adjust to the firing of their power and independence (Winard 538).In his article Jonah The Wayward genus Columba, Richard Stamp charges Jonah with extreme nationalism. We see a rather exceptionable man who is disobedient to God and seems to be a bigoted ultranationalistic of the worst kind (Stamp 80). Jonahs frustration with God shows that he would rather see the destruction of more than a hundred and twenty thousand souls than allow that God can be merciful to the foreigners of Nineveh. His anger over Gods compassion towards this wicked city is used to ju... ...aracteristics in all his actions. Jonah is never concerned about what people think of him but what people think of God.Works Cited Fretheim, Terence E. The Message of Jonah A Theological Commen tary.Augsburg Publishing field Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1977Martin, Hugh D.D. The Prophet Jonah His Character and Mission to Nineveh. The Banner of Truth trust Highgate West Hill, London , 1958.Myers, Jacob Martin. The Book of Joel The Book of Amos The Book of Obadiah The Book of Jonah. can Knox Press Richmond, Virginia, 1959.The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV)Oxford University Press, 1991.Seiden, Chaim. Why does Jonah Want to go on? Bible Review 15 June 1999 4.Stamp, Richard. Jonah The Wayward Dove The informative Times Vol. 111 Dec.199980-82.Winward, Stephen F. A Guide to the Prophets. John Knox Press Richmond, Virginia 1969.