Welcome! Here are some final observations and questions about the book of Jonah.
This book is not finished. There is no conclusion. There are no directions. It strikes me that every person who hears this elaborate parable understands that we are like Jonah at the end, but there is no ending to the book. Are we to finish the book in our time? Peace making is hard work, and often not rewarded. Israeli premier Yitzak Rabin observed that we do not make peace with our friends, but make peace with our enemies, and after signing a peace agreement with Egypt, was assassinated by a radical party of Jews. We find parallels in Christianity and Islam.
How is God involved? The one who created is the one who loves who and what he creates. Here are important recurring phrases from the three Abrahamic faiths:
Judaism-The God of Steadfast Love
Islam-Allah the merciful and Compassionate
Christianity-God so loved the World that he gave his only son
We are encouraged to see others as God sees them, as those created in the image of God. I suppose we would like God to be on our side and make our enemies God's enemies. God is apparently not interested in that.
The book ends with some gentle humor and pokes some fun at the Ninevites, and at us. God talks of the people of the city "who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals." Jonah has been grieving over a plant that gave shade to him, and Jonah valued it more than the great city. It's so easy to make things of little consequence very important, and not to see things through God's eyes.
The antidote to hatred and fear is love-God's love. There is no need to flee it.
This book is not finished. There is no conclusion. There are no directions. It strikes me that every person who hears this elaborate parable understands that we are like Jonah at the end, but there is no ending to the book. Are we to finish the book in our time? Peace making is hard work, and often not rewarded. Israeli premier Yitzak Rabin observed that we do not make peace with our friends, but make peace with our enemies, and after signing a peace agreement with Egypt, was assassinated by a radical party of Jews. We find parallels in Christianity and Islam.
How is God involved? The one who created is the one who loves who and what he creates. Here are important recurring phrases from the three Abrahamic faiths:
Judaism-The God of Steadfast Love
Islam-Allah the merciful and Compassionate
Christianity-God so loved the World that he gave his only son
We are encouraged to see others as God sees them, as those created in the image of God. I suppose we would like God to be on our side and make our enemies God's enemies. God is apparently not interested in that.
The book ends with some gentle humor and pokes some fun at the Ninevites, and at us. God talks of the people of the city "who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals." Jonah has been grieving over a plant that gave shade to him, and Jonah valued it more than the great city. It's so easy to make things of little consequence very important, and not to see things through God's eyes.
The antidote to hatred and fear is love-God's love. There is no need to flee it.
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