The book of Jonah is one of the Old Testament books of the minor profits. Among the books of minor profits, the book of Jonah is very unique because Jonah was the only prophet who is recorded as having run away from god. The book of Jonah is based on how god shows mercy and compassion to everyone, no matter how much they don't deserve it. .
Jonah was a profit who went around Israel telling everyone about god and his teachings. Jonah prayed every night to god asking for his guidance. One night while praying, god gave Jonah a new message: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."(Jon. 1:2) Instead of heading to Nineveh, Jonah headed toward Tarnish, which was the opposite direction from Nineveh. "But Jonah ran away from the lord, and headed for Tarnish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarnish to flee from the lord."(Jon. 1:3) .
Fleeing from the lord was Jonah's biggest mistake because after Jonah's ship set assail, he went below deck and fell into a deep sleep. By then, God was terribly upset with Jonah, so he made a terrible storm come about and the ship started to sink. A few minutes later Jonah found himself awakened by the Captain, "The Captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."(Jon. 1:6) After this, Jonah and the crew went to the top deck and started to ask god who was responsible for making him mad. Jonah then spoke out; "He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.""(Jon. 1:9) The Crew then knew that Jonah was running away from god. The sea started to get rougher, so the crew asked Jonah what they should do. Jonah told them to throw him into the sea, and then the storm would stop. "Then they cried to the Lord, "O Lord, please do not let us die for this man's life.
