My main writing project these days is writing a book titled “It’s not what we were told”, tackling subjects Christians ought to know about but they weren’t told or mistold.

My main deep dive into the Bible right now concerns the minor prophets, the latest up for scrutiny being Jonah. It seems to me, there is a lot about Jonah we are not told about. Even people who don’t know the Bible know about Jonah and the whale – but there is a lot more. Recently, I led a Bible study on Jonah (slides appended) and here is my list of not told topics:

1. Jonah is indeed the reluctant prophet who ran, sulked, disobeyed and was a racist.
2. The name Jonah means dove! “Dove” we associate with gentleness and peace.
3. Jonah hails from just outside Nazareth – the same place Jesus grew up in.
4. While he could have chosen not to go to Nineveh for fear of his life, that was NOT the reason for running away.
5. Jonah crops up before the story recorded, in the Book of Judah – he preached to the same bad Israeli king (Jeroboam II) Amos and Hosea did. His was a message of mercy.
6. Jonah loved and feared God. He knew his Bible and well understood God’s ways.
7. While not fitting the bill of what we might expect from a Bible prophet, he was God’s choice to carry out an important assignment.
8. God is the God of second chances, e.g., shown by His patiently dealing with Jonah and Assyria.
9. Assyria were not only a very cruel nation but they were advanced in culture, learning, literature, logistics and technology, and was at the forefront in the ancient world.
10. The Book of Jonah is full of miracles besides that of the Great Fish (Whale), e.g., the plant that suddenly grew up and died.
11. A lot of the Book tallies with what can be found out today about related events, e.g., the archaeological remains of the City of Nineveh and literary evidence of its life from non-biblical sources.
12. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (housed in the British museum) says much about Assyrian cruelty. The Epic of Gilgamesh says much about their learning and culture.
13. Jonah is a good example of God’s interest in and reaching out to wicked nations, such as Assyria, but also to the pagan sailors who reluctantly threw Jonah overboard and after turned to God.
14. Jonah may have died before being swallowed by the whale (we can’t say for sure) but his prayer referencing Sheol and the later references by Jesus suggests that he may well have been.
15. Jesus gave Jonah as the Sign that his detractors had been asking for, noting that Jonah was three days and nights in the whale, with the sign being that He would spend that same period following death, by being buried and then resurrected.
16. Jonah preached the most significant message in the history of revival – just 5 words in Hebrew. It led to a whole city repenting from king to people and included animals.
17. It displeased Jonah that God suspended judgment, such was his disdain for Assyria. He had rather hoped Israel’s enemies would get their comeuppance but he needed to learn that God is a God of mercy and compassion, even to the worst of the worst.
18. Rather than punish Jonah, God was gracious to him, as He had been with Nineveh and often is with us when we err).
19. We can take from the story of Jonah the important lesson from some of Jesus’ last words about going into ALL the world and bringing to it the marvelous message of the Gospel.
20. God has the last word – just over 100 years later the prophet Nahum also preached words of judgment against Nineveh. They didn’t repent and the city was overthrown.

Check out here for my Jonah slide presentation to complement the above …