Many characters in the Bible prove identifiable in our contemporary world. As we sit here today on the downhill side of winter and contemplate the meaning of our lives, one biblical character especially leaps out at us: the prophet Jonah. Most of us associate Jonah with being swallowed by a legendary whale or giant fish. The book of Jonah, however, is actually a poignant parable about the relation of Israel to other nations. The book skillfully and forcefully calls Israel back to her universal mission of preaching the wideness and totality of God's mercy and forgiveness to all nations.

In Jonah's day the Ninevites were enemies of the Jewish people. One day God called Jonah to rise and go to Nineveh for the purpose of preaching to them so they could be saved. Full of disillusionment and ha…