Jonah

Lamentations 3:21-26, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."

Jonah has often been called the first missionary. God sent the prophet Jonah to the Ninevites to pronounce all the evil that He would bring upon them because of their wickedness.

Jonah knew that God was a loving God, merciful and slow to anger. If the Ninevites chose to repent, the Lord would not destroy them. Therefore, Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord turning his back on the call of God.

Psalm 139:7-12, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."

God prepared a great fish for Jonah which took him to the land of Nineveh. There Jonah declared all the things that God had pronounced against them. The people of Nineveh chose to repent; therefore, God spared the city and the twelve-thousand people who inhabited the land.

Less than one-hundred years before God sent Israel into captivity by the Assyrians God sent Jonah to call them to repentance.