Jonah is a disobedient prophet who runs away from his call from God. He finds it difficult to understand the ways of the lord and why God does the things he does. The book of Jonah itself and God and Jonah himself, can be analysed in many different fashions.
             Jonah is first spoken of in the book of II Kings. It is said that Jonah is a prophet and a servant of the Lord. He lived in Israel and he served God as his prophet - as his mouthpiece so to speak. A prophet serves as the spokesman between man and God. In fact, his very name indicates that. Jonah means "dove," which signifies a "messenger." It also mentions that Jonah is Son of Ammitai, which means son of "thruth." Jonah acts as the messenger of God's truth.
             God sends Jonah to Nineveh, which was the capital city of Assyria. After hearing off this mission Jonah dileberately disobeys God. There are a variety of reasons why Jonah may have not wanted to proceed with God's mission. Perhaps Jonah was afraid for his life. Nineveh was the Assyrian capital and it was very violent and brutal. Jonah might have thought it was lost cause thinking what could one man do. He thought why would anyone of this great city ever listen to him. A city of unbelieving idol worshippers who were more interested in, Command & Conquer, than they were in God. Or maybe Jonah thought the message was severe and harsh. It was a hard message, to preach against Nineveh's wickedness. Perhaps Jonah was not too content with preaching against the Assyrians.
             Jonah just flees God's calls and goes to Tarshish in the West. Jonah was hoping to make it impossible for him to serve God as his prophet, as his servant called to serve in the East. After Jonah realizes what he has done, he knows he should die. Even though Jonah believed he should die for disobeying God's call, the lord saves him from death. God shows great mercy on Jonah&ap...