JONAH OUT OF THE BELLY

Gustave Dore's version of Jonah preaching repentance in Nineveh.

The theme at Goat Rope lately is the biblical book of Jonah, a little gem of a short story. If this is your first visit, please click on the earlier posts.

Yesterday's post summarized the plot of Jonah up to the point where he got vomited out of the fish's belly. Today, we resume the story.

I highly recommend you give the original a look. It's well worth the time, even if you ain't got no religion. It's that good a story. Here's one online version.

After rejecting the first call of God and doing the whole fish thing, Jonah once again gets the call to go to Nineveh and deliver the message of repentance. This time he does.

At least he can take a hint, even if it has to be a pretty major one.

Jonah goes to Nineveh to deliver his cargo, warning that God will destroy the place in 40 days unless they got their act together. They actually listen, fast, and dress in sackcloth and ashes. The local king sends out the word for everyone to do the same, including the animals.

If that was the case, there probably weren't any goats around.

Any ordinary prophet would have been happy about this, put "Mission Accomplished" on his aircraft carrier, and headed home. But not our boy. The Bible says

it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

He throws his first temper tantrum of the story, complaining that the reason he didn't want to go there in the first place was that he knew God would go soft and spare the Ninevites. He asks God to take his life.

I think he may have had issues.

STILL GONE. Regular features should resume next Monday. Well may the US go when I'm gone.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED