Jonah and the book he wrote are the most misunderstood and maligned in the whole of the Bible.

People look at this book in three different ways.

[1] The ALLEGORICAL VIEW.
The book is seen as a extra long parable.

a. Jonah is really depicting the nation of Israel.

b. Because the sea often typifies the nations. In this instance it is the Gentile nations.

c. Jonah in the sea creature is the Babylonian captivity of Israel.

d. The spitting out of Jonah is Israel’s return during the time of Ezra.

[2] The MYTHOLOGICAL VIEW.
This is the view of the liberalists. They see this book as they would see Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, or Hans Anderson’s fables.

[3] The HISTORICAL AND LITERAL VIEW.

a. This is actual history.

b. The church at the start believed it.

c. The Jews believed it.

d. The Lord Jesus Christ himself in Matthew’s gospel gave the book of Jonah his seal of authority.
For we read,
“ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgement with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
[ Matt.12:40, 41] Thus the one who is “the Way , the Truth and the Life” believed the facts of this book then that puts it beyond all argument. Those who know Him and have proved that His Word is more dependable than heaven and earth believe it, because He says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”. [Matt.24:35]

e. The writer of the book of 2 Kings tells us that God’s “servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.”

So there is no doubt that the prophet Jonah was a actual person and not just a made up individual in a story, because we know his father’s name and his home village. His home village was 3 miles North East of Nazareth in Galilee. The Pharisees when speaking to the Lord Jesus obviously had not read the Old Testament for “They answered and said unto him,’ Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” [John 7:52]
This is Jonah’s biography and the facts presented by him are scoffed at and many think the whole book is just one big joke.

But how many men who writing their biography would write as Jonah did. He informs us with such detail his own defiance of the will of God the creator.
He tells of his own selfishness, rebellion and failure but never blames God but exalts God’s great and holy name.

He takes four chapters to describe in detail his own downfall but only a few sentences to summarise the greatest event of this book is the repentance of the inhabitants of “that great city” of Nineveh. This is the miracle which the sceptics have conveniently missed. The central words in this book are found in Ch. 2 v. 9. “Salvation is of the LORD.” Jonah had to learn this the hard way.

Many people over the years have missed this great work of salvation God bought about through repentance and have concentrated instead on the incidentals of the fish, the gourd, the east wind, the ship and Nineveh.
The important things in this book are Jehovah and Jonah, and God and man, repentance and grace.
There are some so called Bible teachers who do not accept this book as the truth, but “Let God be true and every men a liar.” [Rom. 3:4]

God thought it right to include this book in the cannon of Holy Scripture and all who read it must remember God’s Word says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” [2 Tim. 3:16]