What comes to your mind when you think of the prophet Jonah?

Most likely Jonah wrote autobiographically about what had happened to him. Now, let's see what does he tell us. Jonah says that he is the son of Amittai (Jonah 1:1). His name means "dove" and he belonged to the Ten Tribes of Israel. Jonah grew up near Nazareth at the village of Gath Hepher, and lived about 800 B.C. or a little after during the reign of Jerobeam II, the king of Israel (2 Kings 14:25).

Jonah was confronted with the reality that the God of Hebrew's also loves non-Jewish people. God even used a reluctant prophet as a vehicle of his grace. So, the greatest insight of Jonah's story is that God desires to show mercy and grace to all the peoples of the world.

This is a Good News of salvation for all of us!