Jonah: The Man Who Ran

Jonah (in progress), by Jack Baumgartner, http://theschoolofthetransferofenergy.com

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”  –Jonah 1:1-3, NIV

Jonah: The Man Who Ran

To that great city, Nineveh,

Jonah, go and cry

For the sins of this people

They shall surely die

Jonah, the man that ran

Fled to Tarshish

To avoid that land

But he did not escape God’s hand

He boarded the boat at Joppa

To escape his task

No one seemed to notice

And no one cared to ask

Then, a storm arose on the sea

All were tossed in violent rage

In fear they screamed out,

“What is this all about?”

They prayed to their gods

While Jonah slept sound

The people were in a panic

They began to gather round

“Awake you sleeper,” they cried.

“Pray to your god so we will stay alive”

“This is because of me,” Jonah said.

“Throw me in or you will all be dead!”

They began to row to land

Not wanting his blood on their hands

They prayed to the Lord

And threw Jonah overboard

The sea grew calm and stayed

And these men were so afraid

Jonah’s God listened as they prayed

In gratitude, great sacrifices were paid

God provided a huge fish

And it swallowed Jonah whole

Jonah was hardened and rebellious
And this was about to take its toll

© January 7, 2014, Robbie Pruitt

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”  –Luke 15:20, NIV

“Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’”  –Luke 19:9-10, NIV