Jonah (-800 to -740)

Chapter 1 (Jonah 1: 1-17) tells how the prophet Jonah was called to go to the city of Nineveh to preach a sermon because the lives of the people there were full of wickedness. This call was not followed by Jonah and he fled to Tarshish because he wanted Nineveh not to repent and the people of Nineveh to be punished. Here we can see that Jonah was aware of God's attributes (compassionate, compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in loyal love, and who regrets the calamities He planned) in his life, but he wanted these qualities to be revealed only to himself and his people. On their way to the ship, a stormy wind attacked them. After being drawn, it turned out that Jonah was the one who sinned, so Jonah was thrown into the sea.

And in chapter 2, after the Prophet Jonah was thrown into the sea, God helped him by having a large fish swallow him. In the belly of the big fish, Jonah prayed. Prayers of gratitude, praise, remorse, and surrender to God. Finally, the fish vomited Jonah onto the land.

Furthermore, in chapter 3 it is explained that Jonah was sent by God for the second time to go to the evil city of Nineveh to deliver the news that in forty days God would punish the whole city of Nineveh. After Jonah carried out God's command and delivered the message, all the inhabitants of Nineveh and the king had a great fast and repented of their sins. Therefore God does not punish them.

Lastly, in chapter 4, the conversion that took place in the city of Nineveh made Jonah feel dissatisfied and became very angry and even wanted to die. The Lord came and spoke to him using a jatropha tree, a caterpillar, and strong wind. From these three things, Jonah learned an important lesson from the conclusion that if Jonah loved the jatropha tree that Jonah did not make, then God also loved the Ninevites (Gentiles), His creations.

In fact, there is no definite writing regarding when and how Jonah died. But it can be estimated that he died in the 9th century BC.