MUCH time has been spent in trying to prove or disprove the possibility of the occurrences related in the book of Jonah. It is not the writer's intention to take part in this argument, but to show that, no matter what conclusions may be reached as to the value of the book as historic fact, there are deep spiritual lessons to be learned from the experiences of Jonah, lessons which are of much more vital interest than any question as to whether or not the story is literally true in every detail.
Jonah may be taken as a type of the man who knows the truth, who has heard God's call to cry against Nineveh (rebuke sin), but shrinks from the difficulty or unpleasantness of the task and attempts to escape the necessity of obeying the divine command. Jonah was not an exceptionally cowardly or lazy man, and if we are honest we may perchance discover similar conditions of thought in ourselves. Mrs. Eddy says, "Many are willing to open the eyes of the people to the power of good resident in divine Mind, but they are not so willing to point out the evil in human thought" (Science and Health, p. 570.)
The demand to take our stand against error is as imperative at the present time as it ever was, and God's call is heard as truly now as in ages past. Jonah was well aware of what it meant to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and preach against sin, and his fear of rejection, lack of faith in the power of his message, and his desire for ease instead of earnest effort, made him attempt to flee from the presence of the Lord. Christians today are called upon to do their part in the battle against error, but how many of us attempt to shirk responsibility through fear of failure, desire for the approval of friends who may not see things as we do, and through mental laziness! We, like Jonah, may deceive ourselves for a time, and think that the issue can be evaded by running away from it, but, metaphorically speaking, sooner or later we shall find ourselves "in the belly of the fish."
