Those who know the Bible are familiar with the concept of divine appointment. God appointed great men and women, who were qualified and obedient, to take on jobs that needed to be done to further the cause of seeing and demonstrating His spiritual kingdom on earth.
Wait a minute—did I say "qualified"? Actually, some of them didn't think they were ready at all! Take, for example, Moses, great Hebrew lawgiver and the one chosen by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was initially convinced of one thing: that he was unqualified. With an as yet undeveloped sense of man's ability as the very image of God, in authority and intelligence, he saw only mortal shortcomings, among which was an inability to speak well or to convince others of his mission. But God revealed more to Moses than the mission—because He required more of Moses than the mission. The divine Principle's first requirement of Moses was moral regeneration—redemption from mortal limitations. Because divine Principle is Love, God also revealed to Moses the way to redemption—the fact that the only Ego is God Himself (the one infinitely competent "I") and that therefore man's real identity and purpose is Ego-reflecting. On the basis of this fundamental truth, Moses was able to begin to fulfill his potential. His spiritual growth contributed to the progressive fulfillment of his mission and glorified the one God.
No one would say that Jonah didn't love God. As a prophet, he was sensitive to God's Word and presence. However, sensitivity to good also made him an ideal candidate for exposing evil. And when he found himself an appointee to denounce error, wickedness, disobedience, in Nineveh—well, it would be an understatement to say he didn't welcome the job; he tried to escape it by boarding a ship to Tarshish. Obviously, what needed to take place in Jonah's consciousness was as important as what he had to do in Nineveh. Without a clearer grasp of his own Christly nature—without the development of patience, obedience, courage, and impartial love—he couldn't have done the job.
