“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.’” (vv. 1-2)

The Book of Jonah gets a lot of attention for a lot of reasons.

Here we find a rebellious prophet. Some bizarre, God-ordained occurrences. One surprisingly capacious fish.

It’s an odd bit of history.

But don’t let all of that obscure the book’s scandalous point:

God sends His Word to wayward people.

This ought to matter to us—we, who have been every kind of sinful, who have walked every wayward way. The evil of Jonah’s Ninevites could only be matched by the deep-seated wickedness in our own hearts. Yet, by grace, God’s good news goes to sinners, by His Word!

So, yes, enjoy the bizarre account of one rebellious prophet—but be grateful for the Gospel, as it has come to your rebellious heart.

— Tyler