Pope Shenouda III
We shall see some of Jonah's weaknesses in his attitude
towards the Lord's call. The Holy Bible says:
"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amity, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry, out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me'. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord" (Jon. 1:1-3).
Here we see the Prophet Jonah falling into a number of lapses. The first lapse was disobedience and rebellion.
Jonah was not able to obey the Lord in this matter, whilst he was a prophet whose work was but to call people to the Lord's obedience. When we fall into the lapse of disobedience we ought to have compassion on those who fall into disobedience, putting before us the Apostle's saying:
"Remember the prisoners as if chained with them"(Heb. 13:3).
