Jonah: God's Discipline and Love

My first confrontation with the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament occurred not long after I was led to the Savior in 1943 by Dr. Donald B. Fullerton at Princeton University. He began a great Christian ministry at Princeton in 1931. He invited me to join him one day as we visited a student who had signed a paper several months earlier indicating his interest in our Princeton Evangelical Fellowship. But when we introduced ourselves, he told us that he did not believe the Bible any more. In response to Dr. Fullerton's request for a reason, he responded: "Jonah and the whale! How can an intelligent person believe that story?" I was ready to give up; but, thank God, my Bible teacher patiently and carefully unveiled to him the Person of Christ and the significance of His endorsement of the Book of Jonah (cf. Matthew 12:39-41). Within one hour, the student accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior-not because he had scientific and historic confirmation of Jonah's experience-but because God had opened his mind, soul and heart to the truth of God's written revelation in the Bible. Yes, "the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Hopefully, dear reader, this study of the amazing Book of Jonah will be used of God in your heart as well.