rather die than live jonah Author:william m. pickard Jonas, one of a series of etchings on Jonah by Derlie Barroso, Brazilian Methodist artist, photographer and graphic designer. Formerly an artist and designer for church school curriculum, Mr Barroso is now employed by a large publishing company in Brazil and teaches photography and film making. While on a study leave in the United States, he w... more »as a graphic consultant to the Board of Global Ministries.
Jonah, trying to escape God and God's call to go to Nineveh to save the people there, found himself swallowed by a big fish.
Jonah's confiement in the fish is symbolic of the way he continued to box himself in. He was not willing to live the life to which God called him and, indeed resernted God's interest in "foreigh" people. As the story ends, Jonah is quite unhappy with God for loving the Ninevites, allowing them to repent and forgiving them for their wickedness. He would rather die than live for a God who expected that he do the same.« less