Jonah as metaphor for Jewish intransigence

I have tried to communicate this before. Because I am not satisfied with previous attempts, I'll try again.

Jonah is a strong indictment of Israel's unwillingness, hardheartedness. And yet in a later generation they were also honest enough to put this short book into their canon. It was considered inspired.

There are some very self deprecatory books in the Old Testament. Job and Jonah are included in the set of very unique books.

Isaiah has some amazing passages that described a suffering servant that would come for all men. Yet when Jesus came, God was doing something so different that the Jews who lived at the time could not accept him. God was doing a new thing yet Isaiah and other books predicted it. Often predictions do not make sense until they happen but when Jesus came and then died the Jews should have been able to recognize him. Yet the fact that Jesus came fro all men was a large stumbling block for the Jews. They just could not accept that.

Yet when the Good News was accepted by those who were not Jews this did not get the Jewish leaders to reconsider. But many individuals did repent and believe in Jesus. Even more Jews initially were convinced but then recanted under pressure from their leaders. How sad for them. Yet Jesus predicted this too.

Unlike Jonah, who the leaders accepted later. Unlike Isaiah that was read at many Sabbaths, speaking of a man to come who was a lot like Jesus, the leaders never reconsidered.

Paul prophesied that the Jews would later accept Jesus. Revelation speaks of Jews who will come back to God in the end. So continue to pray for the Jews to accept Jesus.

If you know Jews you can tell them Jesus was a Jew, he came to the Jews first. His time was predicted. He is the Jesus Messiah. You don't have to beat it to death. But he was the Jewish messiah. He died for their sins too.