(a) God called Jonah and sent him to declare to the people of Nineveh that their wickedness had gone up before Him. Jonah tried to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, but Jonah's flight was cut short by a storm sent by the Lord from whom no one could escape. The mariners were afraid and each cried to his god and threw their wares in the ship into the sea to lighten it. Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and was fast asleep.
The captain of the ship challenged him for sleeping and for not calling on his God. They cast lot and it fell on Jonah. The captain questioned him over his action, nationality and calling and Jonah revealed that he was a Hebrew fleeing from the Lord. Jonah, at his request, was thrown into the sea. Already, God had appointed a great fish to swallow him up and he stayed in the fish's belly for three days and three nights. Jonah prayed to the Lord from the belly of the fish and the Lord asked the fish to spew out Jonah to the dry land.

(b) Lessons learnt from Jonah's flight include:
(i) God is omnipresent, not confined to a certain place.
(ii) Men cannot run away from God.
(iii) God has a way of making man comply with His will.