Jonah 4

January 3  

Reading: Jonah 4 

¹ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.    

² And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. ³ Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."    

⁴ And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"    

⁵ Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.    

⁶ Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.    

⁸ When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."    

⁹ But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?"    

And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."    

¹⁰ And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?" 

Jonah concludes with some humor and the prophet presenting himself in a ridiculous light. 

Jonah 4:1-2 is the pivotal moment of the book that explains everything. After the events of chapter 3, Jonah is angry and exceedingly displeased. He’s upset. In verse 2 we discover why. He is upset at the Lord. Jonah is upset at God because God has had mercy on the people of Nineveh. In fact, now we learn why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh in the first place. He did not want to warn them, to give them an opportunity to repent. Jonah wanted Nineveh to burn. 

Jonah knew what God is like. He knew God wants to forgive people. God forgave him and restored him to his prophetic ministry. Jonah knew all about the mercy of God. He just didn’t want any of God’s mercy for these hateful, disgusting Ninevites. 

How do you feel when God has mercy on someone that you hate? 

I recall a meeting I had with a man and a woman who were having terrible marriage problems. I asked the husband if he would confess his sins and repent. He did. He apologized to his wife and asked for her forgiveness. She said that she forgave him. Then I turned to her and asked about her sin.   
She stopped me. “Wait a minute!” she said, “Is that all?”   
I asked, “What do you mean?”   
“But,” she stammered, “But he has to PAY!!!” 

God spends the rest of chapter 4 seeking to show Jonah the foolishness of his attitude, that he wants the Ninevites to pay for their sins when God has forgiven them. Twice Jonah says he is so upset he wants to die. He is acting like an immature kid. He is pitching a fit. Here is Jonah, having compassion for a plant, because he liked it, but refusing to have compassion on an entire city filled with people, and animals! Who are we to not have compassion when God has compassion?