Human mind and the LORD’s compassion

Jonah 4

We have been following Jonah for quite a while now. Now, at this point, Jonah was filled with rage. He was sent to Nineveh to proclaim its destruction. But it did not happen. Jonah was furious and asked God to take his life (Jon. 4:3). He said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (Jon. 4:2). What he said was something like this, “O LORD, I knew that this would happen; you would relent from punishing them. That was why I ran away. I knew that everything I said to them would not come true.” 

Besides, Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrians, Israel’s enemies. They were foreigners and they did not even worship the LORD. It might have been understandable to Jonah if he was sent to his brothers in Israel or Judah; but being sent to a foreign land to proclaim something that was bound not to happen may have been too much for him. Maybe Jonah did not love them as much as his brothers. This is known from 4:5: “Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.”

But God’s love is great. He showed Jonah how he loved the Ninevites in a perfect way Jonah could understand. He appointed a bush (or a climbing plant) which was soon attacked by a worm so that it died. At that point, Jonah was boiling because the bush was gone and said that he was angry enough to die. God answered, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” (Jon. 4:10-11).

1. How many times have we been more concerned with our own image instead of the gospel in our lives and service as Christians? It appears that Jonah was also angry because what happened (or did not) may have hurt his image (or at least that was what he thought). To disregard the plan of God and focus only on our own image will hurt the church and its ministries.
2. Do we love others as we love our own brothers? We may have preached them the gospel, but deep down, what do we feel towards them? Do we really love them? Maybe, maybe not. But God loves them all. We must love them too.
3. Oh, how great the love of God is! The Ninevites may be worshipping other gods, but God relented from inflicting His punishment upon them when they humbled themselves. Yes, God loves us even when we were sinners. He sent His Son even when we were sinners (Rom. 5:8).
4. Christians have become too concerned with things that come into being in a night and perish in a night. Even the heavens and the earth will pass away. We are amassing too much that will perish. We have burdened ourselves. Let us remember that only the word of God will last forever (Mat. 24:35).