God’s mercy toward the Ninevites reflects His love for all people (see John 3:16-17), but Jonah became angry when God did not destroy the Ninevites (Jon 4:1). Jonah’s hatred was likely born out of a nationalistic pride that wanted to protect his fellow Israelites, since he would have known about God’s prophesies through Hosea and Amos, that the Lord was going to use the Assyrians to judge His disobedient people (Hos 9:3; 11:5; Amo 5:27). If this is his reason, then Jonah’s anger is unjusti...
God’s mercy toward the Ninevites reflects His love for all people (see John 3:16-17), but Jonah became angry when God did not destroy the Ninevites (Jon 4:1). Jonah’s hatred was likely born out of a nationalistic pride that wanted to protect his fellow Israelites, since he would have known about God’s prophesies through Hosea and Amos, that the Lord was going to use the Assyrians to judge His disobedient people (Hos 9:3; 11:5; Amo 5:27). If this is his reason, then Jonah’s anger is unjustified, for it was Israel’s sin that was bringing God’s judgment, and destroying the Assyrians would not prevent it. Jonah then prays to God and reveals his original reason for fleeing to Tarshish, saying, “for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity” (Jon 4:2). Jonah knew God was this way (Exo 34:6; Psa 86:15; 103:8) and thought he could withhold God’s compassion, and bring only His judgment, by fleeing away from Nineveh. But God’s grace would not be withheld because of a disobedient prophet. When Nineveh did respond positively to the message, God extended grace and did not bring judgment. However, Jonah got angry, because in his heart he hated those to whom he preached, secretly desiring their destruction. It’s ironic that Jonah enjoyed God’s grace, even though his attitude is not in line with God’s attitude, and that he gets angry when God does not destroy his enemies, but has no problem when God does not destroy him for his sin. Jonah was so upset over the matter that he asked God to take his life (Jon 4:3), but the Lord challenges His prophet, asking, “Do you have good reason to be angry?” (Jon 4:4). Jonah is not the first prophet to ask God to kill him, for both Moses and Elijah asked for the same (Num 11:14-15; 1 Ki 19:4). When God asks questions, it’s not because He’s seeking information, but to get the person to introspect, and to think about their behavior, because sin often clouds judgment. He did this with Adam and Eve (Gen 3:9, 13), Hagar (Gen 16:8), and Elijah (1 Ki 19:9, 13). Jonah then went outside the city and waited to see what would happen (Jon 4:5), which might imply that the forty days were near. God tried to teach Jonah a lesson by causing a plant—likely a castor oil plant—to grow up “to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant” (Jon 4:6). But God destroyed the plant, so that it withered and died (Jon 4:7), and in the morning, when the sun came up, “God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life.’” (Jon 4:8). This is the third time Jonah asked to die (cf. Jon 1:12; 4:3). God obviously controlled the circumstances which affected Jonah’s comfort and affliction (cf. Job 2:10; Isa 45:7; Amo 3:6). Again, God challenged His prophet’s attitude about the situation, asking, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” (Jon 4:9a), and again, Jonah responded irrationally, saying, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death” (Jon 4:9b). Though Jonah says he has good reason to be angry, he provides none. God then tells Jonah, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jon 4:10-11). God uses an a fortiori argument, which argues from the lesser to the greater, to help Jonah understand his thinking is irrational when compared with God’s reasoning; for if Jonah had compassion on the plant, a lesser and temporal thing in God’s creation, it stands with greater reason that he would have compassion on the Ninevites, which are greater, and eternal creatures. Though Jonah preached God’s message, which implied an opportunity for repentance, inwardly, he hoped the Ninevites would not respond and that God would pour down His wrath. Overall, Jonah’s attitude was antithetical to God’s compassion, which reveals God’s child can do His will outwardly while rejecting it inwardly.
