Jonah 4:2 

So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.” 

If you read Tirzah, it’s probable to assume that you grew up watching Christian media, including Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber of VeggieTales fame. As I write this, the theme song and their rendition of Jonah - where the Ninevites slapped each other with fishes (!) - are playing like a movie in my head. If you like to talk to tomatoes… if a squash can make you smile… OK, OK, I’ll stop. 

While the producers of the show may have kept the story tame for children, in reality, the Ninevites were much, much worse. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, and the Assyrians were very terrible people, in all honesty, the likely precursors to modern terrorism. When attacking other cities, the Assyrians would deport people by strapping chains to their legs and forcing them to walk. They burned boys and girls alive and tortured adults by tearing the skins from their bodies and leaving them to die in the burning sun. 

And these were the people God wanted Jonah to go to. 

You are likely familiar with the story, told in four chapters. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh to announce that if they did not repent, in forty days they would be destroyed. Truth be told, can you blame Jonah for not wanting to go to this city? We like to rag on the man for not obeying God, but the Ninevites were enemies of the Jewish people and vice versa. In a more modern key, it would be like God asking a Black, Jewish, or Catholic person in the 1920s to go to the Ku Klux Klan (who hated all three groups for racist and religious - as Catholics and Jews were not-Protestant - reasons) and telling him to repent.

I would be very afraid. But after being swallowed by the fish, Jonah repents in prayer and is expelled by the large whale. He gives his message of doom and destruction - and to his surprise, the Ninevites repent in sackcloth and ashes (3:5-9). God relents the disaster he said he would bring upon them, and this makes Jonah extremely upset. 

In chapter 4, we see the reason Jonah went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh the first time. In Jonah 4:2, he complains that he knew God was a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, one who relents from doing harm. This is an echo of Exodus 34:6-7. But then God asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

We need to take a pause here. Even though as a member of the Jewish people, Jonah had received God’s grace and mercy, the prophet was not willing to extend the same to others - even his enemies. Are we in Christianity (especially those born in Christian homes) prone to do the same? We must remember via this question that the grace and mercy of God are undeserved gifts that come from God; it is only by the unmerited favor of God that we are His children (Ephesians 2:8-9). We were sinners, but now we are redeemed saints, and it was only because of God’s mercy that he saved us (Titus 3:3-7). 

Finally, God teaches Jonah an object lesson. Having gone to the east side of the city to see what would become of it (4:5), Jonah makes a shelter for himself. God causes a plant to grow that gives Jonah shade, and Jonah is “very grateful for the plant (4:6).” However, the next morning, God causes a worm to wither the plant, and He makes a vehement east wind such that the sun beat on Jonah’s face, and Jonah goes postal and wishes that he would die (4:7-8). Then God asks him if it’s right to be angry about the plant, and Jonah reaffirms his oath. 

Then God, you might say, goes for the jugular (in a loving way). He tells Jonah that he has pity for a plant that he did absolutely nothing for, to paraphrase it (4:10). Then he asks, in the same way, should he not have pity for the people of Nineveh (who He made, for the record), who cannot even discern between their right and their left, between good and evil - and their animals?

This speaks to the value God places on His creation, including His people (Proverbs 8:30-31). In addition, it speaks to the mercy God demonstrated not only to the Jewish people but also to the other nations - the Gentiles. If God could save one of the evilest people groups in the world from destruction, imagine what He could do in your life if only you repented of your sins and followed Christ. God loved you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save you from your sins and give you eternal life. If you confess that Jesus is Lord (master), believe that Jesus died on the cross from your sins and that He rose again, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). 

God loves you that much. He wants to be in a relationship with you, and all you have to do is talk to Him for it. 

Discussion Questions 

• How does it impact your view of God that He was willing to save one of the most terrible people groups in the world?

• How does Jonah’s attitude toward the Ninevites and God’s character make you feel? Does it remind you of any thus attitudes you’ve demonstrated in your own life?

• What is one thing you want to do this week to remind you of God’s mercy towards you?