Displeased by God's compassion

Jonah 2:10-4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. ⁴ Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

⁵ Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. ⁷ He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. ⁸ But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. ⁹ Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰ When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

4 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. ³ Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” ⁴ The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

⁵ Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. ⁶ So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. ⁷ But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. ⁸ 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.”

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “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. ¹¹ 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?”

In today’s text we begin the familiar story of Jonah at the point where often the telling of the story ends. Even as children we may have heard the story of Jonah, who was running from God and ended up in the belly of a whale. Finally from that dark desperate place Jonah prayed to God and agreed to submit to His will, to fulfill the call and commission of the Lord. The text begins:  Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.    God again calls and commissions Jonah saying:  “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.”     Jonah responds in obedience:     So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

Here’s where the story takes another unexpected turn. In response to Jonah’s preaching the message that God’s judgment was coming, the text says:   Then the people of Nineveh believed in God…In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish. When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

One would think that Jonah felt satisfaction and rejoiced that he had successfully completed his mission from God, the city and its people were spared and returned to God. But instead we read:  But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.  He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.      Even after what he had just been through, we see that Jonah’s heart was not right with the Lord or for the people. What he did for God, preaching the message to the people, he did out of compulsion out of a sense of required obedience to God, not out of love and compassion for the people. How often would we, like Jonah, prefer to see God judge and condemn sinners, than to see them turn to God, repent and be saved?  God’s desire is that none should perish, that all should repent and be saved. (2 Peter 3:9) Jesus, in obedience to God, because of His great love, died on the cross for the sins of all, so that:    whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)    Even though we are obedient to God preaching His word, sometimes like Jonah, we have the wrong motive. We would prefer to see God’s judgment rather than His grace and compassion. We question God, even becoming angry, when He extends His grace to those we feel are not worthy. Forgive us Lord.

There are two things we see in this account. First is that while Jonah’s heart may not have been fully right with God, he did preach the word of God to the people. It was the message, not the messenger which caused the people to repent. God says:   “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)    No person is perfect. Each of us struggle at times with our own shortcomings, but if we will be obedient to God, if we will speak the word He gives us, He still will use it for His purposes. Even though Jonah’s heart was not right, God used him to deliver the city. God will use imperfect vessels to deliver His perfect word.

The second thing we see is that although Jonah was angry with God, to the point that he says:  Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” God was patient with him. Surely God could have granted Jonah’s request and taken his life. But God was still as concerned for the heart of Jonah as He was for the lives of the entire city. God didn’t respond to Jonah’s anger with anger. He responded in love. God used continuing circumstances in Jonah’s life to get him to see the people of Nineveh with compassion, as God saw them. God wants us too, to see others, as He does, to see each person not as evil deserving judgment, condemnation and death; but rather as individuals, created in the image and likeness of God, as those who Jesus gave His life for, on the cross. God wants to continue to work in our hearts, perfecting us, even as He uses us in our imperfection.  

We all still struggle in our own hearts and our own flesh. If we though, will be obedient to Him, faithful to His word, His kingdom will come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, both in and through our lives. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, Amen.