Jonah And Nineveh

Jonah 3 - 4

Just about everyone knows the Biblical account of Jonah and the giant fish which swallowed him whole, later spitting him out alive.  Many even know the reason that this dubious adventure of his happened, that being because Jonah was disobeying God by running away from the task He had told him to do.  However, not everyone knows what happened after the fish spat out Jonah.  Too often everyone focuses solely on the fish and forgets what comes after.  Today we’ll look at that part of the narrative.

As we read in the first two chapters of the Book of Jonah, God had told Jonah that He wished him to go to Nineveh, the enemy of the nation of Israel, and preach God’s message of repentance and salvation to them.  However, Jonah bitterly hated them and refused, taking a ship to as far away as he could get.  God wasn’t going to let him get away, and had him thrown off the ship in a storm, where a giant fish swallowed him, and spit him off on shore.  God gave Jonah a second chance to obey (vs. 3:1-2).

This time Jonah obeyed God and set off for Nineveh.  However, his feelings for these people hadn’t changed.  Jonah continued to despise and hate the Ninevites, and did not believe that God should show any concern or love for Gentiles.  Though he obeyed and preached a message of repentance to them, it was not with love and concern for their eternal souls.  He preached with hate in his heart for the people.  Despite that, the people believed and responded to Jonah’s message (vs. 3:5).  Pagan sailors on board the ship Jonah had been on and a pagan city responded to Jonah despite his reluctance to preach to them.  This shows the power of God in spite of the weakness of His servant.

Because the Ninevites humbled themselves in prayer, God lifted His declaration, and spoke life, not death over them (vs. 3:10).  God did not change His intention towards the Ninevites.  They changed their attitude towards Him.  Because of that, God dealt with them in grace rather than the judgement He would have brought if they would have failed to repent.  God doesn’t desire to bring judgment upon people, and thus urges us to repent, and why He sent Jesus (John 3:17-18).

God’s love for and forgiveness of the Ninevites was not what Jonah wanted to see.  He hated these Gentile people.  He did not believe that God should ever show mercy or love to Gentiles, so after preaching to them, he went out of town to watch God destroy the city.  Jonah was probably rubbing his hands with glee, hoping to see the destruction of these people.  When that did not happen, he became angry with God, and told Him this was exactly the reason why he hadn’t obeyed the first time.  Jonah understood the gracious character of God, and His great mercy (vs. 4:1-2), but did not want them to receive it.  This despite the fact that he had received divine mercy himself.  Jonah complained that the Ninevites did not deserve God’s mercy.  None of us deserve His mercy.  It is because of His great love for us that we have His mercy and are not consumed  (Lamentations 3:22-23).  God is slow to anger.  When we are stubborn and unrepentant He waits patiently for us to respond to conviction (II Peter 3:9).  Do not wait for his discipline to come.  We need to do what is right, and turn our heart to God.

Jonah was filled with anger.  We need to take a good look at our own anger and see if it is justified (vs. 4:9).  It is good to be angry at sin and evil. Angry, but not falling into sin ourselves.  Jonah was not right in his anger, as it was based on his hatred for a nationality of people not his own.  Jonah hated Gentiles so much that he did not want to see God have mercy on them.  He would rather watch them be destroyed.  He had received God’s mercy, but did not want a Gentile to.

God does not show favoritism.  He cares for everyone.  His mercy extends to everyone, every race of people.  God places value on repentance.  He is willing to delay punishment of sin, but only for a time.  Eventually His justice demands a penalty.

The repentance of the Ninevites was in stark contrast to the stubbornness of the Israelites who refused to repent, despite having the message of all of the prophets and God’s Word.  Jesus said the Ninevites will stand up and condemn Israel for their refusal to repent and believe (Matthew 12:39-41).  Do not be like them.  Instead, repent and believe in Jesus.  Do not be like Jonah, either, and be filled with such hatred of some other people, that you would rather see them be destroyed than saved.