Slices
Prepare
Take a moment to consider the character of God, especially his extraordinary love. Remind yourself that you are the object of that love, and the Father takes delight in you, his child.
Bible passage
Jonah’s anger at the Lord’s compassion
4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’
4 But the Lord replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’
9 But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’
‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.’
10 But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and also many animals?’
Explore
Poor Jonah falls into a deep depression after what happened in Nineveh, convinced that God had made a mistake. He feels he wants to die (vs 3,8,9), but God deals with him very tenderly, helping him understand his heart of love, and why he cares for the Ninevites.
Notice again how God orchestrates events with the leafy plant (v 6), a very hungry worm (v 7) and then a scorching east wind (v 8) – all expressions of the providence of God and designed to speak to Jonah. The punchline comes right at the end of the story. If Jonah can show compassion towards a plant, how much more should God have compassion on the people and animals in Nineveh?
The book of Jonah is like a missionary tract written to encourage the people of Israel to reach out with God’s love to the surrounding nations. It speaks to us of the largeness of the heart of God and his compassion for those who do not know him. This burden is something that he wants to form in us as well, lifting us out of our comfort and complacency to respond to the needs of the world.
Respond
‘Lord, forgive me when I am absorbed in my own concerns and fail to see the needs around me. Give me your heart of compassion and a will to obey you.’
Deeper Bible study
‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’1
In Jewish tradition, Jonah is read on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) – a celebration of the matchless mercy of God, a God who Jonah knows is ‘sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a programme of forgiveness!’ (v 2, The Message). Despite knowing God’s character and having been a grateful beneficiary of God’s gracious salvation,2 Jonah reacts with angry arrogance (vs 1,3,4,9) when this same undeserved grace is extended to his enemies. Jonah is impatient with God’s patience. Still wrestling with faulty notions about who God should love, Jonah resents the fact that God ‘relents’ (v 2).
The God who is ‘slow to anger’ (v 2) confronts Jonah’s anger: ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ (vs 4,9). While God’s anger rises up in right judgement against evil, his justice is always tempered by compassion and a loving concern for all his creatures (vs 2,11).3 ‘The language of God’s judgement must be heard through the agony of God’s heart.’4 Jonah’s anger, however, is sparked by self-centredness and narrow nationalistic concerns.
Jonah’s prediction came true. God turned his plans of punishment into a programme of forgiveness because the Ninevites, despite rebelling against God’s laws, had repented of their evil ways.5 But Jonah has also rebelled – against God’s love. Will he repent and come around to God’s way of loving? Like Jesus’ parable of the lost son,6 Jonah’s story ends on an inconclusive note: ‘should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh …?’ (v 11). The reader is not told how Jonah responded, perhaps because God’s searching question addresses not just Jonah, not just Israel, but every believer in every generation. How will you reply?
Lord, you search me and know my heart. Now help me to know your heart, so that my living and loving are in step with your heartbeat.
1 Ps 139:23,24 2 Jonah 2 3 Also Jonah 3:9,10 4 Christopher JH Wright, The Message of Jeremiah, IVP, 2014, p97 5 Jonah 3:10 6 Luke 15:11–32
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 10,11; Romans 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Thank God for our Bible Reading Guide editors Emlyn and ‘Tricia Williams (Daily Bread) and Sally Nelson (Encounter with God), as the work they do helps so many to engage with the Bible. Ask for God’s direction and blessing as they work with writers.