“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? 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 concening calamity.’” (NASB) Jonah 4:1-2
When I often hear the story of Jonah, it deals with Jonah fleeing from God when told to preach to the inhabitants of Nineveh (who were the Isrealites’ enemies), Jonah lying in the belly of the great fish 3 days and 3 nights, his release, and afterwards, Jonah then being obedient to God. We must take a closer look at the heart of Jonah even after preaching to the Assyrians.
Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was notorious for being an evil, wicked, and a savagely violent place (Nahum 1:11-12; 2:11-13; 3:1-4,16,19; Jonah 3:8). Knowing this, Jonah fled in the opposite direction of Nineveh, to Tarshish, after being told by the Lord to preach there. Even after the people of Nineveh repented, Jonah’s heart still burned with anger. To the point where he didn’t want to live anymore. He waited outside Nineveh to see its destruction. Far enough to not be destroyed with it, but close enough to see it’s downfall. After all that, he wanted a front row seat! What makes the situation ironic, is that this is how Jonah felt after his heart-felt prayer to God in the belly of the fish and then his obedience to God (Jonah 2-3). However, Jonah wanted favor to rest with the Isrealites and only the wrath of God to come upon their enemies. He sang praises on his lips, but held hatred in his heart.
I began to think about how we are today; do we rejoice when we see the suffering of the wicked? Do we lament when we see men and women delivered and set free who don’t fit “our mold”? Do we try to pigeon-hole people in their sins because we feel that their sins are just to great? Ezekiel 33:11 states, “…As I live! declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.’” Therefore, we should take no pleasure when we see men destruct. Sometimes are heart and our mind cannot fathom the extent of God’s compassion and forgiveness. Jonah knew this, therefore, he ran. He didn’t mind giving the message of doom, it was the fact that God would forgive if they repented.
Today, let us commit ourselves to seeing others as Christ sees them. Sometimes it is hard when we see men and women do malicious and evil things before God. But, it just shows how merciful, longsuffering, and loving our God is. Thank and praise and Him for delivering you out of sin. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 2:23). Sometimes we are in situations where we have been hurt or wronged by someone and we want God to “get ‘em.” We must remember that every sin committed is against God (Psalm 51:4). If God can forgive an individual, so should we. Forgiveness can be very hard, seemingly impossible, but is required of us if we are one of God’s children.
