Exploring Jonah 4: God's Grace for Enemies
Jonah 4: Learning to Love God's Grace for All
This is my fourth and final post of my Storms and Shadows series on the book of Jonah. My last post ended with God relenting from the disaster that he said He would bring upon the inhabitants of Nineveh. Now, as we turn to Jonah chapter 4, we will discover Jonah’s reaction to God’s decision.
Jonah was not happy
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
—Jonah 4:1 NKJV
I don’t know if this is your first time reading the story of Jonah, but if it is, I imagine you are shocked to read that Jonah is upset that his preaching was so successful. The entire city heard, believed, and repented, and God spared them! (for more see The Meaning of Jonah 3: Judgment, Repentance, and Grace) Jonah should have rejoiced at God’s mercy and the salvation of an entire city. Jonah should have been happy that he was instrumental in saving so many lives. But the Bible says that Jonah was exceedingly displeased. There are several reasons for Jonah’s reaction.
Perhaps Jonah foresaw and feared the Assyrian armies’ advance toward Israel. The stigma of being instrumental in the sparing of one of Israel’s greatest enemies may have been more than Jonah’s emotional makeup could withstand.
Maybe Jonah felt his personal reputation was at stake. After all, he had prophesied destruction, and then it did not occur. Calvin said that the reason for Jonah’s anger was “because he was unwilling to appear as a vain and lying prophet.” (Calvin, quoted in P. Fairbairn, Jonah, His Life, Character and Mission (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1964 [1849]), 148.) This “loss of face” would cause him an embarrassing loss of stature in Nineveh. In addition, what would happen when he returned home to Israel?
Maybe Jonah’s reaction was due to narrow-minded nationalism as a Hebrew prophet. Many have supposed that this was the primary reason for Jonah’s displeasure and the main target of the book’s author. (Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 272.)
Another explanation could be that Jonah had proclaimed devotion to God in his native Israel with very little success. Israel was experiencing a time of prosperity and a resulting lack of dependence on God. Perhaps Jonah longed for God’s strong hand of judgment to awaken Israel. If God had destroyed Nineveh, what a mighty lesson it would have been to the Hebrews. Jonah recognized that God averted judgment and thereby removed the very weapon from his hand by which he hoped to prevail with his rebellious fellow citizens. (ibid)
While there may have been many reasons for Jonah’s displeasure, it is heartbreaking to see him place limits on the same grace that saved him. Because Jonah failed to recognize God’s plan, he missed the joy of the situation. I wonder how many modern-day believers miss much of the joy of being involved in God’s wonderful work because of self-centeredness.
Jonah prayed
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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
—Jonah 4:2-3 NKJV
Let’s find something positive about Jonah’s behavior. At least, instead of complaining about God, Jonah complained to God. Complaining about God won’t do us much good. But complaining to God can transform us, the situation, or both. But that’s about all the positive I could find in his prayer. Did you notice the selfishness of Jonah’s prayer? The word “I” or “my” occurs nine times in the original! (Smith and Page, 273.)
In his prayer, Jonah mentions to God that he had already told Him what he dreaded, and yet God did exactly what Jonah feared He would do. Jonah is upset that God did not behave as he expected. Jonah wanted God to behave according to his expectations rather than according to His character. Jonah wanted God to share his values, rather than being interested in what God valued.
We love the idea of God with us, but we are not so keen on the idea of God being with our enemies. God could never be on the side of “those people,” could He? Maybe we feel comfortable judging Jonah’s behavior because we don’t have anything against Nineveh. But substitute Nineveh for that group of people you dislike, and you will have a better understanding of the emotions Jonah was experiencing.
Jonah’s prayer clarifies for us the main reason he previously attempted to flree ot Tarshish. It was not that Nineveh was too far, or that he did not know the way, or even that he was scared to go. Jonah did not want God to spare Nineveh. Jonah avoided going to Nineveh because he knew that it was very likely that God would want to save the Ninevites.
5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
—Exodus 34:5-7 NKJV
Exodus 34 gives us a great description of God’s character. God describes Himself as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. This is the God of the Bible. This description is given in the second book of the Bible and was often quoted elsewhere (Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:5, 15; 103:8; Joel 2:13). The idea of a merciful God is not foreign to the Old Testament. When we differentiate between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, we sound polytheistic. Notice how similar the message God is teaching Jonah (and ancient Israel) is to the words Jesus spoke, recorded in Matthew 5.
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”
—Matthew 5:44 NKJV
There is one God, and He is consistent throughout the Bible. But just because God is merciful and willing to forgive, it does not mean that He clears the guilty. Exodus 34:7 ends with a warning that God does not clear the guilty and that the consequences of the sins will be felt for generations to come.
When developing theology, we must be honest and include the full description and not just the verses we like. When developing a solid theology, we should especially pay attention to the verses that challenge our views. The way I interpret the second half of Exodus 34:7 in light of verses 5-7a is that God is all of those things; however, for the person who is not interested in forgiveness, the person who remains guilty, will not be cleared, even though God is willing to forgive them. Also, our sins have consequences that affect those who have not even been born yet. The good news is that God’s mercies are kept for a thousand generations.
The wording used here is descriptive of God’s character. First, God is seen as a “gracious” (ḥannûn) God. This word communicates the attitude of the Lord toward those who are undeserving, thereby expressing benevolence in the ultimate sense. The next word used to describe God is the word “compassionate” (raḥûm). This word is translated in many ways and can mean “loving” or “merciful.” It also expresses the understanding and loving compassion of a mother to her child, hence the idea of understanding and loving favor. God is also described as “slow to anger” (ʾerek ʾappayim). This speaks to the patience and longsuffering of the Lord. Nineveh was the obvious recipient of this characteristic of the Lord. The next phrase used to describe God in this segment is “abounding in love” (rab ḥesed). The word ḥesed refers to the covenant love of God. This attribute expresses itself in redemption from sin. It encompasses the qualities of kindness, loyalty, and unfailing love. No one term in English adequately and accurately expresses the meaning of ḥesed. This covenant love issues itself in God’s being “a God who relents [niḥam] from sending calamity” (rāʿâ). Amazingly, Jonah did not use these words in praise to the Lord but as a tirade against him.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 273–274. (Bold mine)
Jonah - International Man of Irony
Jonah was a man of irony. He fled from the Lord in chapter 1, only to lament being banished from the Lord in chapter 2. In chapter 2, Jonah praised God for saving his life, only to pray in chapter 4 for God to take his life. (Smith and Page, 274)
Depressed prophet?
Jonah’s depression is reminiscent of Elijah’s depression (1 Kings 19:4) (see The Depressed Prophet). Still, Elijah’s depression was due to Israel’s failure to worship God, while Jonah’s depression was due to Nineveh’s redemption.
“Here we see how bad theology may also lead to despair. If the Israelites had not had such a limited understanding of their God, an understanding that, among other things, tied together much too closely faith in God and social/political/economic prosperity, they would have been better enabled to cope with the realities of life.”
—T. Fretheim. The Message of Jonah: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub. House, 1977.
Divine invitation for reflection
Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
—Jonah 4:4 NKJV
Instead of a thunderous blast of rebuke, the marvelous image of a tender God is portrayed. Instead of breaking off the dialogue, God reached out to Jonah, encouraging him to pause and reflect. (Smith and Page, 275) How often do we miss the opportunity to take someone deeper in their faith because their questions make us uncomfortable? God could have been offended. He could have given Jonah the “do you know who you’re talking to?” speech or the “Who do you think you are?” speech. But instead, God engages in dialogue, inviting Jonah to consider the matter more carefully. God attempts to correct Jonah’s theology by asking questions for reflection. Jonah’s anger was inappropriate; it was misplaced, and God wants to help Jonah understand His compassion for all people.
The book of Jonah encourages obedience without downplaying God’s mercy. Jonah’s obedience was necessary to save others. And God is merciful both to Jonah and the Ninevites.
Camping Trip
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
—Jonah 4:5 NKJV
Instead of changing his mind, Jonah sets up a booth to see if God will change His mind, or maybe the Ninevites will revert to their old ways and be destroyed by God. The one thing Jonah does not do is exactly what God asked him to do: reflect on whether or not he had a right to be angry with God’s decision to spare Nineveh.
Blessed by Mercy
And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
—Jonah 4:6 NKJV
The phrase “to deliver him from his misery” is literally “to deliver him from his evil.” (Smith and Page, 278) The story goes on, and the biblical text says that “Jonah rejoiced over the vine with a great rejoicing.” (literal translation) He was not just happy; he was deliriously happy. The miraculous growth of this vine caused Jonah to experience an emotion that is otherwise unrecorded in the book. For the first time in the book, Jonah was happy. Not when he was delivered from certain death, nor when God spared the entire population of Nineveh from destruction, did Jonah rejoice. But now a plant causes him to rejoice. Actually, when Nineveh was spared, Jonah experienced the opposite emotion; he was angry. Jonah rejoiced, possibly because the miraculous growth of the plant was evidence of God’s power at work and maybe a sign that God had heard his prayer and would destroy Nineveh. But God was not simply pranking Jonah. God was in the process of teaching Jonah a valuable lesson.
God was putting Jonah “in Nineveh’s shoes to help evaluate whether his anger is justified.” In this object lesson, God would do to Jonah what Jonah wanted Him to do to Nineveh.”
But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
—Jonah 4:7 NKJV
Step by step, God’s education of the prophet continued. Having prepared the vine (v. 6), as he had prepared the great fish, God then prepared a worm. Just as the vine was to make Jonah happy and the fish to rescue him, God used a lowly worm to drive home his intended message. (Smith and Page, 279)
Ironically, although destruction is a recurring theme of the book, the only destruction that occurs in the Book of Jonah is that of this vine. So destruction came not upon Nineveh but upon something that had become very important to Jonah, something that had brought him great joy.
Things fall apart
And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
—Jonah 4:8 NKJV
Most identify this wind as the “sirocco.”
When this wind is experienced in the Near East, the temperature rises dramatically, and the humidity drops quickly. It is a constant and extremely hot wind that contains fine particles of dust. It contains “constant hot air so full of positive ions that it affects the levels of serotonin and other brain neurotransmitters, causing exhaustion, depression, feelings of unreality, and occasionally, bizarre behavior.” The Septuagint translates it succinctly as a “scorcher.”
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 279–280.
Jonah repeats his prayer asking for death. Jonah is completely frustrated with his life at this point. Jonah might have felt like a complete failure. His prophecy didn’t come true; God didn’t answer his prayer; and God spared Israel’s enemies. Had Jonah been wrong his whole life? Had he completely misunderstood God?
I remember being hesitant about going to seminary. I had heard both wonderful and terrible things about the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary at Andrews. I embarked on the journey for my Master of Divinity degree, and two and a half years later (including summer classes), I left encouraged and better equipped for a life of ministry. However, along that journey, I witnessed some of my colleagues lose their faith. God has a way of challenging us and our preconceived notions, and the process can be painful and difficult. It is very humbling to realize how little we know about God and how much we have left to learn. Some of us find it exciting and dive in, eager to learn more. Others find it overwhelming and walk away from the whole thing. When answers don’t come as easily, when the evidence they thought was plain turns out to be complex. This challenge is true for all who seek God. Jonah was a prophet and struggled with God’s character and decision. Saul thought he was serving God when he was persecuting Christians (Acts 8:3; 9:1-2; 26:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13). God knocked him off his horse, and Saul became Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1–19, Acts 22:6–16, and Acts 26:12–18; Galatians 1:15-16; 1 Timothy 1:12-16; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:8-10) Saul could have walked away from the whole thing, after realizing he had been doing the wrong thing so efficiently, but instead he bacme a powerful inlfuence in the world for Jesus. Jonah, on the other hand, thought death would be a better option.
A divine invitation for reflection
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
—Jonah 4:9 NKJV
God continues to be patient and tender with Jonah, seeking to help him understand God’s divine character and the shortcomings of his current theology. God is showing Jonah how ridiculous his attitude is, yet God does this gently. Jonah’s values were upside down; he cared more about his physical comfort than about the salvation of an entire city. God repeats His question to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry?” Some have pointed to this question as the heart of the book of Jonah.
“Do we have a right to demand that God should favor us but not our enemies?
Jonah had an opportunity to reflect and confess that he had no right to be angry; it would be humbling, but it would put him on the road to recovery and better theology. But in Jonah’s defense, he was likely overheated, dehydrated, and frustrated, so not the best state of mind to develop nuanced theology.
Jonah 4:1-3 demonstrates that Jonah did not like free grace, but verses 7-9 show that Jonah did not want to live without grace.
God’s response
10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?
—Jonah 4:10-11 NKJV
According to the New American Commentary, the word translated as “have pity” (in the NKJV) in vv. 10–11 would be better translated as “have compassion” to convey the word’s emotional connotation more accurately. The plant had been a gift of God’s grace. Yet one could argue that it was only a plant, and as such had little value, but for Jonah, this simple blessing had brought great joy.
Jonah’s deep concern had been expressed on behalf of a relatively insignificant portion of God’s creation, the vine, while God’s deep concern was expressed on behalf of his highest creation, human beings.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 282.
Jonah appeared to be indifferent to the fate of God’s creation beyond the borders of Israel. Jonah knew that God was the only true God, the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land (see Jonah 1 Exploring Jonah’s Rebellion and God’s Mercy). But Jonah clearly missed the implication that God cares for all of creation, not only Israel. We are in danger of having a similar view of God. Seeing the God of the Old Testament as only concerned about Israel, as if Christian theology does not have to be concerned with what God taught the children of Israel. As if God did not care for all of humanity.
For example, many Christians can read in their Bibles.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
— Exodus 20:8-11 NKJV
These verses are from the 10 commandments, which were written in stone by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18; 32:15-16; Deuteronomy 9:10; 10:4). The text clearly says that the Sabbath rest is meant to include “you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.” It links this weekly seventh day Sabbath rest to a blessing established at creation. Yet how many interpret this commandment as meant only for the Jews?
I am sure we could have a wonderful conversation about how to relate to many of God’s commands in the Old Testament, how each one applies today, which ones are no longer applicable, and what Jesus’ death on the cross did to the law. These are great conversations and studies to have. (Here are some tips I have found helpful: Exploring God’s Law) My main point here is for us not to behave like Jonah, interpreting Old Testament theology as concerned only with Israel, and to miss God’s global concern and what Israel’s mission should have been. I am unable to address all the issues related to God’s law in this post, but I encourage you to ask deeper questions as you read through the Bible. I am not saying we are under the law, but rather that many might be throwing out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to the Old Testament.
So what is the main issue in the book of Jonah?
God’s question captures the very intention of the book. The issue is that of grace—grace and mercy.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 282.
Jonah did not deserve the shade the vine provided for him, and the Ninevites did not deserve the deliverance they received. God desires salvation for His creation, not destruction. God’s pointed question to Jonah about the plant and Nineveh could be asked more broadly of us today.
Can anyone ever rightly resent God’s grace shown to another?
God will (and does) act in justice against sin, but His great love for every person in the world causes Him to wait patiently, to give graciously, to forgive mercifully, and to accept compassionately even the most unworthy people in the world. To experience the grace of God and not be willing to tell others of His compassion is a tragedy all must avoid. Messengers of God can neither limit the grace of God nor control its distribution, but they can prevent God’s grace from having an effect on their own lives.
—G. V. Smith, The Prophets as Preachers: An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 97.
What about God’s mention of the 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock? Did that mean kids? Were the Ninevites intellectually challenged?
Possibly the best understanding of this text is to recognize that the Lord was referring to an entire city of morally and ethically naive, though not morally innocent, individuals. The people of Nineveh had already shown sensitivity to their evil ways and so were not ignorant. In contrast to the prophet and the people of Israel, however, the people of Nineveh were in a kindergarten stage of religious knowledge.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 283.
God also mentions cattle, showing that He cares for not just the people but for all of creation. Jonah was upset about a plant. Does he care about the animals? The people? God does.
The story is deliberately left open-ended for those who study its message to complete in their own lives. The book of Jonah has no conclusion, and the final question of the book has no answer, except from the one who realizes the fullness of the mercy of God.”
When Jesus died on the cross, He died for everyone. All are invited to be saved by believing in Him. We are called not to judge who is worthy of the good news, but to share it with all.
What is the good news? Here’s a good place to start.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
—John 3:16-17 NKJV
