Jonah Saves Nineveh
Nineveh repented and turned to the LORD God. This did not make Jonah happy. Jonah pouted and was angry because he had told Nineveh they had to repent or be destroyed. Jonah thought it would be better for hi to die than to live. The compassion and very merciful LORD reached out to Jonah and showed him the error of his thinking. This should give us hope and reassurance that the LORD will show us the same mercy and compassion when we hear His voice and will do His will for us.
Jonah 4:1-11
It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray you, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents thee of the evil.
Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the LORD, Does it please you to be angry?
So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
And God said to Jonah, Does it please you to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the LORD, you have had pity on the gourd, for the which you hast not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
What Can This Story Teach Us?
Jonah was a pouter after Nineveh repented. When LORD God was merciful, Jonah was angry and pouted. Jonah thought it was better for him to die than to live.
Jonah waits outside the city to see if God would destroy Nineveh. Instead God created a welcoming vine that shaded Jonah from the fierce heat of the sun. Next the LORD God sent a worm to destroy the welcoming vine. Then a ferocious wind was sent it almost scorched Jonah. Jonah still pouts and complains about the dead vine this time.
Jonah was more concerned about a plant than about the people. The LORD God showed compassion and was merciful toward Nineveh and the pouting prophet. Just like He shows compassion and mercy to us.
This lesson teaches us that the LORD God is compassionate and merciful to those who hear his voice and does His will. Do you care about other people? Can you get past your own self and seek serving the LORD God?
A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. (Matthew 16:4).
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Jonah Saves Nineveh:.” Becker Bible Studies Library March 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2524,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, March) “Jonah Saves Nineveh:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2524,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “Jonah Saves Nineveh:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (March), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2524, (accessed).
