Jonah 4:1–11
The book of Jonah is one of the prophetic books of the Bible. More precisely, it belongs to the group of the so-called “minor prophets.” The prophets reminded God’s people how they were to live their lives in the light of the law — the covenant that God made with them through Moses. These were the commandments and statutes contained in the first five books of the Old Testament — the Law (the Torah) or the Pentateuch. The prophetic books record the messages that God gave to His people through His prophets — warnings against sin, predictions of judgment, restoration, and hope. In this respect the book of Jonah is quite different from the rest of the prophets. In it we cannot find long records of the prophet’s messages. His longest message recorded in the book consists, in Bulgarian, of eight words. Therefore, unlike the other prophetic books, Jonah is a book not about what the prophet says, but about what happens to him — to him and to the pagans to whom he speaks, the inhabitants of Nineveh. Although the book contains no direct addresses from God to His people, it holds a message for Israel — a message hidden in the story, which Israel was meant to receive and take to heart.
The book of Jonah could have ended after chapter 3 — after the description of the repentance of the Ninevites. But it does not end there; it goes on to tell us about the prophet Jonah and his attitude. Why? Because for God it matters not only that Jonah preaches His Word, but also that Jonah has the same attitude toward those to whom he preaches as God has toward them. What was not right in Jonah’s heart and attitude? In his heart Jonah hated the Ninevites and was more concerned about his own reputation as a prophet than about the salvation of those he had been sent to serve. He worried more about whether God would overthrow Nineveh after forty days than about the fact that all the inhabitants of that great city were about to perish.
Is Our Repentance Deep Enough?
Sadly, the fact that we are saved and have tasted God’s power and mercy does not necessarily mean that our minds are renewed. For at the beginning of chapter 3 we see that Jonah obeys God’s instructions, but at the beginning of chapter 4 we read that Jonah “became angry” because God spared the Ninevites and did not destroy them. Yes, Jonah obeys God and does what God tells him to do, yet in his heart he is angry with God. In his heart he still harbors resentment against God’s mercy — the same resentment that, in the first place, drove him to flee toward Tarshish (3:10–4:3).
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. (Jonah 3:10–4:1)
The fact that God held back from ruining and destroying Nineveh made Jonah feel wretched. God’s mercy toward Nineveh was distasteful to him. It “seemed very wrong” to him, he “became angry.” We might even say that he was furious. Why? Why was Jonah so angry? The first time God’s call to serve in Nineveh came to him, he ran away. Why? The story of Jonah seems to be going so well. God’s Word comes to him in chapter 1. He tries to run away from God. God pursues him. Then in chapter 2 we have a psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from the belly of the fish. In chapter 3 God’s Word comes to Jonah again. This time he goes to Nineveh. The people repent. Everyone is happy, right? A wonderful story. So encouraging! The subject of many children’s books. But the book does not end here — after chapter 3 there is also a chapter 4. If we are honest, we might rather that this fourth chapter did not exist. Would it not be better if the book simply ended in chapter 3? Or perhaps we would want a fifth chapter as well, in which Jonah repents of his wrong attitude toward God’s work and everything comes right. But chapter 4 is God’s Word. In it we meet an angry, an enraged prophet — a man who sees God’s grace descend and transform an entire city. And instead of gladdening him, it angers him so much that he would rather die than go on living in such a situation. Is all of this not surprising? Is it not extreme? The pagan sailors of chapter 1 fear God, make vows, and worship Him. The pagan king and all his subjects repent in sackcloth and ashes. The wind, the sun, the plants, the sea, and the fish listen to God’s commands and carry them out without objection — but not God’s man. What is going on here?
Let us step back for a moment and look at the book as a whole. From the very beginning of chapter 1 there is tension in it. A man of God does not obey God’s Word. Why? Why not preach to the Ninevites? If you had enemies and God told you to go and cry out against them, would you not be glad to do it? To say to them: “Hey, you know what — you are going to hell, you are going to perish!” Come on, let us be honest, we would be glad to do it, wouldn’t we? Why not go, why not preach to your enemies? But Jonah runs away from God, and from beginning to end of the book God pursues His disobedient prophet. He stirs up a storm, but Jonah refuses to repent of his attitude. Even the pagans pray, yet God’s man would rather be thrown overboard than pray to the Lord to stop the storm. Why?
In chapter 2 it seems as though things are being put right. Jonah prays to the Lord with psalms, and the chapter is full of eloquent prayers and quotations from the psalms. Thanksgivings, slogans, “Salvation comes from the Lord!” It looks as though things are improving. In chapter 3 things get even better. God’s Word comes to Jonah a second time. And this time he says, “All right, Lord, I will go.” He goes to Nineveh and begins to preach. And when God’s Word comes to the people, they repent. They all repent! Is that not surprising? And God holds back from the disaster He had intended to bring upon them, and does not bring it. He withdraws His anger, which was about to be poured out upon them. He shows mercy to those who have repented. And then we come to chapter 4. Chapter 4 of Jonah is not in the children’s books, is it? But chapter 4 reveals to us the meaning of the whole book. The book of Jonah ends the same way it begins — with a personal conversation between God and the prophet. In that conversation Jonah’s heart is fully uncovered and laid bare, and we understand what the message of the whole book actually is. So everything that precedes chapter 4 takes on a new meaning for us.
Assyria and Nineveh
But before we come to Jonah’s heart, let us recall the context of the book. The city of Nineveh spoken of in the book was the capital of Assyria — a mighty and cruel empire that only a few decades later would conquer the northern kingdom, the ten tribes of Israel. The Assyrians were far harsher and more brutal than the Babylonians. They devastated and plundered the cities they conquered, gouged out the eyes of their enemies, and turned them into their slaves. Brutal, brutal people. And Jonah lived in the shadow of this empire. In the days of Jeroboam he prophesied that the northern borders should be fortified (2 Kings 14:25). Jonah was no fan of the Ninevites; he did not like them. They were ungodly idolaters. And even though the Israelites themselves at that time were idolaters, and God had mercy on them, why should God show such mercy to their enemies as well? So, surprisingly, when God’s Word came to him to go and cry out against the wickedness of Nineveh, he fled.
Another surprising thing in this account is that in other similar stories about prophets, the prophet usually comes off looking good. They are heroes, the good guys. Yes, Moses shrank back a little when God called him, but in the end he obeyed and did what God wanted him to do. Jonah, however, ran away. God’s man set off to flee from God’s will and God’s presence. So we have this tension from the very first chapter. How will God’s blessing reach the nations? Who will go to the nations and make our merciful God known to them, if not His own people?
The Main Idea of the Book of Jonah
So what is this book about? First of all, it is about God and His character. And second, it is about Jonah and his character. The book of Jonah is a book about two hearts — the heart of God and the heart of Jonah. And the focus of the book is on the fact that God has a merciful heart, and Jonah does not. Jonah does not share God’s merciful heart. If God’s heart is here, then Jonah’s heart is over there — far, far away — “light years” from it. God’s heart has mercy on people; Jonah’s heart has mercy on a plant. So the big idea of the book is this: God desires that His prophet share His heart of mercy toward all — even toward people who are not part of the covenant He has with Israel. And in fact, God wants all of us to share His heart, which is full of mercy toward all, even toward our enemies, toward people we do not like or find distasteful, toward people we consider cruel and unenlightened barbarians.
Why Did Jonah Not Want to Go to Nineveh?
If we speak of the structure of this chapter, we would say that it naturally divides into two parts, according to the two scenes that unfold in it. The first scene is in the city — verses 1–4. The second scene is outside the city — verses 5–11. And each of the scenes ends with a question. Here is the first scene — verses 1–4.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. (Jonah 4:1)
To understand this verse better, we need to read the last verse of chapter 3.
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. (Jonah 3:10)
Is this not wonderful? How marvelous! The book could have ended here, simply by saying how from then on they lived happily ever after. It could have concluded like this: Jonah went home and prayed, “Lord, thank You for this wonderful international ministry You have given me. Where should I go now? To Babylon? Or perhaps to Egypt?” But no… Look at what Jonah does in verse 1. To him it “seemed very wrong.” He became angry with God and said to Him: “I told You that You would do this! I knew it! That is why I did not want to go. I knew what You are like, and I did not like it. I would rather die than watch these hateful Ninevites receive Your mercy!” This man’s heart is caught in impenetrable darkness. Gloomy, black… To be so angry that you want to die because you see people come to believe in God!? And you a servant of God — what a paradox! If at this moment you are wondering why Jonah tried to flee from God’s presence, if you think that in chapter 2 he repented, if you think that chapter 3 is a lovely bedtime story, then chapter 4 will sober you out of your excessive naivety. This man is no hero. He has not repented at all. And now in verse 2 he tells us: “Isn’t this what I said from the very beginning, God? I did not want to go to Nineveh, and this is the reason why. I know Your character. We are Your people, Israel. We worship the golden calves in Dan and in Bethel (1 Kings 12:28–30; 2 Kings 14:23–24). We are idolaters, and for a hundred and fifty years now You keep having mercy on us. Lord, I know how gracious You are. I experience it every day. And yet, God forbid that I should share this mercy with anyone else! Far be it from me! And You know what, I am so angry with You for sharing Your mercy with these wicked Ninevites that I cannot bear it. Take my life! I cannot go on living with this thought. I want to die now, here, on the spot, ‘right now’!” (vv. 1–4)
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 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. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:1–3)
What an enormous contrast between Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 and Jonah’s prayer in these verses. In chapter 2 he prays for mercy and for salvation, he prays that God would preserve his life. Here in chapter 4 he prays that God would take his life, because he cannot bear to watch God show His mercy to the Ninevites.
When in verse 2 Jonah states what he knew about God, he is quoting Exodus chapter 34, isn’t he? There Moses interceded for Israel over their disobedience, and the Lord proclaimed concerning Himself:
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7)
Do you see what is happening here? This is why Jonah did not want to go and preach in Nineveh. He knew there was already a precedent for the display of God’s mercy toward his own people. For God, judgment and mercy are like two sides of the same coin. And Jonah knew that when he preached judgment in Nineveh, it was possible that, if they repented, the coin might turn over, and instead of judgment they would receive mercy. That is exactly why he did not want to go. He thought: “Lord, You have done it before, and now You will do it again!” All heaven rejoiced when the inhabitants of Nineveh repented. The angels in heaven had a party; the heavenly court celebrated. But Jonah was completely out of step and out of harmony with that joy, because he did not share God’s merciful heart toward others. For him this divine mercy, this generosity and grace toward converted sinners, was a stumbling block, an insult, something that wounded his feelings.
- Scandalous mercy, which saved Zacchaeus the tax collector;
- Scandalous mercy, which led Jesus to invite prostitutes to sit at the table with Him;
- Scandalous mercy, with which Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion on them;
- Scandalous mercy, which saved people like me and you;
- Scandalous mercy, which allows sinners like us to be ministers of the gospel;
We do not deserve this. It is by grace. What kind of people are we, who have received so much of God’s mercy and yet withhold it from people we consider unworthy of it, when we ourselves are unworthy of it?
Can You Recognize Yourself in Jonah?
Who are your enemies? Who are the ones you hate? Who are your neighbors? Who are the unreached ethnic groups living around you? Remember, Jesus said: “Who is your neighbor? Love your neighbor as yourself!” (Luke 10:25–37).
Jonah is exactly like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He already had everything, but when he saw his father showing his love to his scandalous younger brother, he said: “I want nothing to do with this party for ‘this son of yours’!” And this was his brother, and he already had everything from his father.
This is what Jonah is like. He is like that unmerciful servant who had already been forgiven so much, but when someone owed him something very small, he went and grabbed him by the throat and choked him, saying: “Pay me back everything, down to the last penny” (Matthew 18:28). But remember what the king said to him: “You have been forgiven so much. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?!”
What kind of people are we?! May God have mercy on us! Perhaps today is a day of fresh repentance for us. May the Lord have mercy on us! When the Israelites first heard the book of the prophet Jonah, they surely recognized themselves in the prophet and said: “This is us!” Can you recognize yourself in the prophet Jonah? Is it right for you to be angry? (v. 4)
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4)
This is the Lord’s first question to Jonah in this chapter 4, and it reveals to us the whole meaning of the book.
The Heart of Jesus
Glory to God that Jonah was not the last of the prophets. In times past God spoke to us through many people and in many ways. But in these last days He has spoken to us through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
- The One who is exceedingly glad to share God’s mercy with us;
- The One who was willing to go even to the most distant country in order to save sinners;
- The One who was willing to lay down His life as a sacrifice for the sins of His enemies, so that we might receive mercy, grace, and life.
When God’s Word came to Him, He did not run away, but said: “Here I am, send Me. Even to the cross!” The Father looked at us — sinful enemies — and said: “I love them.” And Jesus said: “I love You, and therefore I will go and sacrifice Myself for them.”
Do We Have God’s Attitude Toward the Lost?
Perhaps something similar to what happened to Jonah is happening with us as well. We have received the Lord Jesus, we are saved, but we do not have in our hearts God’s love and mercy toward the lost — the love that would move us to share the gospel and reach the unreached, to fulfill the Great Commission. Jonah knows that “salvation comes from the Lord” (2:9); he knows that God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2); and yet he does not share God’s compassion toward those who need it. He has the right theology, but he lacks the right attitude. As we see his failure, let us examine our own hearts. Do we have toward the lost the same attitude that God has toward them? Do we look at them with God’s eyes?
After the ordeal with the storm and the belly of the fish, Jonah was ready to obey God and preach His word to the Ninevites. But was Jonah ready not only to preach to them, but also to pray with them, to identify with them, to put himself in their place, to weep and rejoice together with them? Jonah rejoiced in his own salvation and offered praise and thanksgiving sacrifices to God for it, but he was not ready to offer praise and thanksgiving sacrifices for the salvation of the Ninevites. Perhaps this is exactly what God wants us to learn from the book of Jonah — to examine our hearts and, in prayer, to set right our attitude toward the lost. It is not enough merely to know that “salvation comes from the Lord.” We need to be open channels for that salvation to those who still cling to “worthless idols.”
Jonah’s Smile
The second scene in the chapter is in verses 5–9. When the Lord asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah answered with silence — he said nothing. And look at what he did.
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. (Jonah 4:5)
It seems Jonah was saying to himself: “Maybe after all I will get to see a little sulfur and brimstone poured out over Nineveh. Let me see what happens.” And how did the Lord respond to this action of Jonah’s? How does the Lord answer his resentment? With mercy. Look at verse 6. He appoints a plant to grow up very quickly and to be shade over his head. God answers rebellion with mercy. God appointed the fish for mercy and salvation, and now He does the same by appointing the plant. God does not give up on Jonah. Jonah gives up on God and says, “I would rather die,” but God does not give up on Jonah. He is like a potter who has taken hold of this clay prophet and keeps shaping him. This is what God does with His people — He forms us, shapes us, so that we may become people according to His will.
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. (Jonah 4:6)
Notice how quickly Jonah changes. A moment ago he was so angry that he wanted to die, and now here it says that he was “very happy” about the plant. Here for the first time we see “Jonah’s smile.” In chapter 1 he flees and is depressed. In chapter 2 he weeps and prays. In chapter 3 he preaches earnestly. At the beginning of chapter 4 he is sullen. But here, for the first time — oh, wonder of wonders — Jonah smiles; he is happy, and “very” happy at that. “Ah, life is good after all. Maybe, after all, I won’t want to die right away. I have shade over my head, the Lord keeps showing me mercy. Life is life!” He was scowling when God showed mercy to others, but now, when God shows mercy to him, he is happy.
The Heat
God, however, did not leave things like that — He pressed him. And Jonah found himself very quickly moving from pleasant shade into unbearable heat.
But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 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.” (Jonah 4:7–8)
Do you see what the Lord does here? He lets Jonah taste what he wanted God to do to the Ninevites. He puts on Jonah’s foot the shoe that Jonah wants to put on the foot of the Ninevites, and that shoe pinches him — it presses on his callus. Why does God do this? Is He being nasty? Is He being malicious? Or vengeful? No. The Lord prunes Jonah just as a vinedresser prunes the vine to make it bear more fruit. When God prunes us, sometimes it is painful. But His motive is always love. He cuts away from us what hinders us, so that we may be transformed into His image and bear much fruit for His glory. When you are being pruned, you may respond with anger, but remember that through this pruning God is doing extraordinarily important work deep in your heart, so that you may grow in grace and love.
Notice that in verse 8 Jonah again “wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’” And in verse 9 it is as if God is testing whether he is angry enough.
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.” (Jonah 4:9)
A Change of Heart
Jonah’s attitude is one of resentment and even of anger. Jonah is angry that God has shown mercy to the Ninevites and has relented from the disaster He had planned to bring upon them (4:1–4). On top of all this, Jonah is angry because, by withering, the plant has disturbed his own comfort (4:5–9). In both cases Jonah demonstrates that he is more concerned about himself than about the people of Nineveh. This reveals to us that although Jonah carries out the task God assigns him — partly willingly, partly under compulsion — he does not share God’s heart of mercy and compassion toward the sinful Ninevites.
For God, the completion of the task, the preaching of His message, is not enough. God wants Jonah, His servant and prophet, to understand and share His heart and His attitude toward those to whom He sends him. That is why God now reasons with Jonah and helps him to see things from His perspective. In this way God is trying to change Jonah’s attitude and heart. Why do we say that God has an extraordinary desire to work a deep change in His prophet’s heart, so that he might begin to share God’s heart? Because it is clear from the whole book of the prophet Jonah — from verse 1 of chapter 1 to verse 11 of chapter 4 — that God pursues His prophet with love. That is why He stirred up a storm, yet did not let him die; that is why He appointed a fish, a plant, a worm, a scorching east wind… The God who pursues Jonah pursues you and me as well. The One who cares for the many also cares for the individual. Jesus died for the sin of the world, but He also died personally for you. God loved Jonah so much that He would not leave him alone. Regardless of his anger and resentment, his confusion and rebellion, he was in the embrace of the Father. God will not give up on you and me. He is a very patient gardener. And He is patient right up to the final question mark in verse 11.
The Great Question
In verse 10 God says to Jonah: “Jonah, you are not even a gardener. You did not make even a single plant grow. And what about the people? Men, women, children, little girls and little boys. They do not yet even know their left from their right. They are sheep without a shepherd. They are lost in confusion and distress. And you know what, Jonah, the world is My workshop, and these people are My handiwork. I made them in My image. Of course I care about them; of course they are dear to Me. They are human beings. They are lost and broken. And even though they are idolaters, I feed them, I clothe them, I send them sun and rain to give them life and health.
Jonah, you are already Mine. And everything I have is yours. The fattened calf is waiting for you at the wedding feast. But right now heaven is rejoicing over these people who have just repented. Jonah, heaven rejoices even over one sinner who repents. My ‘business’ is the business of mercy. My heart is mercy. And just as the widow searched for the one lost coin and the shepherd searched for the one lost sheep, so I too search for lost people, so that I might save them. This is who I am and what I do. Should I not have spared Nineveh?”
Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget that God’s heart is merciful. And He desires that we carry this mercy to the nations. So, who are your neighbors, who are your enemies?
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. 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?” (Jonah 4:10–11)
What an enormous contrast between God and Jonah! God has concern for a hundred and twenty thousand people made in His image; Jonah has concern for a single plant that lived only a day.
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? (Jonah 4:11)
This is the last sentence of the book of Jonah. In a remarkable way, it ends with a question. “And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh…?” This is a rhetorical question. The author of the book leaves us with this question. This question makes us wonder whether our attitude toward the perishing is the same as God’s attitude toward them. God has mercy on all, not only on His own. Do we too have mercy and compassion for the lost, for those who still do not know Him and are doomed to eternal death because of their sins?
This last chapter of the book of Jonah reveals to us that God is at work in His servant to form in him His own heart. In the same way, He is at work in us, to form in our hearts His heart. God desires that we, as His servants, have mercy on the lost even when we are called to warn them of the coming judgment upon them.
Through His Word and through the story of the prophet Jonah, He desires to work in us, as He did in Jonah, in order to impart to us His attitude toward the lost and to form in us His heart. Do we have within us love for the lost? Do we have within us love for the nations, for people from other cultures who have still not heard and received the gospel? Do we have within us love for our enemies?
The book of Jonah ends with a question, and I too will end with a question. And here it is: “Do you share God’s heart of mercy toward the lost? Are you ready to preach God’s Word with God’s heart? Do you love the lost, and do you want them, too, to taste God’s mercy?”