The Sovereignty of God

By Jasmine Britto, Kerala, India

Part 12

Jonah 4:1-4
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.” But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Jonah was greatly displeased by God’s compassion and the revival of Nineveh. Jonah was a prophet and a preacher. His role was to preach God’s word and bring revival in the hearts of people who would hear him. So, this was that real success time in his ministry.

But here we see that he was greatly displeased about it. When Jonah was going through hard circumstances in the belly of the fish, he became humble and came to repentance and turned to God. But when things started going well, his heart started to harden again and now we see that he is unhappy with the good work God is doing.

We were wondering all along why Jonah disobeyed God in the first place, why he didn’t want to go to the Ninevites -- and now he reveals the reason for it. Finally, we get to hear from Jonah’s mouth the real reason for his resisting God. It was not out of fear that his preaching would be in vain, but that God would show mercy to Israel’s enemies. He says in verse two, “I know that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and relent from sending calamity”. This is from Exodus 34:6, Jonah throws back to God as an insult the same quote God had said about himself. You are such a merciful God, why do you show them mercy? They don’t deserve it. It is good that you are merciful to me, but not to them.

It is so easy for us to have the mentality that we deserve grace but others don’t. It’s wrong. In fact, none of us deserve God’s mercy or his forgiveness, but he gives it to us as a free gift in Jesus.

People often see the Old Testament as only emphasizing God’s wrath and judgment, and the New Testament being all about God’s mercy. But here we see even in the Old Testament that God is eager to save the lost. He delights in extending mercy. These two components of God’s character -- his judgment and his mercy -- are not at odds with each other, but rather, they are both parts of who he is.

Verse 3. “Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah may have been more concerned about his own reputation than God’s. He knew that if the people repented, none of his warnings to Nineveh would come true. This would embarrass him, although it would give glory to God.

Prayer Focus

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as one who seeks to do what glorifies God, or as someone who seeks her own interests? Let’s ponder and pray.

May God help us identify the false gods and the idols we may pursue.