Jonah 4:11
The story of Jonah is well known to all, even if one has never been to Sunday school. We all know that Jonah was the reluctant prophet, called by God to take the message of repentance to a heathen nation, Nineveh. We know that Jonah ran from the call and ended up being swallowed by a whale. After three days and nights in the whale’s belly, he was vomited up on the shore. Then he goes to Nineveh and God moves greatly, stirring repentance in the hearts of all that hear him preach. For most of us, the story ends there.
The book of Jonah however, does not end with Nineveh’s repentance. Instead, the book follows Jonah outside of the walls of Nineveh, and finds him angry with God. Jonah did not avoid going to Nineveh because he was afraid of them, though he would have had every reason to be. They were a savage nation, sacrificing humans to their strange gods; skinning their prisoners alive to use the skins as dried leather for furniture and piling the skulls of their executed on a large mound outside of the city gates to warn foreigners and thieves. Jonah avoids going to Nineveh because they have been perpetual persecutors of Israel, and Jonah wants them to suffer the wrath of God. He knows that God is merciful and that He will forgive them if they ask, and Jonah wants no part of it.
God causes a gourd, a quick growing shrub in that part of the world, to grow up overnight to shadow Jonah from the hot sun, and then prepares a worm to eat it up. This act of God was to teach Jonah one final and crucial lesson about the heart of God.
God asks Jonah if he is angry about the gourd being destroyed. Jonah replies that he has a right to be angry, even to the point of suicide (Jonah 4:9). God’s response is to teach Jonah the contrast between his love for the gourd and God’s love for Nineveh:
“Then said the Lord, ‘Thou has had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest 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 six score thousand (120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:10, 11)
Jonah was angry over the loss of something that he did nothing to create. God shows him that in Nineveh are people whom God loves, who He did create and who He wants to save. How much more should God do all to reach Nineveh? There are 120,000 people there that cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left. What kind of person cannot tell that difference? Children! God wants to spare Nineveh because the next generation deserves a chance. He has not changed to this day.
Jesus loved the little children and allowed all that wanted to come near Him and be blessed. God has a special love even now, not only for little children, but for all of the innocent, placed in harm’s way by someone else’s decisions and lifestyles. The next time that you look at someone and hope that they, “get what’s coming to them”, think of the 120,000 children of Nineveh, whom God wanted to save in spite of their parents. The love of Jesus is still great for all who do not deserve it, including you and me.
The story of Jonah is well known to all, even if one has never been to Sunday school. We all know that Jonah was the reluctant prophet, called by God to take the message of repentance to a heathen nation, Nineveh. We know that Jonah ran from the call and ended up being swallowed by a whale. After three days and nights in the whale’s belly, he was vomited up on the shore. Then he goes to Nineveh and God moves greatly, stirring repentance in the hearts of all that hear him preach. For most of us, the story ends there.
The book of Jonah however, does not end with Nineveh’s repentance. Instead, the book follows Jonah outside of the walls of Nineveh, and finds him angry with God. Jonah did not avoid going to Nineveh because he was afraid of them, though he would have had every reason to be. They were a savage nation, sacrificing humans to their strange gods; skinning their prisoners alive to use the skins as dried leather for furniture and piling the skulls of their executed on a large mound outside of the city gates to warn foreigners and thieves. Jonah avoids going to Nineveh because they have been perpetual persecutors of Israel, and Jonah wants them to suffer the wrath of God. He knows that God is merciful and that He will forgive them if they ask, and Jonah wants no part of it.
God causes a gourd, a quick growing shrub in that part of the world, to grow up overnight to shadow Jonah from the hot sun, and then prepares a worm to eat it up. This act of God was to teach Jonah one final and crucial lesson about the heart of God.
God asks Jonah if he is angry about the gourd being destroyed. Jonah replies that he has a right to be angry, even to the point of suicide (Jonah 4:9). God’s response is to teach Jonah the contrast between his love for the gourd and God’s love for Nineveh:
“Then said the Lord, ‘Thou has had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest 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 six score thousand (120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?’” (Jonah 4:10, 11)
Jonah was angry over the loss of something that he did nothing to create. God shows him that in Nineveh are people whom God loves, who He did create and who He wants to save. How much more should God do all to reach Nineveh? There are 120,000 people there that cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their left. What kind of person cannot tell that difference? Children! God wants to spare Nineveh because the next generation deserves a chance. He has not changed to this day.
Jesus loved the little children and allowed all that wanted to come near Him and be blessed. God has a special love even now, not only for little children, but for all of the innocent, placed in harm’s way by someone else’s decisions and lifestyles. The next time that you look at someone and hope that they, “get what’s coming to them”, think of the 120,000 children of Nineveh, whom God wanted to save in spite of their parents. The love of Jesus is still great for all who do not deserve it, including you and me.
