Explore the Bible: No Compassion

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Oct. 9 focuses on Jonah 4:1-11.

Jonah is a unique book among the Minor Prophets for its distinctly narrative structure. Though others in the Minor Prophets have narrative, Jonah is, from beginning to end, one story. The story is of God calling an Israelite man to travel to the enemy city of Nineveh, capital of mighty Assyria, to speak a message of God’s judgment in hopes that the citizens will repent. Jonah is reluctant, yet he still goes.

Jonah travels across land and water in fulfillment of his call. Jonah was sent to urge the people to repentance, and to Jonah’s demise, the city repented. The great Assyrian city repented, so the Lord promised to not destroy them after all (3:10). Jonah does what the Lord tells him to, but when his work bears fruit, he is bitter toward the Lord about it.

God’s character

Jonah knows God’ character. He knows the Lord to be, as Israel has long confessed, “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2). Jonah is not surprised that God has acted in mercy. Rather, he was angry God extended his compassion to Israel’s historic enemy, Assyria. Jonah would rather die than see the great Assyrian city carry on (4:3, 8).

Jonah is so angry, in fact, he goes outside the city to see what will happen to it (4:5). Seething with anger (and maybe pouting, too), Jonah sits outside the city to see what will really become of his enemies. From the author’s silence, we get the sense nothing happens to Nineveh; God did not destroy the repentant city.

Sitting in his anger, the Lord provides a plant only to have a worm crawl up and kill it (4:6-7). Further, the shelter Jonah made does not withstand the scorching sun and severe wind God sent (6:8). Be it a plant, the sun, or the salvation of an enemy, the Lord is in control. Similar to Amos 4:13, this section is meant to remind Jonah (and us!) that the Lord is the one in control. Jonah may have played a main role, but the Lord is the one who gives callings and who gives life.

Further, Jonah’s joy at the plant is of the same intensity as his anger at God’s mercy towards Nineveh. “Great” is a recurring adjective in Jonah: great joy and great anger. Here, Jonah is a cautionary tale to us in those moments when we rejoice at the blessings of God only to turn around in anger that the Lord would be gracious toward our enemies, repentant as they may be.

Questions, questions

The book has 11 questions directed toward Jonah, many of which go unanswered by the prophet. The final verse is a question to Jonah: “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?” (4:11). We are left with no indication of his answer. The question, we could argue, is left for the reader to ponder.

Jonah prompts questions in its readers still—or, at least, it should. Am I grateful the Lord is compassionate toward me, but resent him when the same is extended to those who have hurt me? Do I rejoice in the mercy of the Lord only to believe others are undeserving of it? In sum, am I a messenger of God’s message of mercy, or am I, instead, trying to play God?

Jonah knew God as being full of compassion, mercy and justice, but he sought to determine to whom God would give mercy. Jonah, the man, is an illustration of the basic human tendency to want to determine divine mercy. Jonah, the book, is a lesson that God acts toward others how he determines.

There is an additional question to be asked: How could I encourage people to rejoice at the mercy given to those who are unjust? It is wrong to tell people to rejoice at mercy given to people who continue to act in evil ways. For those with this concern, remember that Nineveh is repentant. The Lord saw the people repent so relented punishment, and if the Lord believed it, it was not a repentance just for show; it was sincere. Jonah is angry at his enemy, even after they repented.

The Lord’s very nature is to be “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (4:2). This is true even for our enemies. Jonah is not unique in being a prophetic book to emphasize a call to repent, but it is unique in that the prophet is so dismayed by the fruit of his labor. Jonah is a reminder to us who speak of the wide mercy of God to believe it is still true even when it is extended to the particular enemies in our lives. Mercy comes to those who repent, even for Nineveh, even for you, and even (if he were to repent himself, I believe) for the bitter prophet, Jonah.

Maddie Rarick is pastor of Meadow Oaks Baptist Church in Temple, Texas.