Jonah Chapter 4

Jonah Chapter 4

Jonah Chapter 4 takes a look at the days after Jonah’s proclamation throughout Nineveh.  He rests outside the city waiting to see what will happen.  He is angry God has spared Nineveh.  The anger seems irrational if you have in your heart the salvation of all mankind.  Jonah did not want this outcome.

Jonah Chapter 4 focuses upon the compassion God has for mankind.  Assyria had been a wicked people.  Yet, all mankind has or will engage in actions which are evil in the eyes of God.  When we cross that line, do we not wish the compassion of God upon our very souls?

As Jonah sits outside the city, the Lord provides a shade plant for Jonah in an attempt to illustrate His compassion.  Sadly, Jonah seems unmoved in his frustration.  His feelings toward the Assyrian people cause him to wish his own life were extinguished.  Of course, it could have been when he was cast overboard from the ship to Tarshish.  Yet, God showed compassion.  How longsuffering our Lord is.  How good and kind and gracias He is.  Let us not be lost in the myopia of our minds and reject His kind provision.