The Anger of Jonah – Jonah 3:10-4:11

A text – Jonah 3:10 – 4:11

^3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

4 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment. ³ And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

⁶ The Lord God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?”

A reflection:

We know the story of Jonah, called by God to prophesy destruction to the huge city of Ninevah. Jonah hated the nation of Assyria, of which Ninevah was a capital, because of their public cruelty to Israel and their glee about it. He did not want to go. Eventually he got into a boat going the opposite way, toward Tarshish, and a storm came up. The sailors learned that he had refused to do God’s will and, with Jonah’s blessing, they threw him overboard, hoping to avoid destruction from the storm. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish, preserved from drowning, and he prayed and gave thanks for three days, whereupon the creature spat him out onto dry land. Then God called a second time, and Jonah went directly into Ninevah, stopped in an intersection, gave a 5-word warning, and stopped speaking. Unbelievably, everyone, from the king to the lowest citizen, and even the farm animals, repented in dust and sackcloth. The entire massive city repented! Because Jonah eventually followed God’s command, a wicked and especially cruel enemy of Israel repented, and God did not rain down fire from heaven upon them. Jonah probably wanted to be the guy who predicted and then oversaw their destruction. Instead, he was the guy who preached to them how to be saved, and they followed his instructions.

Jonah’s conversation with God is our text. He was hopping mad. He was bitterly disappointed. He resented God’s goodness to these awful people who profited from and delighted in the torture of Israelites. They did not deserve saving. Jonah sat on a hill outside the city in the sun and heat, praying to die. God blessed Jonah by causing a bush to spring up to give him shade. Jonah was relieved. Then God caused a worm to eat the plant and Jonah was once more in the hot sun, asking God to just let him die. Jonah’s anger at losing the bush he cared about was fierce. And of course God told him that God saved the city of Ninevah when they repented because God cared about the thousands of people who lived there (and also many animals). A lesson in perspective. God uses unusual people to be messengers and prophets and founders of the faith. Jonah was angry and ran the other way from God’s commands and bristled when God showed love to humans Jonah hated. It’s heartening, in its way. If God took the time to teach Jonah and use him as a holy servant, there is hope for each of us to have a part to play in what God is up to each day in our own neighborhoods.  Even on our worst day, God has something for us to do.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for the example of Jonah who balked at doing what God asked. Help us, when we are judgmental against certain people, even if they have done bad things, because each of them is still your child and you love them and are waiting for them to repent. Remind us that we are not the final word, but you are. Amen.