Mercy for All
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Jonah 4:9
“They deserve to die.” Jonah may not have said that aloud, but he probably thought it. Why else would the prophet have refused to obey God’s command to preach to the citizens of Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire? He hated the Ninevites. They were the enemies of Israel and therefore the enemies of God. Assyria’s armies had tortured and murdered thousands of innocent people, including some of Jonah’s fellow Israelites.
After a bout with a fierce storm and a large fish, however, Jonah obeyed God and went to Nineveh. He preached, they repented, and God relented. But Jonah resented the compassion God extended to Israel’s enemies.
So God gave Jonah an object lesson. Jonah rejoiced when a vine grew up and shaded him. But when God allowed a worm to destroy it and
a scorching east wind to increase Jonah’s discomfort, the prophet complained: “ It would be better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:8).
God then delivered the object lesson’s punch line: “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” That question should have knocked Jonah to his knees, crying for mercy. But it didn’t. The plant’s life concerned him more than the lives of thousands of Ninevites. Jonah retorted, “It is … I’m so angry I wish I were dead” (4:9).
I should gasp in dismay when I read Jonah’s disrespectful response. But the truth is, I’ve flung angry words at God too. I’ve also wondered why God tolerates the blasphemous taunts of atheists and allows reprehensible criminals to go unpunished. Yes, like Jonah, I’ve acted as judge, jury, and executioner for those I consider unworthy of mercy.
That’s when the Holy Spirit pokes my rib cage with the two-edged sword of God’s Word. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). No one deserves God’s mercy. All deserve judgment—including me, you, and the rest of the Jonahs who preach repentance but want vengeance.
Like Jonah, we may want our enemies to suffer, but God calls us to love them instead (Matthew 5:44-45). How can we do that? We can’t. But God can. His love can flow through us to others if we open our heart to his will.
Are you, like Jonah, allowing hatred to fester in your heart? Check your daily prayer list. Are you only praying for those you love? Be honest with yourself and God about those you consider unworthy of his love. Ask him to change your attitude about them. Put their names on your prayer list and expect God to work in their hearts and yours.
DIG DEEPER
Read Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36. What examples does Luke give to help us understand what “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” means in our daily interaction with others?
God loved Jonah enough to hold him accountable for his sinful actions and attitudes. Why is such discipline good for us according to Hebrews 12:1-15?
Read Romans 3:9-30. How does this passage explain God’s mercy to both Gentiles (including Ninevites) and Jews? Why should we be glad God had compassion on the Ninevites?
Denise K. Loock
This devotion is part of a series on the But God events of the Bible.