I was recently reading Jonah the other day. If you aren’t familiar with the story of Jonah, Jonah was a prophet. God told him to preach to the city of Ninevah, warning them they would be destroyed if they didn’t repent of their evil and wickedness and turn back to Him. Jonah refused, wanting Ninevah to be punished, and fled (or sailed) in the opposite direction. God intervened with a storm that resulted in Jonah being thrown overboard swallowed by a big fish, and eventually spat out. Jonah continued to Ninevah, preached to the city, and amazingly, they repented and turned to God in sackcloth and ashes.
Jonah, however, was not pleased at Nineveh’s repentance. Jonah 4:1-4 says that
It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
I find it ironic that Jonah mentions God’s graciousness, mercy, patience, and love, but still wants God to destroy Ninevah. Jonah lived in God’s graciousness, mercy, patience, love, maybe even more so that Ninevah.
Thank about it: Jonah blatantly disobeyed a direct command from God. He didn’t just ignore or not receive anything. Going in the opposite direction from where God wants you to go is one of the clearest forms of disobedience, and God had taken out people for much less than that.
God then sent a warning, the storm, in which Jonah decided to sacrifice himself for the people on the boat and get thrown over board. God then sent a fish to swallow Jonah, instead of letting him drown. Keep in mind that Jonah technically didn’t repent yet. He repented after being swallowed by the fish, not before.
Then God gave Jonah his third chance, which Jonah used to actually follow God’s command. Jonah experienced God’s unconditional grace, mercy, patience, and love in pretty much the same way that Ninevah did, but his sense of justice prevented him from celebrating their salvation. Don’t get me wrong, Ninevah was no saint either, but Jonah couldn’t see how similar they were.
Sometimes, we forget how we are also like a Nineveh ourselves. I’ve heard quite a few stories of Christians playing Jonah and condemning and shaming people for their actions/lifestyle instead of offering them the love and grace that God showed to them.
May we never forget that no matter how bad a person can act, God still loves them, just like He loves us, and that we should show them His love, not His wrath.