Jonah Is Angry at God’s Mercy

4:1 This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. 4:2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! – because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 4:3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” 4:4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very angry?” 4:5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made a shelter for himself there and sat down under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 4:6 The Lord God appointed a little plant and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue him from his misery. Now Jonah was very delighted about the little plant. 4:7 So God sent a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up. 4:8 When the sun began to shine, God sent a hot east wind. So the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, and said, “I would rather die than live!” 4:9 God said to Jonah, “Are you really so very angry about the little plant?” And he said, “I am as angry as I could possibly be!” 4:10 The Lord said, “You were upset about this little plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day. 4:11 Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh, this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!”

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Jonah is angry that God spared Nineveh. The Lord then uses a plant, a worm, and a hot wind to teach Jonah that he cares far more about a great city of people than Jonah cares about a plant.

Jonah’s anger shows that his heart was not in line with God’s heart. He knew the truth about the Lord: God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and full of mercy. But Jonah did not want that mercy shown to Nineveh.

God did not answer Jonah with a long speech at first. He asked a searching question: “Are you really so very angry?” Jonah then sat outside the city, hoping to see what would happen.

The Lord appointed a plant to give Jonah shade, and Jonah was glad. Then God sent a worm to destroy the plant, and later a hot wind to make Jonah miserable. These were not random events. God was teaching Jonah through what happened.

Jonah cared deeply about the plant, even though he had done nothing to make it grow. God then pointed to Nineveh, a large city with many people who did not know right from wrong. If Jonah could pity a plant, should not God show mercy to a whole city of needy people? The chapter ends there, forcing the reader to think carefully about God’s compassion and Jonah’s resentment.

• God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and full of mercy.
• Jonah knew God’s character, but he resented God’s mercy toward Nineveh.
• God used the plant, the worm, and the wind to teach Jonah a lesson.
• Jonah cared more about the plant than about the people of Nineveh.
• God has the right to pity a great city full of needy people.
• The chapter leaves Jonah’s answer unresolved and presses the reader to respond to God’s compassion.

• Do not resent the mercy God shows to sinners.
• Do not be content with right words about God if your heart resists His ways.
• Watch for sinful pride in your own heart.
• Trust that God may use hard providences to correct you.
• Be glad when sinners repent and turn to the Lord.

This passage shows that Yahweh’s mercy is not limited to Israel. He is free to show compassion to repentant people among the nations. The chapter keeps Israel’s covenant history in view, but it also points forward to God’s wider mercy reaching beyond Israel.

Read this chapter as a warning against hard-heartedness. It is possible to know true doctrine and still resent God’s mercy. Ask God to give you a heart that rejoices in His compassion, even when He shows it to people you do not think deserve it.

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