Jonah’s complaint

Jonah’s proclamation was a great success. Normally, one would rejoice greatly and give thanks to the Lord. However, when Jonah saw the result, he became displeased. In fact, he even felt anger. (1) He explains why he initially tried to flee to Tarshish. It was because he knew that God is gracious and compassionate, and he felt certain that God would relent of the disaster. (2) Next, he prays, asking for death. He who had once died because of his disobedience now wished to die again because of his success. It is a perplexing matter. What was the reason for Jonah’s anger? Many scholars explain that it was because Jonah hated the Gentiles. However, that alone seems insufficient as an explanation. In Jonah’s time, the prophet Amos was already active. He had prophesied that the people of Israel would be destroyed by Assyria. If Nineveh repented through Jonah’s proclamation and was spared from judgment, that would directly lead to the destruction of Israel. Jonah uses the expression, “when I was still in my own country.” From that wording, we can see that he was a patriot and a nationalist. Because he loved Israel so deeply, he did not want to save Nineveh, which was seeking to destroy Israel.

God’s answer

God said to Jonah, who was angry, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?” Jonah himself had already experienced God’s grace and forgiveness. Nevertheless, he could not tolerate the fact that God had forgiven the people of Nineveh. This anger was unreasonable. Even if Jonah had been judged on the spot, he would have had no grounds for complaint. Yet God continued to deal with Jonah in grace and gently asked him, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?” so that he might think for himself. When Jesus was also criticized by the Pharisees, He said this: “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” (John 10:32). Let us become Christians who can rejoice in the good works that God is doing. Let us pray that our hearts may be filled with God’s love.