Jonah had finally done what God told him to do. After running in the opposite direction, getting thrown overboard, spending three days inside a great fish, and getting deposited back on dry land, he went to Nineveh and delivered God’s warning. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4)
The people of Nineveh believed God. They fasted, turned from their violence, and repented. God saw what they did and did not bring the destruction He had warned them about. Jonah was furious. He told God this was exactly why he had run away in the first place. Jonah knew God was gracious and compassionate, and he believed that if Nineveh repented, God might spare them. Jonah didn’t want Nineveh spared. He was so angry that he asked God to take his life.
God asked him, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?” Jonah didn’t answer. He left the city, built himself a shelter, sat down in the shade, and waited to see what would happen to Nineveh.
While Jonah waited, God caused a plant to grow over him and provide more protection from the heat. Jonah was very happy about the plant. The next morning, God sent a worm that attacked it, and the plant withered. Without the extra shade and protection, Jonah became so miserable in the scorching heat that he again said he wanted to die.
God asked him, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” This time Jonah answered. He said he did, even to the point of death.
God pointed out that Jonah cared about a plant he had no part in producing and that had existed for only a short time. Then He asked Jonah one final question, “Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people who do not know the difference between their right hand and left, as well as many animals?”
That’s where the book of Jonah ends. We don’t get Jonah’s answer. God leaves him with the comparison. Jonah cared deeply about losing a plant because it had made his life more comfortable, and it was a plant in which he himself had no investment. God cared about an entire city full of people who He Himself had created.
Jonah wanted God’s mercy when it was convenient for him. He had a much harder time accepting that the same mercy given to him would be given to people to whom he thought deserved judgment.
Jonah 3:1–4:11
God has more questions. See Let Me Ask You Something: When God Asks a Direct Question.