Jonah and His Anger

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:1-4 ESV).

When we reach the fourth chapter of Jonah we are finally given a clear understanding of the reason the prophet did not want to obey the call of God to preach to Nineveh. It is ironic that Jonah disobedience was rooted in good theology, though it was completely misapplied. It all centers in the understanding of the sovereignty of God and the application of His grace. We saw a little of this in yesterday’s devotional as we focused on the passage dealing with “the potter and the clay” found in the prophecy of Jeremiah (cf. Jeremiah 18). It was not that Jonah doubted the ability or desire of God to forgive and redeem the Ninevites. In fact, it was because he believed in this principle so passionately that he wanted no part of the assignment. He knew very well that it was well within the prerogative of God to forgive them. However, he didn’t want them to be forgiven; he wanted them destroyed. There will always be people who are troubled by the fact that the Lord relented from disaster in the case of Jonah’s ministry to Nineveh because the prophet gave no indication to the Ninevites that God would stay His hand if the people repented. Does this mean the Lord changed His mind like we do; or, that He learned some new information that caused Him to rethink His plan of action? Some people would answer in the affirmative, but this betrays their failure to read Scripture carefully. Given that prophecies often include unstated conditions (cf. Jeremiah 18:5-10) and that the Lord is not a “man, that he should change his mind” (cf. Numbers 23:19), the idea that He did not know what Nineveh’s response would be is nonsense. He did know what would happen, for He has ordained all things, including Jonah’s preaching and the Ninevites’ response (cf. Ephesians 1:11). The Lord just chose not to reveal explicitly the full scope of the future impact of Jonah’s ministry until it came to pass. And, God was under no obligation to do so. The Lord is holy, yes, but He is also slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and eager to forgive iniquity (cf. Exodus 34:6-7; Micah 7:18). He ran not because he was afraid of preaching in a foreign land but because he was afraid God’s Word might change the hearts and minds of Israel’s hated enemies. So, when the people did rend their hearts and garments, Jonah grew angry at the Lord for being merciful and acting according to what He had revealed about His character (vv. 1-3). Jonah’s anger was irrational—he was mad at God for being God. I have found myself in the same position. It usually expresses itself when I cry out that something is “not fair.” We should never ask for “fair.” We should constantly thank God for grace and mercy!