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 loving kindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” – Jonah 4:3-4
Jonathan Swift wrote some verse that expresses Jonah’s frame of mind:
We are God’s chosen few,
All others will be damned;
There is no place in heaven for you,
We can’t have heaven crammed.
Jonah was angry because God granted repentance to the Ninevites, and the Assyrians were enemies of Judah and Israel. Jonah wanted God to bring judgment upon these people he hated. In a way Jonah was blaming God saying “I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, One who relents from doing harm.” Jonah knew that God was full of grace and mercy, and that was why he was afraid to tell the people of Nineveh. This was at least part of the reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh – he was afraid they would repent, when all along he wanted God to judge the Assyrian capital.
Jonah himself called on the mercy of God and enjoyed the mercy of God when it was extended to Jonah. Now he resents it when it is extended to others. What if God treated Jonah the way Jonah wanted God to treat the people of Nineveh?
The repentance and salvation of the people of Nineveh is so painful to Jonah that he would rather die than think about it; and he also states that this was the reason he fled the call – not out of fear that he would be ineffective, but fear that he would be effective!
Is there a call you deny out of fear of success? Do you avoid telling your neighbors about Jesus because you don’t have the skills or don’t want to take your time away? Jonah was a good man, but even good men are nearsighted and selfish. Do you want to just be a good person? Or, do you want to be a person of God?