It is easy to be thankful for God’s love and patience with us, but how do we feel when God extends that same long-suffering compassion to our enemies? As Jonah thought about God’s grace to the people of Nineveh, he became angry. The Lord’s response to their repentance, which was completely consistent with His character, “seemed very wrong” to Jonah (v. 1). Jonah became so angry, in fact, that he declared “it is better for me to die than to live” (v. 4).

The Lord had heard Nineveh’s repentance and “did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10). This made Jonah angry—“this seemed very wrong, and he became angry” (v. 1). The prophet clearly knew that God was “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (v. 2). In fact, Jonah was quoting the Lord’s own words back to Him, words first spoken to Moses in Exodus 34:6–8, just after the Lord relented from destroying the Israelites. You read that right! God spoke these same words to Moses after the golden calf incident (Exodus 32), when the people of Israel cast an idol to worship, while Moses was receiving the Law atop Mount Sinai.

Think about that. Jonah knew that God showed compassion to Israel after they committed gross idolatry and “indulge[d] in revelry” (Ex. 32:2–5). Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he didn’t want God to show that same compassion to the Ninevites. Put another way, Jonah was pleased to accept God’s mercy for himself and his own people, but he loathed the thought of God also showing kindness to people outside of Jonah’s group. Jonah’s theology only went skin deep.

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