One of the places you can tell that the Book of Jonah is not a created story is from the ending. There is no way that someone who was writing a fictional story would place his hero in such bad light throughout and even more so at the end, where the hero argues with God because God is too merciful and forgiving. This just underlines the veracity of the account. Truth is stranger than fiction. And you got one strange tale here.
The prophet Jonah is so committed to the hatred of the enemies in Nineveh that he wanted them to die more than he wanted them forgiven. His anger also can get under our skin too. God asks such a penetrating question: “Do you have any right to be angry?”
It is a powerful question for often when we are angry, like Jonah, we would stomp our feet and say back, “Yes, I have every right to be this angry.” Yet, the next day, when looking back, or if we heard a recording of the interaction, might be able to say: “Phew, I was out of control.”
There you have it. We see 20/20 in hindsight but not in the situation, especially when glazed over by anger.
God makes no comment on the prophet’s rashness, except to ask the question and to follow the first up with a second, “If you can change your mind about the plant, you did nothing to create or nurture, then can’t I also change my mind about these 120,000 people…”
Prior to this Jonah had left the first conversation with God to sit on a hill, overlooking the city to hopefully watch God destroy it. Instead, redemption came.
How well do you understand God’s heart of redemption? How well have you acquainted yourself with how much God loves others including you? How much does your behavior -- your speaking, your thinking, your acting -- put God’s kind of mercy and love on display? How might you pray this week to grow in that?
Then, don’t miss worship with all those who spent the night sleeping on the chairs!