Jonah 4:1

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

Jonah 4:1

Jonah is such an interesting book because are no lessons learned by the protagonist. He was called by the Lord to speak to Ninevah and ask them to repent and instead Jonah ran the other way and boarded a boat heading for Tarshish. God kept pursuing him and he eventually ended up in the belly of a great fish. 

The Lord, in His mercy, let Jonah live and he finally did make it to Ninevah where he gave a harsh and blunt message to the city’s people, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” We don’t know if he was smiling when he said it but his hatred for the people would seem to indicate that. 

Amazingly, the people of Ninevah heard this very antagonistic message and indeed repented. What was Jonah’s reaction to this? Read the verse above. He’s not rejoicing over God’s work with a wicked people, he’s angry the Lord showed mercy to them.

Reading this made me wonder how many times I’ve been upset at blessings towards people I didn’t think deserved it. We should never be upset at God’s work, but just rejoice that He loves everyone and wants all to come to repentance. 

Praying for the lost,

Pastor Ron Kitchell