Two Reasons I Love the Book of Jonah

I love the book of Jonah. Most of the time when I hear people talk about Jonah there is one thing that is interpreted incorrectly. A lot of people use the story of Jonah to talk about God changing His mind and that is not true. If anything it is a story of God’s consistency and His will being done no matter what we do.

This is why I believe that; the story starts with God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh and speak against their wickedness. He does not say anything at this point about Him destroying them; He wants Jonah to point out their sins. Well, in the last chapter we see Jonah say in anger:

"Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my {own} country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” Ch. 4:2 (NASB)

What I see here is that it was always Gods plan to restore Nineveh and not destroy it. That is why Jonah is so angry at the end because he knew from the beginning that God would do just as He did. It is not a story of God changing but rather a story of God’s consistent loving-kindness, grace, and compassion.

The other main thing I enjoy about the book of Jonah is God’s relentless plan to Glorify Himself. Even as Jonah runs from God He (God) brought the sailors to see His power and sacrifice to Him. Also, at the end of the story it feels like it ends to soon because there is never a resolution of Jonah’s anger at God. But, in actuality the story ends just as it should, with God revealing His Glory. Jonah asks God to kill him and let him die over some seemingly ridiculous things to be angry about. How many times are we unjustly angry or unjustly questioning God about ridiculous things? God ends by saying this:

Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and {which} you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know {the difference} between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" Ch. 4: 10-11 (NASB)

God points out to Jonah that He (God) is in charge and knows what He is doing and is loving, gracious, merciful, and patient with those whom He has created. So, next time you are angry at God or questioning God, step back and see if your anger and/or questioning is justified.