JONAH 4:9-11 - GOD SPARED THE CITY FOR WHICH JONAH HAD NO PITY

JONAH 4:9-11

GOD SPARED THE CITY

FOR WHICH JONAH HAD NO PITY

Jonah 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

Susie: God asked Jonah if he had good reason to be so concerned and angry about the demise of the plant.

Susan: I thought I could be an osmium head at times, I regret to admit; but Jonah makes me seem like a cream-puff when it comes to being hard-headed and ridiculously obstinate. Jonah defended his stance of anger against the worm who ate the plant to the point of stupidity, saying he was so angry he could die.

Susie: Ultimately, Jonah is angry that God was merciful to the Ninevites, angry that God chose to kill the plant He sent to shade Jonah, angry that God included Gentiles in His mercy. Like many Israelites, Jonah viewed the Jews as an exclusive group who alone deserved the mercy of God rather than a group that was supposed to be God’s light to the world. God’s promise to Abraham was that ALL nations would be blessed. We know that “seed” in the verse below refers not only to Abraham’s offspring but particularly to Jesus the Messiah, but this promise does indicate that God was not planning to be the God of Israel exclusively:

Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Jonah 4:10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

Susie: Jonah did not plant the shade plant nor did he water it. It just “appeared” overnight.

Susan: God provided the shade plant, controlled its growth to spring up overnight, and orchestrated its withering by sending the worm.

Susie: Jonah was angry about the death of a single plant, but showed no concern for the souls living in Nineveh.

Susan: I think Jonah needed King David to come and play the harp for him and sooth his fiercely angry soul.

Susie: Perhaps Jonah was a bit loony like King Saul. God chooses to use all kinds of people, and he used Jonah’s story to teach us about the grace God extends even to disobedient people and especially to those who do not yet know Him.

Jonah 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Susie: Jonah did nothing to create the plant yet felt it should have been spared. God created the people of Nineveh and in His sovereignty allowed it to become a great city. Therefore, He had the right and the incentive to spare them when they repented. What about the 120,000 people who did not know their right hand from their left? What does that mean?

Susan: One point of view, is that this indicates that the Ninevites were like children, not knowing right from wrong, because they had received no instruction in regards to the Law given to Moses or the nature and character of the Israelites’ God.

Susie: Others interpret this as meaning that there were 120,000 children under the age of knowing their right hand from their left, in other words, children under the age of about four years. Either way, God is indicating that He spared Nineveh, in part, because He did not want innocents to be slaughtered.

Susan: Animals can no more discern right from wrong than an infant. They are innocent of wrong-doing and did not deserve to die.

Susie: What ever became of Jonah after this? The Bible does not tell us. We will have to wait until Heaven to find out! Talk about a man who can share a fish story!

QUESTIONS

1.        Jonah was so angry he could _____.

2.        Was Israel supposed to hog God’s mercy for themselves? Use scripture to back up your answer.

3.        What did Jonah care about more than he cared about the Ninevites?

4.        What are two explanations of “persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?”