Let us start by getting the timeline here straight, which I must admit I never have done with the actual story in Jonah. First, it was three days and nights in the belly of the fish for our reluctant prophet. Now, here's the thing about that. Jonah lived, according to 2 Kings 14, in a town in the lot of Zebulun in Israel called Gath-Hepher. Joppa, where he sailed from, was about 55 miles south-southwest of Gath-Hepher, which would have taken him something into the third day to get to on foot. Nineveh, where he was supposed to go, was 750 miles on a dead line the other direction, and some 350 miles from the Sea. In other words, either God transported the fish to the Tigris River over that time, or Jonah at best had a two week walk to Nineveh after he got spat out. Once there, the city was given a 40-day repenting period. While it would have taken 3 days to see all the sights of Nineveh (so said in 3:3), Jonah apparently spent but one day there, got mad because his bitter preaching was successful beyond his wildest imaginings, and left the city for the high ground on the east side. He built himself a 'shelter' (obviously not great workmanship since a castor bean plant beat it for shade), and had a 47-day wait while God kept asking what he was mad about.
With these things in mind, let me look at the story now. The first thing you might ask yourself is, "Why would God send someone so reluctant to preach there?" The answer comes from the fact that he wasn't just reluctant- he hated Assyria and the Ninevites for the evil they had wrought on Israel in the past. Chuck Swindoll went so far as to name him a racist, and if you pare the meaning of racist down to hating someone just because they belong to a different group, so be it. A more merciful prophet might not have put the 'zing' into the message that Jonah, who already had s'mores on his skewer, would. However, that didn't mean God was going to let him KEEP that hate.
The next thing to look at is, for me, "What is up with that plant, anyway?" And this, I think, is important to the lesson God is trying to teach about hate vs our witness. There are a lot of theories about the meaning of the plant, including one I read that had a "it symbolizes Christ" theme I really didn't see. My theory?
The plant is Assyria. Huh?
If you recall, maybe you don't as it was a while back, I did a post on just what and when was going on in Assyria at this point. They had had palace coups, weak rulers, rebelling provinces, and if you weren't conquering back then, you weren't making money. Throw in a couple of earthquakes and a total eclipse of the sun, and you had a group of citizens who didn't need a lot of convincing that the end of the world was upon them. In short, fertile ground for a prophet preaching repentance.
But this was a short window, like the day of the plant. Within a generation, the worm- the king Tilgath-Pilesar III- would set them on the road to conquest again, the days of repentance long forgotten. And not long after, that scorching east wind (4:8) came in the form of the Babylonian-Median-Scythian coalition from their east that hunted down and destroyed them.
What God was trying to say to Jonah was, Assyria's chance to blossom was short. And in Jonah's hatred, he begrudged them this tiny sliver of a chance. Another prophet would have been in the city, enjoying the 'day' of the plant Nineveh, discipling them and helping their growth; Jonah was up on a hill sulking, waiting for a destruction he himself had prevented. Why would God give them such a chance? Even Jonah knew the answer.
Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Jon 4:2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jon 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
Jon 4:4 And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
God was acting according to His loving and merciful nature- a nature Jonah had been so glad for while he was counting the loops in the fish's large intestine. Hate was keeping him from making the connection between God's mercy and the mercy he should emulate. What God asked reminds me of another time He asked that question:
Gen 4:6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
Gen 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Cain's hate cost him everything; Jonah's hate was keeping him from seeing where he was headed. But God had one more way to get through to Jonah.
Jon 4:9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."
Jon 4:10 And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
Jon 4:11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
"JONAH. Do you not see how petty your hate has made you? You value one plant over 120,000 souls?"
Here are our applications. 1- We cannot let hate divide us, even from sinners. Jonah had as good a reason as any to hate Assyria- God wouldn't allow it. 2- Hate keeps us from the blessings received when love lets us share them. How blessed would Jonah have been had he stayed in the city with them, and in the 40th day being able to proclaim the mercy of the Lord! Think of the gifts he would have received from them- a thought worth considering, as God's final words to Jonah- "...and also much cattle..." point to the wealth they yet commanded. 3- Hate is stupid, and makes us petty. "I saved thousands of people, but I want to die because my castor bean keeled over."
So much more I could hit on, but let me end on this- the story never tells us if Jonah repented of his hate and pettiness. Just like with Paul's thorn in the flesh, we are left hanging- because the lesson is ours. What are we going to do when faced with OUR hate?
Another great post
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