JONAH 4 - THE HEART OF GOD VS. THE HEART OF MAN

Jonah 4

In this little (11) verse chapter that concludes the amazing account of Jonah, we see some glaring distinctions between the heart of God and the heart of man.

The Chapter starts with v. 1 telling us that Jonah was displeased and angry.  The last verse of chapter 3 tells us what he was displeased and angry about, and it was that God had seen the repentance and faith of the people of Nineveh, and had had mercy upon them, and not destroyed them as He had said He would.  To understand why, in Jonah’s flesh, he would have been so displeased and angry about this, we have to understand who the Ninevites were in relation to the Israelites in Jonah’s day.  For most of the prior history of Israel, the Ninevites had been a cruel enemy and persecutor of the people of Israel.  So, in Jonah’s heart, receiving God’s vengeance was what they rightfully deserved. Jonah wanted justice to be delivered to the Ninevites, not mercy.  He wanted to get even with them, not see them forgiven.  How often are we like that – we have a dispute with someone, and then we want justice for them, and mercy for ourselves.

But, you see, the One true God, while He is a God of justice, is also a God of mercy, and He has shown that to us at the cross.  

On the cross, Jesus received the full weight of God’s justice for our sin, so that God could show mercy to all those who repent of their sinfulness & trust in Him. The Ninevites repented & submitted to the God of Israel, and thus they received His mercy instead of His justice. The same offer is open to us today if we will receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Because Jonah did not fully understand the nature of God, his own heart was filled with anger, whereas the heart of God was filled with love.  

Jonah had a love, of sorts, in this Chapter, but it wasn’t for lost people. Instead, it was for a tree, an inanimate object that that gave him shade from the heat of the sun.  Jonah’s love was so different from God’s love.  Jonah loved the tree for what it could do for him, which was to give him shade.  This made Jonah’s love a very transactional kind of love, but that is not how God loves. God’s love for the lost Ninevites was not because of anything good in them.  They were a very evil people, who had been responsible for the deaths of many Israelites.  Yet, God’s love for people is not based on their behavior, performance, or what they can do for Him.  Rather, it is based on His character of love and what He can do for them.  

That is why Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were yet sinners, God demonstrated His own love for us by sending Jesus to die for our sin.

The other beneficiary of God’s love in this chapter is Jonah himself.  He was already a child of God, and part of His chosen people.  Yet, he had strayed from God since the beginning of the book, when he had refused God’s command to go to Nineveh and call the people there to repentance.  Yet, God did not give him justice, but instead lovingly and patiently dealt with him so that Jonah would come to see God’s true heart.  God’s love for us is unrelenting, and He never gives up on us. We see this same God in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  The son who demanded his inheritance and left his father never stopped being his father’s son, even though he sinned greatly against his father.  When the father sees his son on the path to come home, the father has compassion on him, runs down the road to greet him, and hugs and kisses him. The father goes on to joyfully give the son a new robe, a ring, and a pair of sandals, and then throws a big party for him.  That is the God of the Bible and the One we worship!  AMEN!