Jonah Chapter 3: Reach (Part 1)

I’m the youngest of three boys in my family. So as the youngest, I got beat up a lot. And of course, I deserved most of it, because there were times I thought I would hurt them, scare them, or annoy them, thinking I would have the upper hand. But there was one problem, I was always the one that ended up getting hurt. For instance, one day I was sitting on the counter in the kitchen and I took a jab at my oldest brother. I think it was more of a chin scoop. You know when you scoop the extra skin under somebody’s chin? All it took from him was a flinch toward me and I jerked backwards and nailed my head against the cabinet.

I intended to get the upper hand, but the results were rarely what I expected. And it usually hurt!



Before I explain how this has to do with anything, let’s do a quick review of the story. Let’s summarize it this way: The people of Nineveh were in need of revival. Jonah had already experienced revival (he had run from God and was swallowed by a fish where he repented) and he was now going to go to Nineveh so they could experience revival.

Now, this is where the story gets interesting and it’s also where my plans of bullying my older brothers comes in. I’m going to go ahead and spoil the story of what happens to Nineveh. Jonah preached, the people repented, and God graciously withheld His wrath! Normally, there is a danger that happens for preachers after a great victory like this. Think about the pride of preachers when they start advertising how big their church is, or how innovative their methods are. But Jonah had another issue at hand. What should have been a cause of great rejoicing, became a reason of great anger with God. Jonah threw a temper tantrum because God forgave the people of their sins.

Is this not bizarre? Jonah goes to Nineveh, preaches for them to repent or die. They repent, and Jonah gets angry! What’s really going on in Jonah’s head? Didn’t he want them to be saved? Maybe Jonah’s conversation with God in the belly of the whale went something like, “Fine, God! I’ll go preach! But they won’t listen, and you’re going to kill them anyway. Which is fine with me. They don’t deserve to live!”

Or maybe he did have a genuine moment of compassion for the people of Nineveh, but soon lost that compassion and resorted back to his self-righteous racism. Whatever the case was, Jonah expected the people to refuse him, to continue in their sin, and get killed by God. But just like annoying my brothers never ended the way I expected, the results were not what Jonah expected.

In verse two, Jonah gives us a glimpse into why he refused to go to Nineveh in the first place; because he knew that God was gracious, merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. Let’s be honest, that’s just awful! To purposefully not share the Gospel because you knew God would forgive someone is despicable. Jonah was being both religious AND rebellious in his response to the Ninevites’ evil.

But while we’re being honest, I think we all need to admit something. We often do the same thing. And it should genuinely scare us how tolerant we can be about evil in our lives.

There’s no doubt that there is evil in the world and we understand that God has a plan to deal with it. But all too frequently, we choose to react to evil with our own plan. “Well, it’s really not that big of a deal.” “Somebody else will talk to them.” “Boy, I really hope they learn their lesson someday.” Gossip, avoidance, revenge, judgment, etc. Often times, our response to evil in the world only emphasizes the evil in our own hearts. It’s how we respond to the evil in the world that reveals what we are truly like.

If we respond with unnecessary judgment or cruel harshness, that reflects the religious person we are. If we respond with passivity and acceptance of sin, that reflects the rebellious person in us. What we want to do is respond to evil in a way that reveals the repentant person we are.

So, how are we supposed to answer the evil in the world? That’s what the rest of Jonah 3 is about, and what the next articles will discuss.