Mad Prophet
At least Jonah was honest, he hated the Ninevites, they had persecuted his people. He would rather die than contribute to their salvation. How many of us could be that honest with God? How many of us would have the nerve to say repeatedly to the Creator of the universe, “I would rather die than do what you say! Kill me now!” Well, that was Jonah. I am all for being upfront but he was especially arrogant to think he had the right to determine who received God's judgment. He even scolded the Lord for being “slow to anger and abounding in love” (Jonah 4:2).
I never did like Jonah. As a child, I remember thinking he was stupid. Why would you run from the all-knowing God? He knows where you are. If I could understand that as a child, Jonah should have understood. It just did not make sense to me. I thought for sure he had lost his mind. He was a mad prophet. Jonah was mad in that he was angry at God for the orders He had given him to preach to the Ninevites. But he was also just crazy for thinking he could deter God's plan with his defiance. It was insane for him to think that he had a say in who was saved by God's mercy and grace. But that did not stop him from trying. He could not stand the thought of the Ninevites getting away with their sins. It would be totally unfair for God to show them the same grace and mercy that He continually granted Jonah. Jonah evaded his mission and when that did not work, he tried to sabotage the Ninevite's salvation by delivering a poor excuse of a sermon, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Not the most inspirational message but, technically, he had done what the Lord asked. Nevertheless, despite his lack of effort, the people of Nineveh, even the wicked king, got the message and turned to God.
Jonah was furious! He had hoped few people would repent. How ugly do you have to be to actively pray for the downfall of others? This guy needed a hug. God gave him something better. With the same mercy that held back judgment on the Ninevites, the LORD taught Jonah yet another lesson. While Jonah sat outside the city waiting for his enemies’ demise, God prepared a plant to give him shade from the heat. That made Jonah happy until God destroyed it, then he was angry again. “Do you have the right to be angry,” asked God. “Yes!” he declared boldly. That tree was giving him comfort, how dare God destroy it. Jonah had more compassion for the tree than he had for the people of Nineveh. The tree deserved to live because it benefited Jonah, the Ninevites deserved to die because they were Jonah’s enemies (Jonah 1-4).
As I read this story for the umpteenth time, about a character I have disliked since childhood, I realized that I am just like Jonah. I definitely rooted for the Ninevites, but Jonah, I never understood why God kept giving him chances. He was supposed to be the prophet of God, yet he was hateful and nasty. Why would God even waste His time? Ouch! It is sobering when you realize you are just like the bad guy in the story. Jonah hated that God loved his enemies and I hated that God kept giving a mad prophet so many chances. I was a hypocrite, just like Jonah.
God loves our enemies. People who we think are stupid and foolish are loved by God too. God will not stop trying to reach them and it is not up to us to determine who receives His judgment. Sure, Jonah was hateful on a grand scale, he wanted hundreds of thousands killed but we are hateful too. We are just as ugly when we do not forgive or when we fail to show others the same measure of mercy that we would like to receive. We were all the enemies of God before Christ reconciled us at the cross (Rom 5:10). We should follow His lead. We should live differently in this unforgiving world. We have been shown grace by the same good God who is “slow to anger and abounding in love.” It is our turn to show that to others.
Who are your Ninevites? Who is the person in your life that God is using as a divine invitation for you to grow and mature in your experience of God’s grace? See, it goes both ways, you have been receiving grace, now it is time to give it freely. Let God’s grace flow through you right to your enemy. There are aspects of ourselves that need redeeming, that we can only see through our enemies. God intentionally brought Jonah into contact with his enemy to teach him something. What is God trying to teach you?
