by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
After the prophet Jonah made 2 great confessions about the LORD and his power and salvation, he made a proclamation of divine judgement: Nineveh would be overthrown (Jonah 3:4). But the Ninevites repented and prayed to the Lord God and were saved from utter destruction. Nineveh was overturned, turned over (i.e., reformed itself), changed and even transformed (at least for the time being).
Chapter 4 of the Book of Jonah starts with the now obedient prophet displeased and angry at the mercy shown by God to Nineveh. At this point, of course Jonah is unaware that the destruction of Nineveh and Assyria itself, would still come a century and a half after his time. According to the archaeologists and historians, unearthed cuneiform records tell us that in 612 BC, the combined forces of Nabopolassar, king of the then rising power, Babylonia/Chaldea and founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire; Cyaxares, king of Media; and Scythians and others (Persians?), conquered and sacked Nineveh. Like Babylon later on, it was never rebuilt and repopulated. It was only rediscovered in the middle of the 19th century. Then in 605 BC in the Battle of Carchemish, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (eldest son and successor of Nabopolassar) decisively defeated the Egyptians and the remnants of the Assyrian Empire. Assyria was ultimately written off the history books. Such was the wrath of the LORD held back in Jonah’s time. If Jonah had lived during those later days, it may please and satisfy him that his prophecy of judgment to Nineveh had indeed come to pass, albeit much later.
In Jonah’s time, when the LORD relented and spared Nineveh from destruction, he could not accept God’s will. His prophet should have been overjoyed. But Jonah was not. Indeed, he was a prophet who relayed to Nineveh the LORD’s word of judgment. But apparently, he did not want them to be saved! In this sense, in the view of some commentaries, Jonah was not a missionary. But the LORD is sovereign and brought about the repentance of Nineveh. God truly wanted to give these pagans a chance to be saved as we shall see at the end of the book.
In contrast to his humble and thankful prayer in chapter 2 when he was in the “belly of Sheol,” this time Jonah’s prayer expressed his frustration and barely hid his anger. This was the gist of Jonah’s prayer (Jonah 4:2-3):
…O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my country? That is the reason I fled beforehand to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and compassionate, longsuffering and abundant in steadfast love and moved to pity concerning calamity. And now LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.
In the Hebrew, the 2 instances of LORD here is the unpronounced Tetragrammaton (יְהוִֹה); gracious is (חַנּוּן “channun”); compassionate is (רַחוּם “rachum;” also translated as “merciful”); longsuffering is (אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ “erek apayim” an idiomatic Hebrew expression, literally “long of nose;” also translated as “slow to anger”); steadfast love is (חֵסֵד “chesed;” also translated as “lovingkindness”); and life is (נֶפֶשׁ “nephesh;” also translated as “soul” or “self”). The words in verse 2 taken together reveal God’s character.
One can sense frustration, resignation and even defiance from Jonah’s prayer. But perhaps as commentaries say, a conflict ensues within Jonah’s mind. As a prophet, he knows from Deuteronomy 18:21-22 that since his proclamation did not come to pass, there was a problem. Didn’t he hear God’s word clearly? His preaching was true. But why did it not come to pass? Why did God overrule it? He now remembers God’s attributes from Exodus 34:6-7; Numbers 14:18; Joel 2:13; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; and 145:8-9 regarding his abounding goodness and mercy and relenting from bringing disaster. And yet, he also recalls that God is no mere human being who lies and changes his mind (Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:29). Other commentaries say Jonah wanted the Ninevites destroyed because they are not Israelites, although the text does not say this. No matter, Jonah believed that the LORD made a mistake in not destroying Nineveh!
Then the LORD replied to him by asking this question in verse 4: Is it well for you to be angry? The various translations all make the point of asking what reason Jonah has to be angry; or alternatively, does causing something good to happen make him angry. Why should Jonah be angry? Jonah has no answer.
The narrative continues in verses 5-11 where the LORD gives Jonah a lesson about God’s character as evinced in the Hebrew terms we saw earlier. In verse 5, Jonah had apparently left Nineveh after preaching to find a place east of it, made a temporary tabernacle/booth (סֻכָּה “sukkah”), sat under its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. And Jonah saw that the city was not destroyed.
In verse 6, while in the booth the LORD God appointed a קִיקָיוֹן (“qiqayon” meaning castor-oil plant, or gourd or ricinus plant; this Hebrew word is only found 5 times in the Hebrew Bible, all in Jonah chapter 4) which grew rapidly overnight over Jonah, to provide a shade over his head and save him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the plant. Note that many translations use “discomfort” rather than misery (Hebrew רַע “ra’” meaning bad, evil, misery, distress, injury, wrong, adversity, affliction, calamity). Jonah’s misery or discomfort was not caused by the heat alone but probably included his bad, sulking mood over the survival of Nineveh.
Verse 7 continues that when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a תּוֹלָע (“tola” meaning worm) that attacked the “qiqayon” so that it withered.
In verse 8, the sun came up and God appointed a harsh east wind (Hebrew expression ר֤וּחַ קָדִים֙ חֲרִישִׁ֔ית), and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he was faint. Jonah again begged to die (using the same Hebrew phrase in verse 3): it is better for me to die than to live. In verse 9 God replies by repeating his question to Jonah in verse 4 and factoring in the “qiqayon”: Is it well for you to be angry concerning the “qiqayon”? This time, Jonah replied: It is right for me to be angry unto death.
In verses 8-9 the word translated as “appointed” is the same Hebrew word (מָנָה “manah” which can also be rendered as assigned) used when God had the sea monster swallow Jonah in chapter 1:17. So God was sovereignly making things happen as the storm at sea, the sea monster, the plant, the worm and the harsh east wind were all his agents used for his purposes.
At this point the LORD schools his stubborn prophet in verses 10-11 which serve as a climax to the entire book. The LORD said to Jonah:
…you pitied the “qiqayon” which you did not labor on nor made it grow large overnight, and overnight perished. And will I not pity Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 human beings who do not know between their right hand and left hand, and numerous livestock?
The LORD now confronted Jonah over his prophet’s inconsistency (even hypocrisy?). People who cannot tell between right (good) or left (evil) are like infants or innocent small children. How can they be held accountable? Would God allow them to perish together with the guilty ones? Truly, the LORD is gracious, compassionate (or merciful), longsuffering or slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. And God offers mercy and salvation not only to certain people but to all peoples in the world. That is why we have Genesis 12:2-3 and the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.
Now in the on-going war between Israel and Hamas, while we pray for a just end to this war, we need to pray for the redemption of people, no matter which side they are on. The Gospel needs to be shared to them all. And paraphrasing Galatians 3:28 (and Colossians 3:11), there is neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, male or female, for we are all one in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to love even our enemies as the Lord said in Matthew 5:43-44. They are our neighbors too.
We will continue next time with a new Bible book.
God bless us all.