What was Jonah thinking?…
Jonah’s story is one that never ceases to amaze me, I have always wondered, “Why did he get so angry that God showed mercy”? I cannot count how many times I’ve thought to myself — “ Ahnahn, na your mercy”?? Why so angry bruhh😹
I’ll admit, I just always wondered, I never actively sought to study the book and his story, until my Bible Plan this year brought me to his story. I read chapters 1–4 and found myself pondering the same things again. Like this guy! Should you not be happy that nobody is dying ??? Does this guy not understand that God’s whole heart is focused on one thing; seeing souls saved! Then I realised, he didn’t know, he didn’t understand, how could he?? They didn’t have the same understanding of God’s love that we have now. They only related with God as Lord and Master. A supreme being that gave orders and commands that had to be met! Therefore they couldn’t fathom why he was merciful. In those days, Masters had the final say and were under no obligation to be nice or warm, so imagine that. Oh what a privilege we have now don’t you think?
Have you ever had a friend that burns really hot when they’re angry, but the moment someone apologizes for their misbehavior, they forgive and become warm towards them again? Does that not frustrate you sometimes? Like if you knew you weren’t going to maintain this angry energy, why fuss about it now? Why stress me?👀👀 Yep, I’m pretty sure that was how Jonah felt.
Imagine this scenario, Your boss complains bitterly to you about your colleague, about how lazy, and incompetent they are and tells you to make sure you inform them about it. Now this colleague is known for his/her bitterness, and anger issues and instead of delivering the message, you avoid it! Your boss finds out and gets angry at you, they even make sure you end up delivering this message of doom, and after all said and done, the colleague “sheds a few tears, apologizes”, and your boss says aww that’s so sweet, we’re good now. How would you feel? Wouldn’t you wonder….why did this person now stress me this much??!!
I believe this is how Jonah felt. God told him to proclaim His judgement over a city known for its notoriety.. Talk about all forms of criminals and what not, they were there. Imagine walking up to an armed robber and telling them…God said He’ll destroy you and everyone in this city because of your evil ways! Lmao…they could have easily snapped his neck😹😹😹 so he got scared, and ran away, like many of us would have 👀
Then God went through the “trouble” of sending a storm, and a large fish to swallow him, just to ensure that he delivered this message of doom to the “bad guys”😹😹 Eventually he delivered the message, people cried, wore burlaps (as a sign of remorse back then), and asked for forgiveness and boom God said Oya Oya I’ve changed my mind.
Jonah must have thought to himself, “Ahh, Is this playing? After all the shege wey my eyes don see, Forgiveness, just like that?? Oga so I’ll now become a liar to these people??” Because trust me, there are some people that would have approached Jonah to say, “you see…all these fake prophets😹😹😹 last last, e don cast”. So Jonah got angry, and God had to explain to him why it was important to him that these people repented rather than perish. He explained it to him using a very powerful illustration, The illustration of the tree that provided a shade for Jonah. When the tree withered, Jonah was angry, and God said so you can be angry that something you didn’t create, plant or nurture died, how much more what I created? So powerful and profound! God doesn’t want to see souls doomed, He wants them saved!
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever wondered, God these people are misbehaving too much now, just show them one sign, just change it for them small🌚😹😹As Believers, we need to understand comprehensively, God’s heart and what makes Him happy. The story of Jonah was just a scriptural preamble to show you how much God values seeing lost souls get saved….There were 120,000 people and Nineveh and God didn’t want any of them to die!!! Not one single soul!!!
Jonah 4:11
He finally showed it in the most attention grabbing, unignorable way possible! He gave his only son…Crafted a unique master plan to make sure that we could call Him father, to make sure that Grace is always available to us! If you’ve ever enjoyed this Grace and forgiveness, and you truly understand the Father’s heart to see souls saved, then you will know that it is our duty and responsibility to share this good news with others.
Many of us have asked ourselves — “What was Jonah thinking?” Well now that we know what he was thinking, what about you? What are you thinking? Can God send you today, not to proclaim the message of doom to win souls now, but to proclaim the good news of his son for the same purpose? What will be your response?
As for me, I know what my Father loves, and I have enjoyed this Grace and Forgiveness, this is why I share it! Would you do the same?
