Evil and Grace (Jonah 4:1-4)
The dramatic tension set up in chapter one, when Jonah runs without revealing his motivation, is finally resolved here in chapter 4. In Jonah’s second prayer of the book, he tells God that he ran because he knew that God was merciful and gracious (the very aspects of God’s character that Jonah was grateful for in chapter 2!) and He knew that God would forgive the Ninevites if they repented. Jonah did not want to warn them, because with no preacher bringing God’s word, repentance would not be possible. Jonah hated the Assyrians. He did not think that they deserved a warning, let alone merciful forgiveness.
Another key word here in the book of Jonah is the word translated as “evil.” It was the “evil” of the Assyrians that caused God to promise punishment. And, the “disaster” that was promised them for their evil is the same word. The Ninevites repent of their evil and God relents and does not turn them over to an evil. The only one to hold on to “evil” is Jonah. The word in 4:1 translated as “displeased” is the same word used throughout the book. Jonah displayed evil in his displeasure.
Jonah, in rejecting God’s calling because he did not approve of God’s gracious character, is rejecting God. Quoted here is the key passage of Exodus 32-34, in particular 34:6,7, where God reveals His name, and therein His nature, to Moses. Jonah sees the gracious aspect of God and disdains it as unjust. But Nahum will later quote the same text in judgements against Nineveh again. God is not unjust in His mercy, He is merely patient. And Jonah should be grateful for God’s patience, grace and mercy, because without it he would be dead in hopelessness.
And that too is the message for us today in the story of Jonah. We see in the Old Testament that God is a just and holy God who is also gracious and merciful. It is thanks to this grace and mercy that we have the hope of restored relationship with Him in spite of the evils we enact in the world like the Assyrians. And in spite of the evil we harbor in our pride like Jonah.
Another key word here in the book of Jonah is the word translated as “evil.” It was the “evil” of the Assyrians that caused God to promise punishment. And, the “disaster” that was promised them for their evil is the same word. The Ninevites repent of their evil and God relents and does not turn them over to an evil. The only one to hold on to “evil” is Jonah. The word in 4:1 translated as “displeased” is the same word used throughout the book. Jonah displayed evil in his displeasure.
Jonah, in rejecting God’s calling because he did not approve of God’s gracious character, is rejecting God. Quoted here is the key passage of Exodus 32-34, in particular 34:6,7, where God reveals His name, and therein His nature, to Moses. Jonah sees the gracious aspect of God and disdains it as unjust. But Nahum will later quote the same text in judgements against Nineveh again. God is not unjust in His mercy, He is merely patient. And Jonah should be grateful for God’s patience, grace and mercy, because without it he would be dead in hopelessness.
And that too is the message for us today in the story of Jonah. We see in the Old Testament that God is a just and holy God who is also gracious and merciful. It is thanks to this grace and mercy that we have the hope of restored relationship with Him in spite of the evils we enact in the world like the Assyrians. And in spite of the evil we harbor in our pride like Jonah.
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