It’s a Mad, Mad World
Read Jonah 3:1–4:11
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5. Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.
6. And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. . . .
7. ButGod also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. . . .
8. God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death iscertainly better than living like this!”he exclaimed.
9. Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?
10. Youfeel sorry about the plant, . . .
11. but Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness.. . . Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Jonah 4:5-11
If you want an example of anger, look no further than Jonah. He finally gets around to doing what God wants him to do, preaching to the people of Ninevah. Jonah would rather not be doing this, however; so when it goes well, he’d just as soon call it a loss. God would rather teach him a lesson about his anger.
In this reading, you will see an amazing picture of God’s mercy. You will also find the lessons that it’s never too late for repentance and that sometimes believers have bad reasons for being angry.
Sometimes we wish only that terrible suffering or judgment would come upon evil people. Even David expressed those very wishes in many of the psalms that he wrote (see Psalms 3, 7, 28, 35, 54, 55, 58, 109, 140, 141, 143). But God is more merciful than we can imagine, and he feels compassion for the sinners that we want him to punish. Because of his great mercy, God devises plans to bring sinners to himself. David realized this. And although David hated wicked people, he also prayed for God’s glory and that all people would come to know the Lord.
What is your attitude toward those who are especially wicked? Do you want them destroyed? Or do you wish that they could experience God’s mercy and forgiveness? Pray for people who need to know God. Hate their evil deeds, but do what you can to persuade them to follow Christ. In addition, keep in mind that in many ways you, too, were once like the wicked and that God has been more merciful to you than you may ever realize.
