Jonah 4:1-11 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
The last line of the last lesson was: “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it” (Jonah 3:10).
Nineveh was not overthrown. This lesson reads how Jonah took this — and reads the last chapter of the book of Jonah.
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2He prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, LORD, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.
3Therefore now, LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4The LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
6The LORD God prepared a vine and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.
7But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered.
8When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and requested for himself that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
10The LORD said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many animals?”
It displeased Jonah exceedingly. Nineveh was not overthrown. The passage says, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry” (v. 1).
For I knew. He prayed to the LORD, and for the first time said why he had fled: “Please, LORD, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm” (v. 2). Lesson 1 did not say why he fled (Jonah 1:3); here the passage lets him say it himself, all the way through.
Better for me to die. He goes on: “Therefore now, LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (v. 3). The LORD does not rebuke him; he only asks, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (v. 4).
Until he might see. Jonah “went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city” (v. 5).
Prepared. Then three times the passage says God ‘prepared’: “The LORD God prepared a vine,” “that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine” (v. 6); “But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered” (v. 7); “When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind” (v. 8). The great fish in Lesson 2 was also something the passage says the LORD prepared: “The LORD prepared a huge fish” (Jonah 1:17).
Even to death. In the beating sun Jonah grew faint, “and requested for himself that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live’” (v. 8). God asked him again, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death” (v. 9).
Shouldn’t I be concerned? The LORD’s last words are: “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night. Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many animals?” (vv. 10–11). How Jonah answered, the passage does not say. The book of Jonah ends on this question.
Jonah’s words, “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness” (v. 2), were not his own idea. When the LORD passed by before Moses on Mount Sinai, he “proclaimed, ‘The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth’” (Exod 34:6). Later the prophet Joel, calling Israel to return to the LORD, used the same words (Joel 2:13).
Readers can see this: the God Jonah knew was the God Israel had known since the days of Moses. The book of Jonah lets its readers see this God dealing in the same way with Nineveh.
Perhaps you have had times like Jonah’s: angry with God, feeling it was unfair — perhaps you have even said, “it is better for me to die than to live” (v. 3).
This lesson does not answer God’s question for you, and it does not say you may not tell God what is in your heart. What it shows you is this: Jonah said the hardest things to the LORD; the LORD did not walk away, but asked him again and again, and at the end told him what he himself cared about.
If you are in danger, or having thoughts of harming yourself, please call for help right away, or tell someone near you whom you trust:
- Canada and the U.S.: for emergencies call 911; for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline call 988
- Mainland China: for emergencies call 110 or 120; for psychological support call the national hotline 12356 (24 hours)
- Hong Kong: for emergencies call 999
- Taiwan: for emergencies call 110 or 119; for the Taiwan suicide prevention line call 1925
This week: Copy out God’s question in verse 11 and put it where you will see it. Read it once each day this week, without hurrying to answer.
Scripture: World English Bible.