A Closer Walk

Jonah finally obeyed God. The Lord had given him specific instructions to go to the great city Nineveh and preach repentance to its inhabitants. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come before me," Jonah 1:1-2 NASB. Instead of following the Divine instructions given to him, Jonah booked passage on a ship and went in a different direction. The ship was embroiled in a raging storm and, at Jonah's direction, the sailors threw him overboard to save themselves. While in the deep Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days and three nights there. After this time the fish spat him out onto the shore. Only then did he obey God's instructions and go to Nineveh and preach repentance. All the people of the city heard the message and repented.

"But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, 'Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Therefore now, O Lord please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life'," Jonah 4:1-3 NASB. Was Jonah greatly displeased that the Lord did not destroy Nineveh for their sin, even after they repented? So it would seem.
God's response: "And the Lord said, 'Do you have reason to be angry?' " Jonah 4:4 NASB. No reply from Jonah at this point. So he went out from the city and sat east of it so he could see what would happen to the city. There Jonah built a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade. The Lord caused a plant to grow up overnight to be a shade over his head. Jonah was extremely happy about the plant, "But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered," Jonah 4:7 NASB.
"And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying 'Death is better to me than life'," Jonah 4:8 NASB. It would appear that Jonah is so distraught because of the plant dying that he begs God with all his soul to take his life. "Then God said to Jonah, 'Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?' And he said , 'I have good reason to be angry, even to death'," Jonah 4:9 NASB.
Twice the Lord asks Jonah if he has reason to be angry. The second questioning elicits a response from Jonah and he replies that he does indeed have good reason to be angry. After all, the plant dying meant he no longer had shade to sit under while waiting outside Nineveh to see if God would do anything to it. Jonah apparently was unhappy that the Lord did not just go ahead and destroy the city and all its inhabitants, even though they had repented.
We might ask why didn't Jonah leave Nineveh and go on home after he had completed his task? Why did he go outside the city and wait to see if something would happen to it?  Was he hoping that the Lord God Almighty would wipe out Nineveh even though they had turned from their wicked ways?  If the answer to any of these questions was yes, then he likely was expecting God to act against God's own character. Jonah himself said that he knew God was a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Why would Jonah expect God to act any differently toward the Ninevites?
Do we know our God to be gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity? Do we pray that He would act according to His own character toward our families and friends? Toward people in other communities or even other countries? Do we pray that our God would act according to His own character toward us? "...for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.