Jonah 4

Jonah was not happy when God did not destroy Nineveh. He was angry. God had responded to the repentance of Nineveh. He responded with mercy and grace.  He did not destroy them.  The message that Jonah preached, reached the hearts of the people and they had changed. God saw that change.  You would think Jonah would be happy, but he was not. Instead, he went up on the side of the mountain to sit and watch the destruction fall. He was excited about seeing Nineveh's demise.
He then began to complain to God.  He even said it would be better for him to die.  "4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
God caused a plant to grow up and give him shade. Jonah was happy and loved the shade. But the next morning, God had sent a worm to eat the plant and it died. Jonah was in the heat and a terrible wind. Again, Jonah said it would be better to die.

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

We don't know of Jonah's response after that, but I do hope he realized that God was calling him to repent as well. Jonah needed salvation from a bitter, angry heart. He was not compassionate and loving to the people of Nineveh. God had just demonstrated His awesome love,, and Jonah had more pity on a plant than on the people in Nineveh.  God had let 20 thousand people and livestock live because they had repented.  Jonah wanted destruction. He had no pity. He did not recognize the salvation of the Lord. God was calling him to be saved, not from certain physical death, but from the spiritual wickedness, hatred in his heart. God calls his people to be pure in heart. The pure in heart shall see God. Hatred, strife and despair is not what God wants in the hearts of his people. Jonah had obeyed God and wanted his message to be fulfilled. Maybe his pride got in the way, or his self-righteousness about the Ninevites previous wickedness. Either way he did not want God to really forgive them.  He wanted destruction.  God showed him that mercy and compassion are really what God has for those that love him. God is a God of salvation.  I can only hope that Jonah recognized that message was for him too.  God wants to show compassion and mercy. Messages of destruction are to get people to change and repent.  Jonah hopefully came to the full understanding that God also loved him enough to forgive his sins.

Jonah 3

The story of Jonah continues on with more testimony of salvation.  The entire city of Nineveh was doomed to destruction because of their sins.  Jonah showed up and began declaring that God’s judgement was coming. They must have heard his words and took them to heart for the entire city fell before God on their faces and began to repent.  The king of Nineveh declared a fast of repentance. The king and every person put on sackcloth and ashes. They fasted and prayed.  Even the cattle were not fed. These actions and the changes of the hearts that took place got the attention of God.  He repented of His plans to destroy this city and declared forgiveness for them.  Salvation came to the king of Nineveh and to the entire city.  Their hearts were changed. They changed from lovers of sin to lovers of God.  They turned from the wicked ways to righteousness. They were transformed by the forgiving and loving nature of God. It is amazing to know salvation.  This story is full of the evidences of God’s forgiveness and the need for repentance.  Salvation does not come without a change of heart. A change of heart does not come without repentance.  Repentance does not come without the preaching of the truth.  God is truth and sends his messengers to speak truth.  For Nineveh, Jonah spoke the truth of the condition of their hearts and they recognized the need for repentance. God recognized the repentance and granted them grace and salvation.  This salvation caused them to completely change and not return to the wicked things. 

Salvation comes from the Lord. 

Jonah 2

God continued to show His mercy and salvation in Jonah for the sailors on the ship that Jonah tried to use as a means of escape from God's presence.  These men did not know the one true God.

Jonah 1:5  Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.

They were afraid and did everything they knew to do to save themselves.  When they drew lots to discover who was as fault, they lot fell on Jonah.  After questioning him about why, Jonah responded with the truth of what he was doing and told them to throw him overboard.
These men were good men, they did not want to throw him overboard. They tried to row back to land, they fought hard, but finally gave in and threw him overboard. But first, they turned to the one true God and prayed for forgiveness for this act of taking a life.

Jonah 1:14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

I cannot imagine the concern and fear they must have felt in performing this act.  They knew with certainty, that going into that stormy water meant death. There was no escape from a watery grave according to natural understanding.  Can you imagine they shock and surprise when that storm immediately stopped? It says they feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifices.  They took vows.  I wonder what they vowed, but I can imagine it was something like never failing to know the one true God, or to honor Him only for the rest of their lives.

Can you imagine the change in their lives that took place? No longer would false Gods be good enough for their worship. No longer did they wonder at the truth of God.  They knew miracles took place. They had a testimony that I am sure they shared many times throughout their lives.  Do you think their families were changed as well?  I can imagine once they began to worship God, blessings were poured out on them .  They were saved.
God brought salvation even in the midst of trying to turn around a wayward prophet.  God is good and He is salvation.

Jonah 1

Jonah is a fantastic story of mercy and forgiveness held in the Old Testament.  I love reading about the fantastic ride in the belly of a great fish and survival of this ordeal.
I was teaching this story to my Sunday School class and I became enthralled and excited as I realized how many times this short book contained salvation and forgiveness.
I will start with Jonah, himself in chapter 1. He was a man that knew the voice of God.  God spoke to him.
1. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He actually thought he could run from the presence of the Lord.  God knew exactly where he was.  He sent a storm that ended up with Jonah being thrown into the deep.  God was already on the scene.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

God had a great fish already there waiting to scoop Jonah up.  He gave Jonah deliverance and salvation from certain death.  I have seen videos of storms at sea.  On his own, Jonah would never have survived being thrown into the stormy sea.  Much less, swim to shore.  God was ready to save his running servant. Even if it meant using a large fish to carry him back to shore.
Jonah would be able to tell of the great miracle of being rescued by God in the midst of a great storm in the most unbelievable way.
Jonah probably understood this verse better than most of us.

 Nahum 1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.

This is the first example of God's mercy.  He saved his wayward prophet from sure death. Even when he wanted to be as far from God's presence as possible.  God is still present even when we run.