The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Angry” it comes from the Hebrew Word “charah” which means “to be angry.”
Jonah becomes angry at Nineveh’s mercy, and God patiently confronts his troubling attitude. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Jonah 4.
Jonah is displeased exceedingly, and is very “angry,” “charah” in Hebrew, praying to the Lord, saying this is why he fled before to Tarshish, for he knew God is a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents Him of the evil, now therefore asking Him to take his life from him, for it is better for him to die than to live, the Lord asking him whether he does well to be angry.
Jonah goes out of the city, and sits on the east side of the city, making himself a booth there, and sits under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city, the Lord God preparing a gourd, and making it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief, Jonah being exceeding glad of the gourd, but God preparing a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smites the gourd, that it withers.
Jonah describes how when the sun arises, God prepares a vehement east wind, and the sun beats upon Jonah’s head, that he faints, and wishes in himself to die, saying it is better for him to die than to live, God asking him again whether he does well to be angry for the gourd, Jonah answering he does well to be angry, even to death, the Lord responding, “Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” this book’s remarkable, unresolved ending leaving Jonah’s question unanswered, urging every reader to genuinely wrestle with the same challenging question about God’s expansive, generous mercy.
Jonah’s troubling anger at Nineveh’s genuine repentance, actually preferring their destruction over their mercy, exposes how easily even a genuine prophet’s heart could harbor real prejudice against those he considered undeserving of God’s grace. This book’s remarkable, unresolved ending, God’s pointed question left genuinely unanswered, invites every reader to honestly examine their own heart regarding God’s expansive mercy extended even toward those they might personally consider least deserving.
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