A servant of God who did not imitate God’s loving heart.

A servant of God who did not imitate God’s loving heart.

 

 

The prophet Jonah, who had been disobedient,

received salvation from God twice.

 

The first salvation occurred when the unbelieving sailors,

at Jonah's suggestion, threw him into the sea.

God had already prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, thus saving him

(Jonah 1:12, 16, 17).

 

The second salvation happened when God

commanded the great fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land,

thus saving him from being in the belly of the fish (2:10).

 

However, even after experiencing God's salvation twice,

the prophet Jonah, who proclaimed God's word, believed it,

proclaimed a fast (3:1-5), and turned from evil ways, genuinely repenting.

Yet, when God relented from bringing the disaster He had threatened

against the people of Nineveh who also repented (v. 10),

Jonah became exceedingly displeased and angry,

 even saying, "It is better for me to die than to live" (4:1, 3).

 

How could Jonah, the servant of God

who received salvation twice

at the crossroads of life and death due to his disobedience,

be so displeased and angry when the Ninevites,

who lived in disobedience and committed evil deeds,

repented and received salvation?

It is because he did not imitate the heart of God,

who cherishes those who cannot distinguish between good and evil (v. 11).