A KIND AND COMPASSIONATE GOD
«So [Jonah] prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my county? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live!’ «
(Jonah 4:2, 3).
THE FIRST TIME WE ENCOUNTER JONAH praying in the book that bears his name, he is inside the belly of the great fish, and he is asking God to save his life. The second time he prays, it is a prayer asking that God take his life. How to explain such a contradiction?
What basically happened is what our text says today: the prophet announced to the inhabitants of Nineveh that they would be destroyed unless they repented. The thing is, they repented, starting with the king himself. Then, faithful to His merciful nature, God forgave them, and this fact greatly infuriated the prophet!
Now, shouldn’t Jonah rejoice over the repentance of the Ninevites? It should not be forgotten that, as a Jew, Jonah grew up in an environment where Assyria—and Nineveh, the capital—were seen as Israel’s enemy. On the other hand, however, didn’t he know that God is «gracious and merciful . , slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness»? He did know, but in his mind he couldn’t fathom the idea that God could be as compassionate with Nineveh as He had been with Israel.
The most interesting thing about the story is that Jonah never realizes that not only the Ninevites, but he as well is the object of God’s mercy! First, He miraculously saves him from the belly of the great fish (chapter 2). He then gives him a second chance (3:1). And now, instead of taking his life, He patiently reasons with him to understand that God’s love knows no bounds; and that in His great mercy, the heavenly Father «makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good» (Matthew 5:45).
And now the great question: The One who had mercy on Nineveh, where more than one hundred and twenty thousand people could not distinguish between their right and left, will He not also have mercy on you and me if today we decide to repent? Will He not also have mercy on those whom we consider unworthy of salvation?
Thank You, heavenly Father, because Your love shows no partiality, and because there are no human beings so sinful that Your grace cannot forgive them.
At this moment, may the precious blood of Your Son cleanse me of all sin, and enable me to live in a way that glorifies Your name.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Colaboradores: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate.