Movies sometimes end weirdly. You think you know where it’s going and suddenly there’s a ninety degree turn you never saw coming. “No Country for Old Men” was such a movie. At the end, the bad guy doesn’t get what’s coming and everything sort of just melts away.
Jonah 4 is like that. The story ends abruptly and weirdly. One thing we do get at the end of Jonah’s story is exactly who God is. Jonah uses wonderful descriptors of the kind of God we serve.
Jonah says God is compassionate. You’ve offered compassion before to a friend or relative who was going through a rough spot in the story. We have all put an arm around someone who just lost a parent to death or found out they were suddenly unemployed. We talked for hours with a parent whose child has made bone-head choices or sat and cried with a friend who just discovered their spouse had been stepping out on them.
Compassion is gently offering sympathy and empathizing with those who are having a difficult time. Jonah says our God is compassionate. And we see that all through the story of the Bible. And the end of Jonah in chapter 4, God says, “Should not I feel sorry for such a great city?” That phrase, “I feel sorry” in Hebrew language has beautiful imaginary. Literally translated, it means, “the eye flows on account of”. Which means God is crying, weeping because of your situation. We serve a God of compassion.
Jonah also describes God as being merciful. We tend to think about leniency, almost as if in a courtroom situation. And there is some truth to that idea. But mercy can be translated differently. The Hebrew word used here is “rehem”. It gives us the idea of a mother who is gently giving womb-care and protection to her unborn baby.
If you are a woman, you understand this. It is more difficult to understand as a male. I can only imagine a pregnant mom eating the right foods, taking the prenatal vitamins, and getting the right amount of rest. A pregnant mom doesn’t run any races or ride horses. She cares for and protects her child with the utmost care. Our God is a merciful God.
Jonah uses the Hebrew word, “hesed”. It describes a love that endures, an unfailing love. The best way to understand this kind of love is to become a parent. Once you have children, you can get a glimpse of what the love of God is for each of us. Parents love their kids no matter what. It’s a constant love that never diminishes. While the love is constant, there will be times of disciple but that never means the love is gone. Quite the opposite. As parents, we discipline our children because we love them and want what is best for them.
No matter what our kids do, they will always be our children. There is nothing they can do to make us love them less. So, Jonah says that God’s love is hesed. God will always love us. He’ll never leave. There may be discipline along the way but in no way does it mean his love is any less for us. Our God has a love that endures.
Finally, Jonah says God is slow to be angry. And aren’t we glad about that. Jonah seems to be just the opposite of that descriptor. Jonah wants the entire country of Assyria to be punished and wiped out. He wants God’s judgement on them. Jonah has no room for forgiveness or compassion when it comes to the Assyrians.
But our God is slow when it comes to anger. It’s as if the description helps us see that God doesn’t let frustration get in the way of being our God. And we can be a frustrating group of folks. Think about our Jonah story. Jonah rebels and runs away. Jonah goes to preach in Nineveh but preaches just a couple of sentences, almost as if he hopes they don’t hear him. Jonah sits outside the city and waits for God’s destruction. Jonah is an angry man, who has lost the heart of God for a lost people. Jonah is angry because God chooses to give life to a city that turned toward God. And God doesn’t get angry with Jonah. God is the exact opposite of Jonah. We serve a God who is slow to get angry.
So I ask, “where in your life are you rationalizing sin and running from God?” Jonah had issues just like you and me but even so, Jonah never changed God’s character. No matter the fits, the anger, the questioning, God never changed. You see, our God is merciful, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Love is who He is, not what He does. My hope for you is that you’ll live into the character of God. Each of us who follow Jesus have been commissioned to look more like Jesus each day of our walk. So pick one to work on today: love, compassion, mercy, slow to anger. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you’ll get there. Blessings on the journey.