God told Jonah, the prophet to deliver a message of judgment to the gentile Ninevites. Jonah refused to go and deliver the message and instead took a ship going to Tarshish. Jonah’s action did not stop God’s plans because God sent a wind to disrupt the ship and this resulted in Jonah being thrown overboard by the sea mariners. However, the sovereign God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, who for 3 days and 3 nights was in the belly of the fish. There he was able to consider his ways and disobedience to God direction. God then spoke to the fish to vomit him up on dry land. Jonah went to Ninevah and delivered 8 words of judgment and it caused the entire kingdom to humble itself before God who showed them mercy by relenting to destroy them for their sin. Jonah, a Jew did not like the fact that God had shown mercy to Ninevah. His heart was not right and complained that this was the reason why he did not want to deliver the message because he knew God would be a merciful God to the gentiles. He wanted to die. God wanted to teach Noah a lesson and so he prepared a gourd to shield Jonah from the heat of the sun. God sent a worm in the morning to destroy the gourd. Jonah felt pity for the gourd and in this God challenged Jonah’s heart. God said to him, you would have mercy on the gourd that you did not labor or make but you had no mercy in your heart for the salvation of more than 120,000 people. God is the God of both Jew and Gentile and his salvation through the Lord Jesus has shown mercy to us all.
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