4:9-11
God had done all this to get Jonah to examine his own attitudes. We can get so full of ourselves, so self-centred, dominated by what is happening to us and how we feel. Sometimes it is good, and salutary, for us to examine ourselves and our attitudes. God repeats the question asked earlier, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Earlier is had been asked with regard to Jonah’s attitude to Nineveh and God sparing that city. Jonah wasn’t concerned, in modern parlance his answer was “meh”, for he didn’t care about Nineveh at all. This time it is about the loss of the plant, something of far less importance than the thousands of people in Nineveh, but of much greater importance to Jonah, for it had been providing shelter for him. Jonah was convinced that he had every right to be angry. God then points out that Nineveh is far more important, and that God himself has pity on the city. In this book God is posing questions of Jonah, and of Jonah as a representative of Israel. Similar questions can also be addressed to all of us. We need to examine ourselves before God. I can also assure you that you, and I, will fail the test. We all have attitudes that need to change, none of us appreciates the depths or extent of God’s concern for the world. We need the Holy Spirit to work in or hearts and minds.
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