Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 455
3:1–4:8
J onah
443
Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great
city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a
city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered
the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be
destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the
greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their
sorrow.
When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped
down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in
burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this
decree throughout the city:
“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat
or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments
of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must
turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell?
Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce
anger from destroying us.”
When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their
evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he
had threatened.
This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So
he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that
you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that
you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled
with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.
Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted
will not happen.”
The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”
Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter
to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. And the
Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its
broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his
discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm
ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun
grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The
sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is
certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.
