|PIC1|Jonah 4:1–9 (NIV)
But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.

Oh dear! Just as we have come to recognise Jonah's courage, honesty, faith and obedience, he spoils it all by throwing a tantrum. The people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways and God ‘had compassion on them': he didn't destroy them after all. Jonah was incandescent. Just as this book reveals to us the nature of the divine and compassionate God, so it also lays bare the raw and contradictory elements of human nature. It's a difficult truth that there is a darkness within the most holy heart, and in the worst of people there is a soul beloved by God.

Jonah wasn't into compassion: he wanted revenge on the pagan inhabitants of Nineveh. We can almost hear him rant, ‘They deserve to perish!' ‘Deserve' is such a loaded word. Let's pause to look at anger. You may have come across ‘anger management' courses; if not, you will most certainly have come across angry people. Some people seem to be angry most of the time. ‘Anger' is such a common emotion (or problem), but did you know that there are 224 references to it in the Bible? For example, the prophet Zephaniah wrote about ‘the fierce anger of the Lord' (2:2). Jesus was angry too. When he cleared the temple of money changers and market stalls, the strong Greek words used imply a righteous anger (John 2:13–16).

However, there's a world of difference between righteous anger and an arrogant tantrum. Within these four short chapters, we find a devastating satire of Israelite piety of the time, a hypocrisy that Jesus railed against, which can still be found alive and well today. There is more to the book, though, than a sideways dig at Jonah's hypocrisy and closed mind. The message goes far beyond entertainment. The way God dealt with the repentant people of Nineveh confronts us with the core of Christian living: through Jesus Christ, there is acceptance, forgiveness and love for all who sincerely turn to God, whatever they have done.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, when anger boils, calm my tongue. Help me to remember that you are always with me.



From New Daylight, BRF, 2009 www.biblereadingnotes.org.uk