What was he thinking? - 9 March 2009 |
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Try to get inside Jonah’s head for a minute.
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. (Jonah 1:1-3)
What was he thinking?
By the time we get to 4:1-2, we discover one side of the answer: Jonah fled to Tarshish because he didn’t like the idea of God showing mercy to the Ninevites. And since God’s mercy has a habit of spilling out all over the place, the only safe course was to steer well clear. After all, the Ninevites didn’t deserve the grace of God, right? Er…
But there are always other sides to the answer in Jonah. Isn’t it possible, for example, that Jonah had in mind the appalling ungodliness of the Assyrian nation – particularly the sins they had committed against his own countrymen? How many of Jonah’s friends and family had been butchered by Assyrian soldiers during Israel’s defence of her borders (2 Kings 14)?
And here lies the danger for us. It’s not hard to love those with whom we are at peace; loving our enemies is the difficult thing. It can be tempting to justify (little?) sins against others on the grounds of the (greater?) sins they have committed against us.
Tempting. But never wise.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Bible, Godliness, Minister's Blog