0
Answer 1
Jonah was a strong nationalist and he had seen the terrible havoc and suffering wrought by the Assyrians over many years against the Israelites and his feelings were so strong he wanted to see the people of Nineveh of Assyria punished severely, certainly not given mercy by God.
Jonah was angry and found it difficult to accept that God wanted to show any kind of mercy to these people. Jonah's only desire was to see their complete loss of power and destruction. Jonah also realised that if the people repented and mercy was extended to these people, it would give them the opportunity to continue to harass Israel.
Jonah was certainly loyal to his people, but heavily misguided. Jonah wanted revenge on, not mercy, extended to the people of Nineveh. There were 120,000 people in the city and God states in Jonah 4:11 "Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city...".
God relented from the disaster that He had said He would do when the people repented and turned from their evil ways - Jon.3:10. So the people did listen to Jonah and their lives were saved. God prefers mercy rather than judgement.
It's human nature to want revenge but God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. Thankfully!!
Answer 2
Rather than extrapolate things based on what Jonah was thinking using circumstantial evidence, perhaps we should take what he actually said into account.
Jonah: 4:1-2: 4 1 But to Jonah this [saving Ninevah] seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."
He regretted the saving of Ninevah for very selfish reasons. God compelled him to leave his home and to prophesy to people of Ninevah. Jonah did not wish to actually do this and therefore, he fled. God then sent the fish after him that swallowed him and regurgitated later. He then made all of his way to Ninevah and delivered the prophecy. After all of that long ordeal, in Jonah's view, God should have at least completed the prophecy, In his view, all of the actions he took or were done to him were meaningless since God had already intended to save the city. It was a "why was I bothered to deal with this?" issue, not a humanitarian deficiency.
We also know that Job was not a fan of calamities befalling people because the second half of this statement specifically exalts God as a God who relents from sending calamities.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
What is the name of the prophet that escaped God's word in Ninevah?
Jonah
When God tells you what to do you'd better do it .....song?
jonah ninevah
Who sepent three days inside a whale?
Jonah. God told him to go to Ninevah and preach but Jonah ran from God, he boarded a ship bound for a far away place so God sent a storm and Jonah was thrown overboard. It wasn't Jonah's time to die so god sent a whale to swallow Jonah, Jonah spent three days inside the whale praying to God for forgiveness so God had the whale spit Jonah onto shore and Jonah went to preach the gospel in Ninevah as God had commanded.
Which old testament prophet was mad because of unanswered prayer?
Jonah did not want to go to ninevah as God had instructed him. Was angry even though the whole city repented.
What is Jonah from The Bible about?
Jonah was told by God to go to a place called Ninevah where the people were terrible. God wanted Jonah to speak to them and help them see that they needed to change their ways. But, Jonah decided not to go so God had a giant fish, sometimes said to be a whale, swallow Jonah to teach him a lesson. Don't worry, Jonah lived.
Why was the Book of Jonah almost banned from the Bible?
One possible answer is because some readers interpret it as God going back on his word to Jonah. According to the Bible, God did rather bully Jonah into going to Ninevah to warn them of God's displeasure with their ways. After chasing him over land and sea, and under sea, Jonah finally relented and went to the city. He prophecied of their certain doom for their errant ways. The people of Ninevah repented and God was so pleased that he reprieved the city. Jonah was very angry at this and felt that God had made him look a fool and put his life at risk for no reason. Our modern interpretation of this is as a sign of God's compassion and forgiveness but some early Jewish scholars might have found the actions difficult to equate with the Laws of Moses and the idea of a vengeful God. His compassion for Ninevah might not have been easy to balance with his vengence on Sodom and Gomorah.
What symbolic meaning does the story of Jonah have for us as christians?
The story of Jonah for Christians is symbolic of the mission of Jesus the Messiah, who preached repentance from sin and faith in God. As recorded in Matthew 12:40, Jesus refers to the 'sign of Jonah': "Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man (Jesus) be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." In this Jesus indicates in advance that He must die for the atonement of the sin of mankind, but will rise to life after three days.
What did Jonah do when God told him to preach the city of Ninevah?
Jonah went in totally the opposite direction to the West by sea instead of by land to the East, since he hated the people of Nineveh, the Assyrians, and did not want to obey and preach to them. These people were noted for their cruelty to those people who they conquered, and even though they thus needed to repent and change their behavior, Jonah did not want them to do so. He wanted them to be destroyed. He was afraid that if he preached God's message they would repent and so be saved.
Which prophet escaped from preaching gods word in Nineveh?
Jonah, went the opposite direction on a ship, as he was afraid, but later went to Ninevah to complete his God-given assignment.
When did God tell Jonah to go to Nineveh?
Jonah was sent to Ninevah in the period between 773-755BC.
Was Jonah prejudiced?
Not necessarily. Rather than extrapolate things based on what Jonah was thinking using circumstantial evidence, perhaps we should take what he actually said into account.Jonah: 4:1-2: 4 1 But to Jonah this [saving Ninevah] seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."He regretted the saving of Ninevah for very selfish reasons. God compelled him to leave his home and to prophesy to people of Ninevah. Jonah did not wish to actually do this and therefore, he fled. God then sent the fish after him that swallowed him and regurgitated later. He then made all of his way to Ninevah and delivered the prophecy. After all of that long ordeal, in Jonah's view, God should have at least completed the prophecy, In his view, all of the actions he took or were done to him were meaningless since God had already intended to save the city. It was a "why was I bothered to deal with this?" issue, not a humanitarian deficiency.We also know that Job was not a fan of calamities befalling people because the second half of this statement specifically exalts God as a God who relents from sending calamities.
What is the resolution of the story jonah?
The resolution of the story of Jonah in the Bible occurs when Jonah follows God's command to preach to the people of Nineveh, who ultimately repent and are spared from destruction. Despite Jonah's initial resistance and disobedience, he learns about God's mercy and compassion through the events that unfold in Nineveh.
