“The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying, Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh” (vv.1-3a).
It’s not often we get a second chance at something we messed up on to begin with. But then again, our God is in the restoration business. Jonah, who ran away from God’s call for him to go to Nineveh the first time, now given a second chance (after much resistance), went to Nineveh, and the results of his preaching were nothing short of miraculous (Jonah 3:5, 10).
The Lord's concern for Nineveh shows that His love was not confined to a particular nation or place. This is the most likely reason why Jonah tried to run away. It was unthinkable to him that God could love the Assyrians. In Jonah's mind, these people deserved God's wrath because of all they had done. But, apart from God's intervention, all people are deserving of His wrath. God's heart is that all people might repent and turn toward Him.
Jonah was a very human prophet. God's ways were difficult for him to understand—and he was not afraid to let God know that. But God's response to Jonah cut to the core: Jonah cared more about his comfort, than the fate of a 120,000 people.
The book of Jonah forces us to ask some hard questions. Are we like Jonah? Do we become angry if God extends mercy to those who we feel deserve judgment? The book also pushes us to see how great God's love is for all nations and peoples, even those whom we consider enemies deserving His wrath.
Foe, where would we be if God had given up on us? I for one am very grateful for, "second chances."
The Truth: "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? … Am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)
