Chapter 8: The Angry Prophet

Jonah was furious and burned with anger. The text says it seemed very wrong to him.

He went outside the city, sat on a hillside overlooking Nineveh, and prayed. So he complained to the LORD about it.

JONAH“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.”— Jonah 4:2

He did not board that ship because he was afraid of the Assyrians. He boarded it because he knew that if Nineveh repented, God would forgive them. And he could not stand that thought.

Gracious. Compassionate. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. Those words had been the hope of Israel for centuries. And Jonah threw them back at God like an insult.

Then he asked God to kill him.

JONAH“Take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”— Jonah 4:3

God answered with a single question.

GOD“Is it right for you to be angry?”— Jonah 4:4

Jonah did not answer. He turned his back on the city, walked east, and waited for God to destroy it anyway.