Chapter 9: The Plant, the Worm, and the Question

He built himself a small shelter and sat down. He watched Nineveh and waited for forty days to see if the destruction would still come.

Then God made a plant grow up over Jonah. It spread its leaves above his head and gave him shade from the heat. And for the first time in the entire story, Jonah was happy. A plant is what finally made Jonah smile.

But at dawn the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed through the stem and the plant died. Then God sent a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's bare head until he could barely stand. Once again, he wanted to die.

JONAH“It would be better for me to die than to live.”— Jonah 4:8

Then God asked him a simple question.

GOD“Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”— Jonah 4:9

JONAH“Yes. Angry enough to die.”— Jonah 4:9

Then God spoke for the last time in this story.

GOD“You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”— Jonah 4:10-11

Here is what God was saying.

You are heartbroken over a plant. You did not grow it or water it. It showed up one morning and died the next. And losing it made you angry enough to want to die.

Now look at Nineveh. One hundred and twenty thousand people live in that city. I made every one of them. Many of them do not even fully understand the difference between right and wrong. And you want me to destroy them all because you decided they do not deserve mercy.

You loved a plant for one day. Should I not love a city I created?

The book ends right there without Jonah's answer. The question hangs in the silence as if it was never meant for Jonah alone.