Rerouted: 30 Days Through the Book of JonahSample

The Invitation to Examination

Cara Blondo

Jonah 4:4-5

My son cried, “It’s not fair! He deserves a bigger punishment!” His anger was not directed at his brother’s wrongdoing but at my leniency. From the hallway, he watched, hoping I would issue the punishment he thought was fair.

Little did he know my goal was for both children to see their need for mercy: one because of his misbehavior, the other because of his temper.

Similarly, in today’s passage, God knew Jonah needed mercy just as much as the Ninevites. Through the probing of Jonah’s heart, God intended for Jonah to recognize this too.

When the Ninevites, enemies of Jonah’s people, repented in Jonah 3:6, God refrained from punishing their sins and instead offered them grace and mercy (Jonah 3:10). This infuriated Jonah! He knew God was gracious, compassionate and abounding in love (Jonah 4:2), yet he could not comprehend why God withheld punishment from them.

However, God is patient and slow to anger. He demonstrated this both in His response toward the Ninevites and toward Jonah, as He simply asked, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). Or as some translations say, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (CSB, NIV).

In this verse, the Hebrew word translated as “angry” literally means “to burn.” Ancient Jewish idioms described a furious person as having a “burning nose" because it painted a picture of heavy breathing and flaring nostrils, and Jonah burned with anger as he longed for God’s justice. He eagerly awaited punishment for Nineveh (Jonah 4:5).

We can assume Jonah believed he was right to do this, as Proverbs 21:2 reminds us “every way of a man is right in his own eyes.” Yet God’s probing question aimed to prick Jonah’s conscience and reveal his need for mercy.

We, too, can be tempted to believe our ways are always right. We often justify our anger when things seem unfair. Yet God is inviting us today to examine our hearts. Have we clung to our own standards even when they conflict with His grace? Let us seek not only what appears right to us but what is right to Him.