Mercy for Others | Jonah 4:1–11 | Dwell in the Word

Watch Now: Dwell in the Word - Jonah 4:1-11

Despite Jonah's obedience in going to Nineveh, his heart remained hardened toward the people he preached to. Jonah 4 offers a revealing glimpse into the prophet’s inner struggle with God's mercy. Instead of rejoicing in Nineveh's repentance, Jonah is angry—so angry he wishes to die. But God, in his patient compassion, teaches Jonah (and us) a lesson through a withering plant and a question that still echoes: “Should I not pity Nineveh?”

This passage invites us to reflect deeply on our own hearts. Do we truly desire mercy for the lost—even those who seem far from God or different from us? Or are we more like Jonah, clinging to our own ideas of who deserves grace? As we dwell in this final chapter, may we grow in gratitude for God’s mercy to us and cultivate a heart that longs to see others come to repentance and life.

🟢 Reflect on These Questions as you dwell in Jonah 4:1-11:

➡️ Why was Jonah so angry that God showed mercy?

➡️ How does God use the plant to teach Jonah a lesson?

➡️ What does this passage reveal about God’s compassion—and our response to it?

📖 Click to Show the Transcript of the Teaching from This Episode

So, this last chapter of Jonah gives us some insight into the first chapter of Jonah, right? We get a better idea of the personality of Jonah. Why he was stubborn to not do what God had asked him to do. We understand this a little bit better now, don't we? And so, we see that Jonah doesn't like that the Ninevites are repenting. He doesn't like that God is not going to pour out his anger on them, that they will not receive his wraths. Remember, he would have seen them as outsiders. He would have seen them as Gentiles. And so, this is the reason he didn't want to go to them. He wants these people that are not like him, these people who are unclean, to experience punishment that he believes they deserve. But he understands that God is gracious and emotional, that God will... There's a highly good chance that God will work repentance in them and that's what we saw happen. So, Jonah is a little bit of a drama queen here, a drama king, I guess it would be. He is so upset; he wants to lose his life. Imagine being so upset about God showing mercy to people that you wanted to die.

And so, God is going to show him something here. God is going to show him what this is all about, how he has no reason to be upset. So, we see this story of this plant. Joseph makes a booth to protect himself from the sun, but God helps him out a little bit more. I'm sure the booth was not exactly the best shade, so this plant grows, he's in shade. He is comfortable. He likes the plant. Good plant. Came up quickly. What a blessing. Well, the next day, a worm gets in it and the plant dies and the sun beats down on him. All this happens. And once again, the drama king that is Jonas, he'd rather die. So, we see in the last couple of verses, or the last three verses here, God speaks to Jonas. Should you be upset about the plant? Jonah, of course. I'm angry enough to die. Of course, I should be angry. Jonas is just causing all kinds of problems here. But what does God say? Jonah, you feel sorry for this plant that you didn't create, that you didn't make it grow. It came up quickly. You barely had it and died quickly.

You didn't have much of a relationship with the plant, right? But God says, Shouldn't I pity Nineva? I made these people. This is a great city of 120,000 people. There's people there who don't know anything about me. They don't know, and they also have a bunch of cattle. Should I just wipe it out? You are concerned about a plant. I'm concerned about people that I made. That's where it is. It really leaves us hanging, doesn't it? What did Jonah do? Did Jonah understand the point? Was Jonas unrepentant in his anger and his desire for people that were not like him, the unclean Gentiles, to receive the wrath of God? We don't know. It's a cool story in that way. We're left to respond ourselves, right? We put ourselves in Jonas' shoes, Jonah’s sandals, maybe. We put ourselves in issues, and so we have to ask ourselves a question. Are we concerned about the laws? Are we concerned about those people who are not like us? Are we concerned about those who don't know who God is? Would we refrain from sharing the gospel, for talking about the mercy of God and calling people to repentance just because they're outsiders, just because we're not like them, just because we think they're unclean?

Would we do that? The human heart is capable of that. But may God, in his mercy, cause us to have a heart that He does, heart for those who are lost, heart for those who need to hear the Gospel. May we look at Jonah’s story, and may we desire to share the Gospel with people. May we desire to let people know that when we are in sin, that it is far better to turn from that sin and turn to God than to remain in that sin. May we not want people to remain in their sin. May we desire that God would show them mercy. The main reason that we should do this is God has first showed us mercy. We deserve to be like the plant. We deserve to be put away. God and His mercy came to us through the Word, by the power of the Spirit, and he united us to Christ. We have salvation. We have been shown mercy just as the people of Nineva were. May we desire that this mercy would be understood by others, that others may come to know Christ as their Lord and save.

More from Dwell in the Word: Jonah

📌 Jonah 1:1-17 - Running from God

📌 Jonah 2:1-10 - Salvation Belongs to the Lord

📌 Jonah 4:1-11 - Mercy for Others

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