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The God of Second Chances
Why did God choose Jonah to bring His message of judgment to the city of Nineveh? Certainly, God knew the condition of the prophet’s heart.
The Lord was not surprised by Jonah’s rebellious detour to Joppa where he boarded a ship to Tarshish—sailing away from Nineveh. And surely God knew that instead of rejoicing at Nineveh’s repentance, Jonah would sulk and pout like a child.
I believe that when God invites us to take part in His plans, it is often because there is something He wants to do in us, not necessarily something He wants to do through us. Friends, there was definitely something the Lord wanted to do in Jonah. Jonah would very likely have grown up fearing (and perhaps even hating) the nation of Assyria, one of Israel’s most powerful enemies. Nineveh would later become the capital of the entire Assyrian empire.
While the book of Jonah does not go into great detail regarding Nineveh’s wickedness, the book of Nahum offers some insight into the character of this city. Among other sins, Nahum describes profound social injustice (Nah. 3:1-19), calling Nineveh a “city of blood” (Nah. 3:1). Jonah believed that he had great reason to wish God’s destruction on this evil city. In fact, Jonah thought that Nineveh had long ago forfeited its right to receiving a second chance from the Lord. For this reason Jonah fought against bringing God’s message to Nineveh. But God was not limited by Jonah’s initial disobedience. The entire city repented after receiving the word of the Lord from Jonah.
Instead of rejoicing, Jonah cried out to the Lord in anger, “That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love.” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah was enraged that God would offer such undeserved compassion to such a wicked city.
How ironic it is that Jonah was angry at the Lord for extending grace to the people of Nineveh! For apart from God’s grace in the form of a large fish, Jonah himself would have been treading water in the Mediterranean Sea.
Indeed, there was something in Jonah that the Lord wanted to address, something that is perhaps in each one of our hearts from time to time. Jonah falsely believed that there was something inside of him that merited God’s favor—something that the Ninevites did not have.
In Romans 3:23, the apostle Paul clearly defines where we stand before our holy God: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Scripture makes it abundantly clear that we are all in need of God’s grace. Our Lord’s unfathomable mercy and grace for all people is the crux of this incredible story. The book of Jonah is the true, historical account of our God who offers second chances to all who repent and follow Him.
