Someone in the Bible also felt that way - the brother of the prodigal son. He was angry because his brother was lavishly welcomed home after squandering his inheritance and living a life of wanton waste. The angry brother always interested me more than the major theme.
And then there was Jonah (the first missionary!). Everything about this story is unbelievable ... but Jesus Christ himself attests to its validity. First of all, his name means "dove," astonishing in itself until we realize it is reflecting God's mercy ... not Jonah's personality. Evidently Jonah himself penned the book, which is easy to believe due to the terse and condensed style of writing.
Belligerent and uncooperative from the start, he tried everything to avoid going to Nineveh, but God was relentless, and tracked him down. Jonah's disobedient behavior endangered men's lives on the ship Jonah had boarded in order to get away from God. The mariners were so fearful of participating in God's wrath upon Jonah that they threw him off the ship. In Jonah's fervent desire to escape going to Nineveh, he ended up in the belly of a great fish God had prepared for him. This, in itself, seems to me not to be such a big deal as the fact that he was ejected alive.
When the Lord saved him from the fish he again told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach to the people of that evil city. When the people responded to the word of God and repented of their wickedness, Jonah was 'exceedingly angry.' This may have been the greatest revival in recorded history, yet Jonah was angry at God for saving these people. In an incredible display of God's mercy (the point of the book), the Lord actually tried to reason with Jonah, who was having none of it.
In an astounding dialogue between God and Jonah, with attendant miracles, God has the last word in the little book of Jonah, which is shocking in and of itself, considering Jonah's audacity. I would have thought Jonah might give himself the 'last word.' But, then remember, all scripture is inspired of God himself. Jonah wasn't allowed 'editorial freedom.' By the way, a serious Bible student will find out very quickly that God is the author of the entire Bible when he begins to learn about all of its structure, tie-ins with the constellations, linkages, circularity, numerology, coding and much more that scripture encompasses - and much we probably haven't discovered yet. No human being could have written it, and only a fool who is ignorant of scripture would claim otherwise. Never waste your time on this type of argument ("Cast not your pearls before swine").
Perhaps in an errant spirit, I always find this book of Jonah highly amusing, but filled with hope for me! I don't see myself being as difficult as Jonah! Maybe I am ... and simply don't recognize the self-deception in my own assessment of myself.
Nevertheless, I know people who are not happy about God's patience with the thief on the cross, the prodigal's brother, or Jonah. I find this, too, quite humorous. I think those who feel this way do not recognize the grace required of God to forgive them. Perhaps a bit of the spirit of the Pharisee working in them?
From my own perspective, I think the reason I am so amused with the prodigal's brother and with Jonah is that if there's hope for them, then there's hope for me. Of course, I don't see myself as 'bad' as either of those people. How we delude ourselves.
Whether we like it or not we are all born in sin. Whether we see our sin as not as bad as the next guy's or not, God sees it all as sin, which He cannot look upon. Our situation is no better nor worse than anyone else's, and there is no limit to God's mercy and grace, which is the inspiring point of the book of Jonah. God's mercy covers it all through the blood of Jesus Christ, the once-for-all sacrifice.
Perhaps we should see our fellow sinners with a touch more generosity of spirit? Hmmm?
A Child of the King
by way of God's endless mercy
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