Blake Allen
Dunbar Cave Campus Pastor
Jonah 4
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
As I reflect on Jonah 4, I am reminded of the grace and mercy of our God. God knew the sins of Nineveh. They were known as the city of violence. If you turned on your news and saw nothing but stories of violence, that would be Nineveh. And like a parent grieving, watching their child make horrible decisions with their life, God too grieved for his creation–Nineveh. This is why he commissioned Jonah to go take the message of hope to them.
God, our just judge, offered them grace and forgiveness. The generation of Nineveh that repented in Jonah 3 were forgiven. God had not forsaken them (Psalm 9:10). The generation of Nineveh in the book of Nahum that did not repent were judged by God. They were blotted out. Jonah preferred to see the latter happen. God desires to see the former happen.
No matter how far from God we think we are, and no matter what we have done in our past, the is forgiveness for those who seek God. He offers us new mercies every morning. He loves us the same. Jesus bore our sins upon his shoulders and nailed them to a cross we deserved. He died for our freedom. And there is mercy for all who seek God.
I don’t know about you but I am relieved to know that I am not defined by my past. There is forgiveness and freedom at the cross. Will you come? At the cross, you are forgiven.