Jonah wanted Nineveh destroyed because he knew God was merciful and feared that the city would repent and be spared. Jonah, a prophet of Israel, did not want this wicked Gentile city to receive God’s compassion. His resistance was not rooted in fear of danger but in reluctance to see God’s mercy extended to Israel’s enemies.
After God called Jonah to preach to Nineveh, he fled in the opposite direction:
“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord… But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea.”
(Jonah 1:3–4)
Following the storm and his time in the belly of the great fish, Jonah eventually obeyed and preached:
“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
(Jonah 3:4)
The people repented, from the king down to the common people. As a result, God relented:
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them.”
(Jonah 3:10)
Jonah’s response was one of anger:
“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed… ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish. For I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness…’”
(Jonah 4:1–2)
Jonah did not want Nineveh to be spared because he saw them as undeserving. His attitude revealed the national pride and spiritual blindness that had crept into Israel, desiring mercy for themselves but judgment for others.
God corrected Jonah by appointing a plant to give him shade, then allowing it to die. When Jonah complained, God said:
“Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
(Jonah 4:11)
The lesson is clear: God’s mercy is not limited by national boundaries. He desires repentance and salvation for all people. Jonah’s reluctance exposed a heart that needed correction as much as the city he was sent to warn.