Mercy 4: Jonah and the Mercy of God

In a world full of vengeance, God offers mercy and forgiveness. This is devotional #4 for the June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day, to help us pray for our prodigals and for wanderers all over the globe. Our theme this year is Mercy. Whether or not you love a prodigal, surely you desire more mercy in your life. We follow Jonah this week.

“Jonah and the Whale,” oil by Herbert Mandel

You know the story, so a quick summary.  

Nineveh was the largest city of its time in the ancient world, known for its evil living, drunkenness and violence. God was horrified and called on His trustworthy prophet Jonah to proclaim the coming destruction of the city—a city Jonah hated. 

But Jonah, we learn later, knew God was a merciful God. If he preached and the people of Nineveh repented, God would spare them. Jonah did not want that, so he found a ship and headed to Tarshish.

Of course, God knew where he was and stirred up a big storm. The terrified sailors discovered that Jonah was fleeing from God and begged him to ask his God to stop the storm. The solution was to throw Jonah overboard, which the sailors didn’t want to do. They felt mercy for Jonah, but finally had to save the ship. As they threw him into the raging ocean, they asked God for mercy, and they were grateful when the storm stopped immediately.

Rescued by a fish

As Jonah sank to the bottom of the sea, God had mercy on him in the form of a giant fish, who swallowed him. In his three days and nights in the fish, Jonah repented and God again had mercy on him, as we see in this prayer in Jonah 2 (The Message):

“In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God.
    He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, ‘Help!’
    You heard my cry.
You threw me into ocean’s depths,
    into a watery grave,
With ocean waves, ocean breakers
    crashing over me.
I said, ‘I’ve been thrown away,
    thrown out, out of your sight.
I’ll never again lay eyes
    on your Holy Temple.’
Ocean gripped me by the throat.
    The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
My head was all tangled in seaweed
    at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
I was as far down as a body can go,
    and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive,
    O God, my God!
When my life was slipping away,
    I remembered God,
And my prayer got through to you,
    made it all the way to your Holy Temple.

So the fish vomited him up on dry land. God said, again, go to Nineveh. And Jonah obeyed.

Nineveh’s response

When he got to Nineveh, Jonah wasted no time delivering the bad news: You are evil and God will destroy you in 40 days.

Amazingly, the people—all the people and the nobles and King—believed him, repented, turned from their wicked ways, fasted, put on sack cloth and ashes. In hopes that God would have mercy on them.

And He did: “God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn’t do.” (Jonah 3:10)

Jonah’s response

Jonah retorted: “I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!

“So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”

God said, “What do you have to be angry about?” (Jonah 4:1-4)

Jonah took off (slamming the door behind him?) and ran outside the city to sulk.

God in his mercy had a plant grow up to shade him, which comforted Jonah. Until a worm killed the plant, and he was angry and said “I am better off dead.”

And God said: “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?” (Job 4:10-11)

Do you see it? Over and over: the mercy of God.

When we get angry, throw fits, complain, God remembers that we are dust and has mercy on us.

When our prodigals get angry, throw fits, do stupid and evil things, God remembers that they are dust and has mercy on them.

And He encourages us to be the channels, the messengers of that mercy to our very own loved ones.

Clinging to His mercy,

Judy Douglass

P.S.

1. June 2 and the Prodigal Prayer Day is almost here. We will pray for anyone you ask us to—give me just a first name. You might want to be thinking about someone to pray with. It can be you and the Lord, or with a friend or neighbor, or a group of prodigal lovers, in your home or your church. Or over zoom. Here in Orlando we will be meeting from 7-9 at Avalon Realty Group 3925 Peppervine Dr Orlando  32828. Dena Yohe will also be hosting an online prayer group 1-2:30 p.m. ET. We will give you a link next week.

2. One more week to enter: I am giving away two lovely “bottles of tears” so two of you can “capture your tears for the Lord to save.” To be entered in the drawing, which will be done May 24, reply to this email and tell me you will be praying for prodigals on the June 2 Prodigal Prayer Day.

3. Your merciful music for this week: Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy)