Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jonah 1-4.
Most Bible students are familiar with the account of Jonah. God called him to go to Nineveh to prophesy of their coming destruction. Jonah fled in a ship to Tarshish. A storm threatened the ship which led to Jonah being thrown overboard and being swallowed by a great fish. After three days and nights, Jonah prayed to God, the fish vomited Jonah up on to dry land, and he went to Nineveh. As a result of his prophesying, the people, including the leaders, repented; and God changed His mind about their destruction. Jonah was not pleased with this.
“But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity’” (Jonah 4:1-2).
Jonah obviously demonstrated a poor attitude toward the penitent residents of Nineveh. But his understanding of God is completely accurate. All of the characteristics of God that Jonah mentioned are also shown to us in the New Testament.
- God is gracious. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
- God is compassionate (merciful – KJV). “We count those blessed who endure. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:11).
- God is slow to anger. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
- God is abundant in lovingkindness. “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).
- God is one who relents concerning calamity. “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:9).
We should always be thankful that God is gracious toward us, rather than giving us all what we deserve without hope of reconciliation.
Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 26
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
