When Jonah knew
the LORD spared His determined destruction upon the city of Nineveh,
Jonah was “displeased exceedingly” and “was very
angry”. He prayed to the LORD and complained that this was his
“saying” when he was in his “own country”
because he knew the LORD was “a gracious God, and merciful, slow
to anger, and of great kindness” and would “repent of the
evil” He planned for them. In chapter four and verse three of
this prophesy, Jonah begged the LORD to “take” his “life”
from him where we read:
Therefore
now, O LORD, take, I beseech you, my life from me;
The
verse begins, “Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech
you, my life from me;” The
author began with the words, “Therefore now”
or “because of, on account of and this being true, at this time”
“O LORD” which
refers to “Yehovah or Jehovah who is the existing One and the
proper name for the one true God” “take”
or “fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire bring and snatch
away” “I beseech you”
which means “begging, appealing and asking intensively” “my
life” or “soul, self,
creature, person, appetite, mind, living, desire, emotion and
passion” “from me”
which refers to Jonah. Jonah's desire was for God to strip him of his
life or kill him because God altered His plan for Nineveh.
The
verse goes on to say, “for it
is better for me to die than to live.”
The
author continued, “for
it is better”
or “good, pleasant, agreeable, excellent, appropriate, rich and
valuable in estimation”
“for me”
which refers to Jonah “to
die”
which means “be without life, sleep, be put to death or ruin”
“than
to live”
or “be alive, flowing, fresh, active and revived”. Because Jonah
knew his words would not to come to pass, he felt is was better for
him to be dead than to live.
When
we consider the words in this verse, we see the depth of devastation
and depression Jonah felt. He despaired of life itself, and desired
for God to kill him. We might think that he would appreciate the
grace of God, but he did not. He desired for Nineveh to be destroyed,
and when the LORD spared the people who lived there, he felt life was
not worth living. Jonah easily forgot the grace of God that was
extended to him while he was in the “great fish”, and in
the same manner we may be prone to forget the “grace and mercy of
the LORD” toward us when He does not bring judgment upon others who
have harmed us. Jesus Christ wants us to have a relationship with
Him, and He died on the cross to demonstrate the extent of His
available “grace”. May we learn from Jesus' example, and when
judgment does not come upon others as we may desire, let us follow
our representative and learn to forgive.
Next
time we see the
LORD's answer to Jonah,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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