I’ve been reading through the story of Jonah today with my kids.  Before bed, we finished the part where Ninevah repents, and Jonah has a hissy fit because God won’t destroy the people that he dislikes.  By the way, how come the atheists never bring up this story when trying to discredit God?

Anyway, Jonah says to God in Jonah 4:1-3:

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.” (ESV)

Jonah was having an adult size temper tantrum.  He was upset because God was not bowing to his whim, and he was so upset that he was ready to die.  Ever been that upset before?

God’s kindness was illogical to Jonah.  Why would God not punish such a wicked people? Certainly there was precedent for it.  God had called the Israelites to destroy many other heathen peoples.  Why let the Ninevites survive?

God’s kindness is naturally illogical to all of us.  It’s naturally illogical to atheists who believe that a loving God would ONLY do kind things for ALL people.  A loving God, in there mind, should be one that is completely kind ALL of the time and to EVERYONE.  But this is not a god, but a slave.  A slave is expected to care for their masters, and to do it with a good attitude.

So, God decides to make a point to Jonah.

4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”  5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (ESV)

God makes His point here by an act that seems to us unkind.  He causes a plant to grow and provide shade over Jonah, only to cause it to die the next day, with the result that Jonah was asking God to let him die!  Yes, God caused this chain of events!

What kind of a loving God does this?

God says that we have one-dimensional perspectives about a world in which we have not labored or caused to grow.  On top of this, we are here today and gone tomorrow.

God’s kindness cannot be defined by Wikipedia.  It cannot be completely understood by our puny human minds.

No tragedy in life is worthy to be met by criticism on our part to a holy and sovereign God.

God is reminding Jonah here, of the two things that make Him God.  He’s sovereign, and He lives forever, while we are temporary and have control over nothing.

Because of this, we cannot understand the logic of God’s kindness.