Do You Do Well to Be Angry?

Scripture: 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. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah 4:2-4 ESV

Observation: The irony continues. As chapter 3 closes with the Ninevites repenting and God relenting, in chapter 4, Jonah responds in anger with a prayer (verses 2-4 above) explaining why he bolted to Tarshish. Then he sullenly expresses to the Lord that he would rather die than see God forgive and restore his archrivals. Next, Jonah departs the city and erects a booth, and sits and waits to see if Yahweh will change his mind and zap the Ninevites. Meanwhile, this same Lord who is “gracious… and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,” shows kindness to self-righteous Jonah and causes a vine to grow and provide additional shade to relieve him from the sweltering heat. 

Nevertheless, with the passing of the day, Jonah’s attitude remains unaltered. Thus, God sends a worm to consume the vine and flesh out Jonah’s attitude. But Jonah, consumed in his anger, declares that death would be better than his present state. Then comes a question we all need to ponder at times: “Do you do well to be angry…?” Unrepentant, Jonah remains unmoved and restates that it is better to die (4:9). So God then directly confronts Jonah about caring more for a plant than 120,000 lost souls (4:10-11). The story abruptly ends here, and we are left wondering whether Jonah eventually repented.

Takeaway: It all centers around anger founded in self-righteous indignation. Jonah placed himself in the judgment seat and ruled that the Ninevites deserved the death sentence. When God disagreed, Jonah sulked and wished that he could die, for the agony of this injustice was too much to bear. Indeed, his anger was not serving him well. Jonah could no longer think straight and connect the dots. Does not his gracious and merciful God, who had shown Jonah pity, have the right to extend his steadfast love and forgiveness to the Ninevites? Is Jonah any more deserving than his enemies? The answer for all of us is no. But there is One who was without sin, who is righteous and worthy to judge the world. Yet, he came not to condemn but to save. Moreover, unlike impetuous Jonah, Christ bore the agony of our sins in his body, covering the righteous wrath of the Father. And he calls us to continue his work as his ambassadors by extending his grace and love toward our enemies that they might repent and discover the joy of their salvation in him.

Prayer: Father God, we give you thanks for you are abounding in grace, mercy, and love. And we thank you for you Son, who bore your righteous anger in his body to cover over our sins. Would you please help us move beyond our moments of self-destructive anger toward your grace and goodness, extending your love and mercy toward others? Amen.

Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling