onah Series: Jonah 4:2-Jonah Reveals His Motivation For Disobeying The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It
Doctrinal Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 12, 2026
Jonah Series: Jonah 4:2-Jonah Reveals His Motivation For Disobeying The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It
Lesson # 38
Jonah 4:2 for the first time reveals Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.
Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (NIV84)
“He prayed to the Lord” presents an action taken by Jonah that was the result of his considering it unjust of the Lord to not destroy Nineveh.
This statement indicates that Jonah’s prayer in which he voices his complaint to the Lord for sparing the lives of the Ninevites was the direct consequence of considering the Lord’s decision to relent as unjust.
This result clause is followed by an epexegetical clause that identifies the specific content of Jonah’s prayer.
“O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?” is a rhetorical question that serves as an indictment against God’s decision to spare the Ninevites and can be rendered as an emphatic declaration in the translation.
It indicates that prior to receiving orders from the Lord to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants, Jonah had the conviction that the Lord would spare the lives of the Ninevites when they believed in Him and repented of their evil way of living.
Jonah is saying that he fled to Tarshish to prevent the Lord from sparing the lives of the Ninevites “because” he knew that the Lord was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in mercy and one who relents concerning judgment.
“Tarshish” was located in southern Spain, approximately 2,500 miles west of Joppa.
“I knew” is the verb yā∙ḏǎʿ (יָדַע) means “to be known by faith,” thus “to hold a conviction” regarding God’s character.
A “conviction” is a “strong persuasion or belief” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition).
Here the verb yā∙ḏǎʿ refers to the conviction that Jonah possessed regarding the character of Yahweh.
“Gracious” is the adjective ḥǎn∙nûn (חַנּוּן) and speaks of God’s grace policy and describes God as imparting unmerited blessings to sinners based upon the merits of the object of the sinner’s faith.
Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross.
It is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God.
Grace means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the cross.
It excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none.
The adjective rǎ∙ḥûm (רַחוּם) means “merciful” in the sense that He is compassionate towards sinners and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
“Slow to anger” describes God as giving the sinner every chance to avoid facing His righteous indignation and speaks of the fact that He delays in exercising it so that the sinner can turned to Him in faith.
God’s righteous indignation is His attitude toward any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty.
God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.
In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness.
The noun rǎḇ (רַב), “abounding in” and the noun ḥě∙sěḏ (חֶסֶד), “love” are describing God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel.
The noun rǎḇ (רַב)means “transcendent,” which means “to go beyond ordinary limits of; overpass; exceed.”
These two words describe God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterize how God acts towards His covenant people Israel and that this love goes beyond ordinary limits of human love.
They describe God’s unconditional love as transcending the standards of human love so that God’s love is incomparable.
“A God who relents from sending calamity” describes God as one who graciously does not act upon His decision to judge or condemn whether an individual, a group of individuals, or a nation in order that they might turn to Him in faith.
In this verse, Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants is finally revealed.
Up to this point in the narrative, the narrator has withheld revealing Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants for rhetorical effect.
He keeps the reader in suspense and to ultimately shock the reader.
Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh in order to prevent God from exercising His character towards the Ninevites, which the prophet knew would result in sparing the lives of the Ninevites, whom he hated.
onah Series: Jonah 4:2-Jonah Reveals His Motivation For Disobeying The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It
Doctrinal Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 12, 2026
Jonah Series: Jonah 4:2-Jonah Reveals His Motivation For Disobeying The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It
Lesson # 38
Jonah 4:2 for the first time reveals Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants.
Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (NIV84)
“He prayed to the Lord” presents an action taken by Jonah that was the result of his considering it unjust of the Lord to not destroy Nineveh.
This statement indicates that Jonah’s prayer in which he voices his complaint to the Lord for sparing the lives of the Ninevites was the direct consequence of considering the Lord’s decision to relent as unjust.
This result clause is followed by an epexegetical clause that identifies the specific content of Jonah’s prayer.
“O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?” is a rhetorical question that serves as an indictment against God’s decision to spare the Ninevites and can be rendered as an emphatic declaration in the translation.
It indicates that prior to receiving orders from the Lord to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants, Jonah had the conviction that the Lord would spare the lives of the Ninevites when they believed in Him and repented of their evil way of living.
Jonah is saying that he fled to Tarshish to prevent the Lord from sparing the lives of the Ninevites “because” he knew that the Lord was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in mercy and one who relents concerning judgment.
“Tarshish” was located in southern Spain, approximately 2,500 miles west of Joppa.
“I knew” is the verb yā∙ḏǎʿ (יָדַע) means “to be known by faith,” thus “to hold a conviction” regarding God’s character.
A “conviction” is a “strong persuasion or belief” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition).
Here the verb yā∙ḏǎʿ refers to the conviction that Jonah possessed regarding the character of Yahweh.
“Gracious” is the adjective ḥǎn∙nûn (חַנּוּן) and speaks of God’s grace policy and describes God as imparting unmerited blessings to sinners based upon the merits of the object of the sinner’s faith.
Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross.
It is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God.
Grace means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the cross.
It excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none.
The adjective rǎ∙ḥûm (רַחוּם) means “merciful” in the sense that He is compassionate towards sinners and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
“Slow to anger” describes God as giving the sinner every chance to avoid facing His righteous indignation and speaks of the fact that He delays in exercising it so that the sinner can turned to Him in faith.
God’s righteous indignation is His attitude toward any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty.
God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.
In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness.
The noun rǎḇ (רַב), “abounding in” and the noun ḥě∙sěḏ (חֶסֶד), “love” are describing God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel.
The noun rǎḇ (רַב) means “transcendent,” which means “to go beyond ordinary limits of; overpass; exceed.”
These two words describe God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterize how God acts towards His covenant people Israel and that this love goes beyond ordinary limits of human love.
They describe God’s unconditional love as transcending the standards of human love so that God’s love is incomparable.
“A God who relents from sending calamity” describes God as one who graciously does not act upon His decision to judge or condemn whether an individual, a group of individuals, or a nation in order that they might turn to Him in faith.
In this verse, Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants is finally revealed.
Up to this point in the narrative, the narrator has withheld revealing Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants for rhetorical effect.
He keeps the reader in suspense and to ultimately shock the reader.
Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh in order to prevent God from exercising His character towards the Ninevites, which the prophet knew would result in sparing the lives of the Ninevites, whom he hated.