Jonah 4

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One of the underlying sins of Jonah is his anger and it is not a “justifiable anger.” That type is rare. We see it when Jesus drives out the money changers from the Temple. We really have justifiable anger; normally we just get angry and it does not solve a thing, but hurts others and makes the situation worse. Jonah is one of the best examples of an angry “prophet.”

Jonah in Hebrew means a “Dove” and is they symbol for Israel in the Psalms. Jonah does not live up to his name as we have seen in the first three chapters. This only gets worse as we move into our final look at Jonah in the liturgy of the word for this day.

Jonah displayed disobedience to God’s call in chapter one. He is given a second call but bursts out in anger when the prophesy does not go according to his way for the Ninevites. He wanted God to destroy Nineveh, instead, his pronouncement gets them to repent even from the King down to his herds and all the animals in that city. Jonah is angry with God who “is slow to anger, rich in mercy, and loathe to punish.”

In the final chapter of Jonah we find him still angry about the protective bush that God had given him. It has been eaten away by a worm and withers. He is so angry about the sun beating down on his head that he tells God he wishes to die. The dialogue with God continues and Jonah is forced to listen to God’s consoling words for the people and for us. Jonah just is there hopefully listening to this third intervention of God in his life. We do not have the rest of the life of Jonah given to us nor will we hear of him until he is referred to in the Gospels. He is left dialoging with God but pouting at the same time. He was angry about great things that were part of God’s plan and about little things like his bush that protected him from the sun. His melancholy and pouting are the result of his anger and fear that we read about in the first chapter. Jonah needs to be purged of these vices and so do we. Did he resolve his anger? Have we resolved our inner and outer anger against certain persons and situations or issues in our life? Do we blame God for bad things that happen to and around us? Do we have “road rage” both expressed within and even outwardly?

The inspired author of this book is not Jonah. The writer had the Spirit of God and wants his readers to change their attitude toward God and to forgive and to repent. We are led to resolve our own tendency to anger, to pettiness, to missing the bigger picture and to not letting God’s love filter into our whole being and in all that we do. God is love and perfect love casts out all fear and all the more anger. Amen.