Jon 4:4 | KingComments | STEP | We see not only the grace of God toward His servant, but also His tremendous patience with him. God does not speak a word of reproach, or it should be contained in the question. But more than a reproach we hear in the question how God tries to free Jonah from his egoism. The LORD wants to put the anger of Jonah and his sinful discontent in the right light, His light. To this end, He asks His question. Every question He asks has a purpose. If the LORD were as Jonah wished He were, it would have meant the end of Jonah. The LORD would then have judged him, for morally he was now on the level of Nineveh. They defied God before they were converted. Jonah defies Him here, too. The conversation that the LORD enters into with Jonah we also see in Luke 15. There is an eldest son who begrudges the grace with which the father has received back home the youngest son. The father talks to the eldest son, to involve him in what has moved his father heart ( ).

‏ Jonah 4:4

A Question From the LORD to Jonah

We see not only the grace of God toward His servant, but also His tremendous patience with him. God does not speak a word of reproach, or it should be contained in the question. But more than a reproach we hear in the question how God tries to free Jonah from his egoism. The LORD wants to put the anger of Jonah and his sinful discontent in the right light, His light. To this end, He asks His question. Every question He asks has a purpose.

If the LORD were as Jonah wished He were, it would have meant the end of Jonah. The LORD would then have judged him, for morally he was now on the level of Nineveh. They defied God before they were converted. Jonah defies Him here, too.

The conversation that the LORD enters into with Jonah we also see in Luke 15. There is an eldest son who begrudges the grace with which the father has received back home the youngest son. The father talks to the eldest son, to involve him in what has moved his father heart (Lk 15:31-32).