Jonah 4:5-11
Should I Not Care About That City
Read the passage
5Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
6So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
7When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”
10But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.
11So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
Jonah goes east of Nineveh, builds a shelter, and sits in its shade to see what will happen to the city. The LORD God appoints a vine to shade his head and ease his discomfort. Jonah is greatly pleased with it.
At dawn the next day, God appoints a worm that attacks the plant, and it withers. Then He appoints a scorching east wind. The sun beats down on Jonah’s head until he grows faint and again wishes to die.
God asks whether he has any right to be angry about the plant. Jonah insists that he does: he is angry enough to die. The LORD points out that Jonah cared about a plant he neither tended nor made grow, which came and went in a night.
Then comes the question about Nineveh. Should God not care for this great city, with more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle? The phrase about right and left is not explained here, but the people and animals are plainly included in His concern.
The book records no further answer from Jonah. It leaves us with the LORD’s question and the difference between Jonah’s concern for his shade and God’s concern for the city.
Questions
1 Why does Jonah sit outside the city?
AnswerHe wants to see what will happen to Nineveh. He builds a shelter east of it and sits in the shade.
2 What happens to the plant?
AnswerGod appoints a vine that gives Jonah shade, then a worm that attacks it at dawn. The plant withers, and Jonah loses the shade he enjoyed.
3 What does God point out about Jonah’s care for the plant?
AnswerJonah did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night, yet he is deeply upset about losing it.
4 Whom does God include in His concern for Nineveh?
AnswerMore than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and the city’s many cattle. He asks whether He should not care about them.
What This Means for Us
God uses Jonah’s concern for the plant to question his lack of concern for Nineveh. Personal discomfort has his attention in a way the city’s people do not.
Consider whose troubles you tend to overlook because they do not affect your day. Pray for them by name if you can, learn what they need, and offer help where you have an opportunity. Ask God to widen your concern beyond what makes your own life comfortable.
Prayer
Father, thank You for caring about people beyond the circle we notice. Help us see their needs, care for the creatures You have made, and respond with something of Your compassion. Amen.