“For I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.” Jonah 4:2
Dear Ones:
Jonah ended up in the belly of a fish at the bottom of the ocean for all of the wrong reasons. The first was that he was running away from God as fast and as far as he could, deceiving himself that perhaps he could escape the presence and calling of God. The second is that he believed that if he did not go to Nineveh to preach unto them the word of the Lord, they would not repent, and the judgement of God would fall upon them. To some extent this is true, for the judgment of God was coming upon them because of their wickedness. This is clear by the message that the Lord gave to Jonah to be preached: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (3:4) With regard to this second “wrong reason” of Jonah, there was the misconception that God would not raise up someone else to preach the word. This is substantiated in the book of Ester when Mordecai tells Ester that if she does not fulfill her role and responsibility, in “…such a time as this,” to save the Jews from annihilation, “…then shall there enlargement (relief) and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.” (Ester 4:14) In other words, God could provide another means to save the Jews. But in both cases, God had chosen Jonah and Ester for that time, at that place, for that role or responsibility. Perhaps the greatest of Jonah’s “wrong reasons” for fleeing God, and wanting His wrath to fall on the Ninevites, was his denial of God. It was not that Jonah did not know the truth about the character and nature of God. It was that he purposely did not want God’s great grace, mercy, and kindness, to be revealed to the Ninevites, and they be saved. Jonah knew first hand who God was, for he had certainly experienced the goodness of God in his own life. But now that he was faced with the revelation of that goodness to Israel’s enemies, he wanted only to flee. So, what is meant by the phrase, “Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.?”
The word “mercy” is one which seeks to communicate to man an essential element in the nature of God, and his attitude towards man. To even begin to understand this issue of God’s mercy, we need to see man as opposed to God with regard to his “size,” and “disposition of heart.” How big is God? Isaiah tells us that the nations are but a drop in the bucket to God. This makes man infinitely small and insignificant with regard to the rest of creation, much less with the Creator. Secondly, we see man a sinner by nature, one that is dominated by an independent nature, choosing to live separated from God, for he does not desire or naturally choose to submit himself to the authority of his Creator. From God’s standpoint, such a condition and status, it is a cause of suffering, and eventual death because of sin. Where the mercy of God enters in, is when we see God on His eternal throne, in the beauty and wonder of His holiness, stretching forth His hand down to sinful and dying man, looking beyond his littleness and sinfulness, to save him from a pit of destruction, one of his own devising. There is no “human” reason for which God should do this, for man is so small, so lost and rebellious. But God IS different from sinful man. He is God because He is perfectly merciful, and will answer the call and cry of little, sinful man, or men, when they truly seek Him. As to the magnitude of the mercy of God, David writes: “As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.” (Ps.103:11)
Dear Father, Open our eyes to grasp and live by Thy mercy, showing Your mercy by the Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad