God’s mercy and compassion for all

An overview of Jonah

The redemptive story started in Genesis. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15 ESV.

It continues throughout the Bible. In the book of Jonah, we can see God’s mercy and compassion.

Here is an outline of the book.
Jonah Flees from the Lord (1:1-16)
Jonah’s Prayer (1:17-2:10)
Jonah Goes to Nineveh (3:1-10)
Jonah Resents God’s Mercy (4:1-11)
Bible Overview

We see God’s mercy on a rebellious prophet, Jonah. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, and Jonah flees in the opposite direction. Jonah was selfish. He thought that he could run from the control of God. The book of Jonah makes it clear that God is omnipresent. Jonah wanted to escape the presence of the Lord.

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 ESV

God knew exactly where Jonah was when he sailed away from Nineveh to Tarshish when God caused a storm.

We also see how Jonah he did not want God’s mercy to be given to the people of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh were cruel and wicked. So why should God want to save them?

God offers salvation to all.
We see in Jonah that God’s compassion and mercy extend to all people. The chosen people of God are the ones that repent and surrender to Him.

When we see conscious disobedience from Jonah, God still shows mercy to Jonah. The longsuffering of God is unmeasurable. So even though we see in the Bible that God does not allow evil and disobedience to continue forever, He does give compassion and mercy to those who repent.

“Mercy is not something God has, but something God is.” – A.W. Tozer.

Reference
Bible Overview (2012) Henderson Rose Publishing