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Jonah Chapter 4 (WBT)

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Jonah Chapter 4 – The Gourd and God's Compassion
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1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

2 And he prayed to the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before to Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest of the evil.

3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

8 And it came to pass, when the sun rose that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even to death.

10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many cattle?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Jonah angry in chapter 4?
Because God spared Nineveh, Jonah admits this is exactly why he fled earlier: "I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (v.1-2) - the same description of God found in Exodus 34:6-7.
What is the point of the gourd in Jonah 4?
God prepares a gourd to shade Jonah, making him "exceeding glad," then sends a worm to destroy it the next day, leaving Jonah to swelter in the heat and wish to die (v.6-8).
How does the book of Jonah end?
With God's question contrasting Jonah's grief over the lost plant with his lack of concern for Nineveh's people: "should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?" (v.10-11).

Today's Verse

And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.

Genesis 22:12 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

God grows a gourd to shade Jonah, then sends a worm to wither it and a scorching east wind, prompting Jonah's death wish over a plant he never labored for - a rebuke echoing God's self-description in Exodus 34:6-7. The book ends on God's question about sparing a city of "more then sixscore thousand persons."