Therefore I fled before to Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent you of the evil.
– Jonah 4:2
Thoughts on Today’s Bible Verse:
Although Jonah praised God after God forgave the repented Ninevites, he did not know God’s mercy and love, but misunderstood and complained against God, for God did something different from what he had thought. He complained why God forgave the repented Ninevites after they obviously did evil. It can be seen that Jonah didn’t know God’s will for the salvation of man at all, so he complained. Because of His love for mankind, God forgave the people of Nineveh after they repented. Then what kind of love is this?
God says, “While the city of Nineveh was filled with people just as corrupt, evil and violent as those of Sodom, their repentance caused God to change His heart and decide not to destroy them. Because their reaction to God’s words and instructions demonstrated an attitude in stark contrast to that of the citizens of Sodom, and because of their honest submission to God and honest repentance for their sins, as well as their true and heartfelt behavior in all regards, God once more demonstrated His heartfelt pity and bestowed it upon them. God’s reward and His pity for humanity are impossible for anyone to duplicate; no person can possess God’s mercy or tolerance, nor His sincere feelings toward humanity. … Only the Creator has pity on this mankind. Only the Creator shows this mankind tenderness and affection. Only the Creator holds a true, unbreakable affection for this mankind. Likewise, only the Creator can bestow mercy on this mankind and cherish all of His creation. His heart leaps and aches at every one of man’s actions: He is angered, distressed and grieved over man’s evil and corruption; He is pleased, joyful, forgiving and jubilant for man’s repentance and belief; every single one of His thoughts and ideas exist for and revolve around mankind; what He is and has is expressed entirely for mankind’s sake; the entirety of His emotions are intertwined with mankind’s existence. For mankind’s sake, He travels and rushes about; He silently gives forth every bit of His life; He dedicates every minute and second of His life…. He has never known how to pity His own life, yet He has always pitied and cherished the mankind He Himself created…. He gives all that He has to this humanity…. He grants His mercy and tolerance unconditionally and without expectation of recompense. He does this only so that mankind can continue to survive before His eyes, receiving His provision of life; He does this only so that mankind may one day submit before Him and recognize that He is the One who nourishes man’s existence and supplies the life of all creation.”
After reading this passage, I have felt God’s painstaking care in saving mankind. God is not willing to give up on anyone corrupted by Satan. He hopes that we can realize our errors and mend our ways. Regardless of how negative and weak we are, or what transgressions we have, as long as we truly repent and confess before God, turn away from our evil ways and forsake the violence in our hands, God will feel joyful and happy for our change of heart. This allows me to see that God’s love for man is not verbal but really and actually manifested in everything He has done for mankind.