God is a God of mercy and when He wanted to extend that mercy to the people of Nineveh He choose a prophet to take the message to the people. Jonah did not act in a gracious manner as he would rather see the people punished than forgiven. So he ran away but God had other plans. In His mercy God intervened and sent Jonah on his way to preach to Nineveh. Jonah was a most successful preacher and the people of Nineveh repented and God stayed His judgment.
Jonah did not act graciously and He became very angry at God for showing grace to these people. He knew that God was a God of mercy and grace and that is why he did not want to obey. However, God was not only gracious to the Ninevites but He was also gracious to Jonah.
When the Ninevites repented Jonah became angry and went out of the city and sat by the city wall in the hot sun. He complained to God about the sun so God allowed a vine to grow up to give him shelter and shade. Then came a worm that destroyed the vine and Jonah was once again sitting in the hot sun. God tried to teach Jonah a lesson of mercy and grace but Jonah just did not get it. He was angry that God destroyed the vine and was angry because God had not destroyed Nineveh.
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