Jonah’s initial conversation with God after He relented concerning the judgment of Nineveh is over.  God asked him if it was good that he was so angry over God’s mercy and Jonah did not reply.  He decides to leave the city and wait to see what happens.

Some think that verses 5-11 describe a flashback and take place chronologically before the conversation in verses 1-4.  They point out that it makes no sense for Jonah to wait outside of the city if he already knows Nineveh is not going to be destroyed.  What seems to make sense, however, is that Jonah leaves the city and sits east of it to verify that God will in fact not destroy it.  Perhaps he still cannot believe that God relented so quickly from destroying such a wicked people.

5-8
If verse 5 occurs after verses 1-4, then Jonah’s prayer in verses 2-3 and God’s response took place in Nineveh.  Now, however, Jonah sees that his mission is done and likely does not want to spend any more time in the city than he absolutely has to.  He does not stick around to minister to a hurting people or educate them more fully about the God of Israel.  He leaves the city and goes east to wait and observe.

In the Old Testament, moving east oftentimes denotes moving away from God or moving toward judgment.  Adam and Eve went east when they were thrown out of the garden.  Cain went to the east after God judged him for killing Abel.  After the flood, the world’s population traveled east toward Babel to build a tower to challenge God.  When God called Abram, He called him from the east to travel to the Promised Land.  Lot chose to move east toward Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham gave him the choice of grazing lands.  Here Jonah goes east of the city to get away from God and away from the people God has spared. 

Jonah builds a shelter for himself – likely out of sticks, mud and rocks.  He perhaps has practice at this because of observing the Feast of Tabernacles.  He does this to have shade from the sun, but the desert heat is intense (Nineveh is on the east bank of the Tigris, so Jonah is on the opposite side of the city from the fertile area around the river) and the shelter is no match for the sun’s rays. 

God appoints (same word for what He did with the great fish in 1:17) a plant to grow miraculously quickly over Jonah’s shelter and give him shade.  The type of plant is unknown, but apparently it has leaves large enough to block the sun and make Jonah’s new home cool and pleasant. 

The plant delivers Jonah from his discomfort.  This is the word ra’ah discussed in the notes for 4:1-4.  It is the same word used for the wickedness of the Ninevites (1:2) and for the calamity God spared them from (3:10).  God has begun His object lesson for Jonah – just like He delivered the Ninevites from their ra’ah, He now delivers Jonah from his ra’ah.

Jonah is extremely happy about the plant and the shade it provides.  Note the wordplay by the author.  Extremely happy is the same syntax but with exactly the opposite meaning as Jonah’s emotions in 4:1.  It greatly displeased Jonah when the Ninevites were spared, but he is extremely happy when God spares him.

The happy time for Jonah is short-lived.  At dawn of the day following the plant’s miraculous growth, God appoints (same word again as 4:6) a worm to attack and destroy the plant.  When the sun comes up there is nothing to protect Jonah from its rays (in the Hebrew, the same verb is used for what the worm does to the plant and what the sun does to Jonah’s head – the worm attacks the plant and the sun attacks Jonah’s head).  Further, God appoints a scorching east wind (God’s judgment often comes from the east – see Hosea 13:15-16 and Jeremiah 4:11-12) to make the ra’ah even worse for Jonah.  [God appoints the fish 1:17, plant 4:6, worm 4:7, east wind 4:8 – God is in complete control in the book of Jonah – nothing just happens]

Jonah almost immediately becomes despondent.  The heat overcomes him (possibly heat exhaustion or sunstroke) and he begs God to kill him (again using the same language Elijah used in I Kings 19:4).  This seems like an overreaction until we understand something of local weather patterns.  In that part of the world, east winds called Siroccos sometimes blow across the desert.  There is no way to know if the scorching east wind referred to here is a Sirocco – since it has supernatural origins it may not fall into any category – but it is not too much of a stretch to assume it has similar characteristics.   A Sirocco is a constant hot wind which eliminates all moisture from the air and causes the skin to draw tight.  The air is so full of positive ions that it can affect neurotransmitters in the brain resulting in exhaustion, depression, and bizarre behavior.  Jonah is in so much misery he no longer thinks straight.

Note that even in the heat and the wind Jonah does not go back into the city – nothing will make him return to the Ninevites.  He is willing to die rather than seek shelter with the pagans.

Jonah’s despondence and panic likely go beyond physical misery.  The plant was a sign of God’s grace and favor on him.  The destruction of the plant and the east wind are signs of God’s judgment.  Jonah experiences the removal of God’s grace and no longer wants to live.

Jonah is in similar circumstances as when he was in the water.  He goes down to judgment with no hope for escape.  He needs God’s rescue from his calamity and has no means of survival apart from God’s mercy.

Jonah is now exactly where God wants him.  He is the personification of Nineveh.  He experiences the judgment He wished upon the Ninevites.  His anger burned when he realized God relented from judging the Assyrians.  Now he burns in the judgment that God spared the Ninevites from.

Note the names of God in these verses.  Through verse 5 the author uses Lord (Yahweh) – the covenant-keeping God of Israel – as the name for God.  In verse 6 he transitions to Lord God as the name.  In verses 7-9 when Jonah experiences God’s judgment, the author uses only Elohim as the name for God.  This is the more general term for God that lacks the familiarity of the Hebrew name.  The author seems to want to show God as the Ninevites would see Him (3:5-9) interacting with Jonah in judgment.

9-11
God responds to Jonah’s plea with the same question He posed in verse 4 (again ignoring Jonah’s cry for death) but this time He adds a qualifier.  In verse 4 He asked if Jonah was right to be angry about His mercy to the Ninevites.  Here He asks if Jonah is right to be angry about the destruction of the plant.  Is it right to burn with anger over both survival AND destruction?

Unlike the first exchange, Jonah answers God’s question.  He does not back down at all and replies, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.”   He is in misery in the heat and wind.  God’s favor has been removed from him.  Nineveh is saved.  He is right to be angry and right to long for death.  Death IS better than life without the grace of God (but life apart from God’s grace is OK for the Ninevites).

Now God finalizes the questions and completes His object lesson.  He points out to Jonah that he has compassion on a plant that he did not plant or nurture.  It grew up overnight and perished overnight.  Its presence was unexpected and miraculous and brief, yet Jonah mourns its loss as if its destruction were completely unfair.

God finishes the dialogue with a question.  If Jonah had compassion on a mere plant, should God not have compassion on a great city like Nineveh that holds more than 120,000 people who are ignorant of God’s laws and judgment (do not know the difference between their right and left hand)?  And not only people, but should He not have mercy on a great number of cattle – that He also created – that also live in the city (and are currently clothed in sackcloth – 3:8)? 

Before Jonah came to them, the Ninevites did not have God’s revelation the way Israel did.  They had no idea how to escape judgment or even that judgment was imminent.  They were ignorant and bound for destruction apart from the loving intervention of their Creator. 

And unlike Jonah’s role in the existence of the plant, God DID create and nurture the Ninevites.  Unlike the plant, the Ninevites did NOT grow and perish overnight.  They are a part of creation just like Israel.  They are image-bearers of God just like Israel.  Because God created them He does not want them to perish in their ignorance.  People are much more valuable and important than a mere plant.  Jonah may care more about the comfort provided by a plant than about 120,000 souls, but God does not.

Consider the following:

• Jonah in the ocean had no means of escape apart from God’s intervention.
• Jonah in the desert sun had no means of escape apart from God’s intervention.
• Nineveh had no means of escape apart from God’s intervention.
• Jonah cried out for God’s mercy when he was in the ocean.
• Nineveh cried out for God’s mercy after Jonah’s proclamation.
• God saved Jonah from his calamity when he was in the ocean.
• God saved Jonah from his calamity when he was in the desert.
• God saved Nineveh from its calamity when it was lost in ignorance.
• Jonah praised God for deliverance from the sea.
• Jonah was extremely happy for God’s deliverance from the desert sun.
• Jonah burned with anger over God’s deliverance of Nineveh.
• Jonah longed for death because of Nineveh’s deliverance.
• Jonah longed for death because of the plant’s destruction.
• God loved the Ninevites.
• Jonah loved the plant.

The focus is clear.  Jonah could not accept that the law of grace should work in favor of his enemies, but neither could he accept life without grace.  God’s graciousness to Nineveh was unacceptable.  God’s withdrawal of grace to Jonah was also unacceptable.  He longed for a God who was partial like himself, instead of a God who was gracious, merciful and responsive to the cries of all creation.  He wanted his own personal God rather than the God who made heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land.  – Rosemary Nixon

Interestingly, the book ends here.  Jonah either does not respond or his response is not recorded.  The reader is left to ponder Jonah’s answer but also to answer for himself.  Should not God have compassion on the great city of Nineveh?

Is grace to be hoarded or shared?
Are all men image-bearers of God?
Are some worthy of God’s mercy and others not?
Are some worthy of God’s judgment and others not?
Is God sovereign and free to act as He chooses?
Do we share God’s compassion on ignorant souls bound for destruction?

The ending is brilliant and satisfying.  It’s satisfying because we don’t need to wonder whether Jonah repented and saw the light.  He must have.  How do we know?  Well, how else would we know this story, unless Jonah told it to someone?  And who would EVER tell a story in which he is seen as an evil fool on every page, except a man in whom God’s grace had reached the center of his heart?  – Tim Keller