The desire for vengeance is often a need to see justice. We know God is gracious, slow to anger, and forgiving toward those who repent—but that can be hard to accept when the person receiving His grace has wronged us. Jonah faced this struggle when God sent him to Nineveh.
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
—Jonah 1:2 NIV
Torture and Cruelty (trigger warning)
Nineveh was the capital of the brutal Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians used terror to control the people they conquered. They tortured prisoners, cut off hands and limbs, beheaded and impaled captives, flippintly threw severed limbs of victims in front of them, and sometimes even skinned people alive. As an act of intimidation, they displayed bodies publicly and carved pictures of these acts into stone so others would be afraid to resist them. Hosea plainly describes the horror that could come with conquest:
“The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.”
—Hosea 13:16 NIV
These were not distant or harmless enemies they were the rulers with absolute power. The Assyrians caused terrible suffering. Jonah possibly lost family members or friends to their cruelty. At the very least, he knew what they had done to his people. He wanted them to receive justice. Then God told him to preach to them.
Grace for Me, but Not for You
After running from God, enduring a storm, and spending three days inside a great fish, Jonah finally reached Nineveh. He preached God’s warning, the people repented, and God spared them. Jonah was furious.
“I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness, and [when sinners turn to You] You revoke the [sentence of] disaster [against them].”
—Jonah 4:2 AMP
Jonah had recently received grace for his own disobedience, yet he didn’t want that same grace extended to his enemies. After everything the Assyrians had done, he wanted them to suffer. Human nature is the same through the ages. We too measure another person’s sin by the pain it caused us while viewing our own failures as less serious. God, however, sees the heart, our circumstances, what we know, and how we respond to the truth. The Ninevites repented when they heard God’s warning. Jonah knew God well enough to serve as His prophet, yet he knowingly chose disobedience and unforgiveness. God looks at the heart and even said in Jonah 4:11 the reason for His grace.
Anger is Telling
Jonah became so angry about Nineveh’s deliverance that he wanted to die. Later, God provided a plant to shade him and then allowed it to wither. Jonah again became angry enough to wish for death. Instead of rejoicing that an entire city had repented, he focused on his own disappointment and loss. He may have struggled with some fear that the repentance wasn’t real and wouldn’t last and that he now had a target on his back. He may have felt that he had lost respect in people’s eyes, and he gave in to self-pity. We do know that he’d been through many challenging days. Like many of us, he was tired, and his weariness magnified his emotions.
“Then God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have a good reason to be angry about [the loss of] the plant?’ And he said, ‘I have a [very] good reason to be angry, angry enough to die!’”
—Jonah 4:9 AMP
God used the plant to reveal Jonah’s heart. His priorities had become distorted. Jonah cared deeply about losing something that benefited him, but he didn’t rejoice over Nineveh’s repentance and salvation—God’s ultimate goal. Blinded by emotions, he was short-sighted. If the capital of Assyria repented, then this would fundamentally changes Israel’s life under Assyrian rule. Jonah’s desire for vengeance mattered more to him than God’s plan of redemption for the Assyrians.
Why Does God Forgive My Enemies
If someone caused you and your family tremendous pain, and you knew God would forgive that person if they repented, would you want them to repent? If we are honest, many of us would say no. This quote by Alexander Pope says it all. “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Forgiveness does not excuse evil, erase consequences, or declare that what happened was acceptable. It releases us from being ruled by what was done to us. Unforgiveness is a chain that binds us to the past. Every grievance, rumination and reminder becomes another link in the chain. When we forgive, those links begin to break and we can be free to run the race God gives us.
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.”
—Philippians 3:13–14 NIV
God’s grace can be hard to accept when it is offered to someone who wounded us. Jonah reminds us that the grace we gladly receive is the same grace God offers to our enemies.
Prayer
God, thank You for including Jonah’s account in the Bible. He struggled with the same desire for justice that we have when we are hurt, yet You were gracious to him. I surrender my motives, fears, and need for justice to You. I choose to forgive so that I can press on toward the prize to which You have called me. Lord, help me to share Your heart and vision. I choose to forgive my enemies. Help me genuinely desire their sincere repentance and restoration. Guide my mind, emotionals, and life. Help me to trust You with my future and in Your protection whether they repent or not.
Thank You for Your goodness, grace, and understanding.
In Jesus’ beautiful name, amen.
