Jonah’s View of People​—A Stark Contrast

6. How did the Ninevites react to Jonah’s proclamation?

⁶ Now consider the second example​—that of Jonah. This time the city appointed for destruction was Nineveh. The prophet Jonah was told to proclaim that the badness of that city had ‘come up before Jehovah.’ (Jonah 1:2) Including its suburbs, Nineveh was a large city, “with a walking distance of three days.” When Jonah finally obeyed and entered Nineveh, he kept declaring: “Only forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown.” At that, “the men of Nineveh began to put faith in God, and they proceeded to proclaim a fast and to put on sackcloth.” Even the king of Nineveh repented.​—Jonah 3:1-6.

7. How did Jehovah view the repentant attitude of the Ninevites?

⁷ That was quite a contrast to the response in Sodom! How did Jehovah view the repentant Ninevites? Jonah 3:10 says: “The true God felt regret over the calamity that he had spoken of causing to them; and he did not cause it.” Jehovah “felt regret” in the sense that he altered his dealings with the Ninevites because they changed their ways. The divine standards did not change, but Jehovah changed his decision upon seeing that the Ninevites were repentant.​—Malachi 3:6.

8. Why did Jonah become sullen?

⁸ When Jonah realized that Nineveh would not be destroyed, did he see things from Jehovah’s viewpoint? No, for we are told: “To Jonah, though, it was highly displeasing, and he got to be hot with anger.” What else did Jonah do? The account says: “He prayed to Jehovah and said: ‘Ah, now, O Jehovah, was not this an affair of mine, while I happened to be on my own ground? That is why I went ahead and ran away to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, and feeling regret over the calamity.’” (Jonah 4:1, 2) Jonah knew about Jehovah’s qualities. At that point, however, the prophet became sullen and did not share God’s view of the repentant inhabitants of Nineveh.

9, 10. (a) What lesson did Jehovah provide for Jonah? (b) Why can we assume that Jonah eventually adopted Jehovah’s view of the Ninevites?

⁹ Jonah went out of Nineveh, built a booth, and sat in its shade “until he would see what would become of the city.” Jehovah let a bottle-gourd plant grow so that it would provide shade for Jonah. The next day, however, the plant withered. When Jonah became angry about that, Jehovah said: “You, for your part, felt sorry for the bottle-gourd plant . . . And, for my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?” (Jonah 4:5-11) What a lesson for Jonah regarding Jehovah’s view of people!

¹⁰ Jonah’s response to God’s statement about feeling sorry for the people of Nineveh is not recorded. Yet, it is evident that the prophet adjusted his view of the repentant Ninevites. We draw that conclusion from the fact that Jehovah used him to record this inspired account.

12. Why is it easy to develop a Jonahlike attitude toward people we meet in our ministry, and what can we do about this?

¹² It is proper to yearn for the end of wickedness. (Habakkuk 1:2, 3) Yet, it is so easy to develop a Jonahlike attitude, being unconcerned about the welfare of people who might repent. This is especially true if we keep meeting individuals who are apathetic, antagonistic, or even belligerent when we call at their homes with the Kingdom message. We may lose sight of those Jehovah will yet gather out of this wicked system of things. (Romans 2:4) If serious self-scrutiny reveals that we have even a little of Jonah’s original attitude toward the Ninevites, we can pray for help to conform our view to that of Jehovah.