He Learned a Lesson in Mercy - How Jehovah Taught Jonah a Lesson -Conclusion

God reasoned with Jonah, saying that the prophet was feeling sorry over the death of a mere plant that  had sprung up overnight, one that Jonah neither planted nor caused to grow.  Than God concluded: "For my part, ought I not feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not know between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?" - JONAH 4:10, 11.

Do you see the deptjh of Jehovah's object lesson?  Jonah had never done a thing to take care of that plant.  Jehovah, on the other hand, was the Source of life for those Ninevites and had sustained them, as he does all creatures on earth.  How could Jonah place more value on a single plant than he did on the lives of  120,000 humans,, in addition to all their livestock?  Was it not because Jonah had allowed his  thinking to become selfish?  After all, he felt sorry for the plant only because it had benfited him personally.  Did not his anger over Nineveh spring from motives that were likewise selfish-a prideful desire to save face, to be proved right? Jonah's story may help us to take an honest look at ourselves.  Who of us is immune to such tendencies?  How grateful we should be that Jehovah patiently teaches us to be more selfless, more compassionate, more merciful-as he is!

The question is, Did Jonah take the lesson to heart? The book bearing his name ends with Jehovah's question hanging  there-in effect, still echoing.  Some critics might complain that Jonah never answers.  In truth, though, his answer is there. It is the book itself. You see, evidence indicates that Jonah wrote the book bearing his name. Just imagine that prophet once again his his homeland, writing this account. We can almost picture an oder, wiser, humbler man ruefully shaking his head as he describes his own mistakes, his rebellion, and his stubborn refusal to show mercy. Clearly, Jonah did learn a vital lesson from Jehovah's wise  instruction. He learned to be merciful. Will we? - Read MATTHEW 5:7.

Next time: "Look! Jehovah's Slave Girl!"

From the  jw.org publications