Jonah 4:1-2

Jonah 4:1-Jonah Is Infuriated With God’s Decision To Spare The Lives Of The Ninevites

Chapter four contains the sixth and seventh scenes in the book of Jonah. The first scene appeared in Jonah 1:1-3, the second in 1:4-16, the third in 1:17-2:10, the fourth in Jonah 3:1-3a, the fifth in 3:3b-10, the sixth in 4:1-4 and the seventh and final scene in 4:5-11. This chapter thus contains two divisions. The first appears in verses 1-4, which records Jonah’s angry reaction to the Lord sparing the Ninevites. The second appears in verses 5-11. This pericope has a chiastic structure.

A Report of Jonah’s anger and a question (4:1–2). 1 Report of Jonah’s anger (4:1). 2 Jonah’s question (4:2). B Jonah requests death, and God questions Jonah (4:3–4). 1 Jonah requests death (4:3). 2 God questions Jonah (4:4). C Jonah responds, and God provides (4:5–6a). 1 Jonah builds a hut (4:5). 2 God provides a plant to save Jonah (4:6a). C′ Jonah responds, and God provides (4:6b–8a). 1 Jonah rejoices with great joy (4:6b). 2 God provides a worm to kill the plant and a scorching wind to afflict Jonah (4:7–8a). B′ Jonah requests death, and God questions Jonah (4:8b–9a). 1 Jonah requests death (4:8b). 2 God questions Jonah (4:9a). A′ Report of Jonah’s anger and a question (4:9b–11). 1 Report of Jonah’s anger (4:9b). 2 Yahweh’s question (4:10–11).

This outline is composed by Lessing, which is based on the analysis of Fretheim, “The Message of Jonah” (page 117) (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 346). In chapter four, we see for the first time a conversation between the Lord and Jonah whereas in Jonah 1:1-3, only the Lord speaks and in chapter 2, only Jonah speaks. In contrast to chapter 2, which paints Jonah in a positive light, chapter 4 paints the prophet in a negative light. The conversation between the Lord and

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Jonah in chapter 4 gives the reader insight into the character of both. In chapter 1, the captain and the crew ask Jonah questions (1:6, 8, 10-11) and in chapter 3, the king of Nineveh poses a rhetorical question (3:9). However, the questions in chapter 4 are different than these since both Jonah and the Lord ask questions of each other (4:2). The rhetorical questions that the Lord poses to Jonah seek to persuade the prophet to accept the justice of His decisions as a gracious and merciful God who justifies sinners through faith (Lessing, pages 347). In the first and third chapters, the Lord issues only commands (1:2; 3:2). However, in chapter 4, He only asks questions and makes statements. In the first and third chapters, the Lord is directing Jonah’s actions through commands but in chapter 4 He is seeking to persuade him to change the prophet’s attitude towards the Ninevites through questions and statements (4:4, 9a, 11). Jonah’s angry reaction to the Lord sparing the Ninevites is an example of Israelite national pride and self-righteousness. The question posed by Jonah in 4:2 expresses the prophet’s convictions that the Lord should by no means refrain from destroying the Ninevites since in his opinion they are too wicked. Jonah is comparing himself to the Ninevites and concludes that he and his Jewish countrymen are superior to the Ninevites. However, he fails to see that God concludes that both groups have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that there is none righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10). Jonah is not judging himself and Israel according to God’s perfect holy standards but rather he is comparing himself to the Ninevites. In chapter 4, the Lord is teaching Jonah that He has compassion for all men including the wicked Assyrians and not just Israel. Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by suffering or misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause. The Lord expressed a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for the Ninevites who were stricken by the curse of sin and who were enslaved to Satan and his cosmic system. Thus the Lord attempted to remove the curse of sin in the lives of the Ninevites by sending Jonah to preach the Gospel which according to Romans 1:16 is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior. Jonah’s attitude is indicative of the nation of Israel at that time. The nation of Israel failed in evangelizing the world. They were to be the instruments that God employed to present the Gospel to the unbelieving Gentiles. They failed. There is an application for the church today that this story of Jonah teaches us. The Lord sets forth the Church’s manifesto in Matthew 28:16-20. Matthew 28:16, “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (NASU) The Lord Jesus Christ had to deal with this negative and antagonistic attitude toward the unbelieving Gentiles during His First Advent. The Pharisees who were the leaders of the Jewish people in our Lord’s day thought that they were superior to the tax-collectors and the prostitutes who were coming to the Lord in great numbers to hear His teaching of the kingdom. They were self-righteous and arrogant just like Jonah. Our Lord delivered several parables that directly rebuked the Pharisees for their self-righteous attitude. Luke 15:1, “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ 3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 ‘What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8 Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. 11 And He said, ‘A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be impoverished. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. 20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’” (NASU) In story of the Prodigal Son we have the Lord rebuking the Pharisees for their attitude towards the tax collectors and prostitutes. The Pharisees were portrayed by our Lord in the story of the Prodigal Son by the older brother. Jonah had this same poor attitude. Jonah failed to see because of self-righteous arrogance that the Ninevites were just as much qualified to be recipients of salvation as Jonah and the rest of the nation of Israel. Like the Pharisees in our Lord’s Day, Jonah lacked the Lord’s view of the world. The Lord saw Nineveh as a field ready to be harvested. Our Lord taught this principle to His own Jewish disciples who were greatly influenced by the Pharisaic attitude. John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.” (NASU) The attitude of the church today in the twenty-first century should be one of outreach, presenting the Gospel to all men. Many in the church today will not so much as be in the presence of a homosexual and yet failing to see the potential this person has to be saved. Are we reaching out to the AIDS patient or the elderly, the prostitute, those who are enslaved to pornography and all sorts of immoral behavior? The church is failing to view the unbeliever as God sees them…ready to be harvested. Jonah failed to go to Nineveh and do his job as a prophet because he did not possess divine viewpoint even though he was saved. He lacked compassion and mercy and failed to see the great opportunity that the Lord had given him to preach to the Gentile unbelievers in Nineveh. Jonah failed to appreciate the fact that the Lord had used him to produce the greatest harvest of souls in the Old Testament. He failed to appreciate this wonderful work of God which was performed through him. The apostle Peter had a bad attitude towards the Gentiles as a believer and had to be directed in a vision to go to the Gentiles with the Gospel (Acts 10:1-11:18). The apostle Peter’s obedience to God’s directives resulting in Cornelius and his family getting saved and receiving the Baptism of the Spirit. Peter’s presentation of the Gospel to the Gentiles set an example for other Jewish believers to follow. God had gotten his message across to Peter regarding the new dispensation that began among only Jewish believers initially on the day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem in June of 32 A.D….there would be no racial distinctions in the church age. Those of Gentile origin and those of Jewish racial descent would all be under the federal headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, for Jesus clearly commissioned him to do so as recorded in Acts 9;15. Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.’” (NASU) Paul had already declared the Gentiles were not excluded writing... Romans 1:16, “For I am never ashamed of the gospel for it is as an eternal spiritual truth God’s power resulting in deliverance for the benefit of everyone who as an eternal spiritual truth believe, to the Jew first and then to the Greek.” (NASU) In Galatians Paul taught that the Gentiles were not excluded from receiving the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO

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HANGS ON A TREE’ 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (NASU) Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NASU) In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul teaches that God the Holy Spirit is building a spiritual temple, which is the church and it is composed of both Jew and Gentile races. The church in Ephesus was composed primarily of Gentiles racially rather than those of Jewish descent. Ephesians 2:11, “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hands.” (NASU) The term “ circumcision ” refers to people who are Jewish racially whereas the term “ uncircumcision ” refers to those people who are not Jewish in racial descent, which is synonymous with the term “Gentiles.” The term “ uncircumcision ” was actually a derogatory term used by the Jews among themselves when referring to the Gentiles. Ephesians 2:12, “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (NASU) In Ephesians 2:11, Paul gives five-fold description of the Gentiles: (1) “Separate from Christ ”: The Gentiles were not saved and under condemnation since salvation is received through faith alone in Christ alone. (2) “ Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel ”: The Gentiles were not citizens of the nation of Israel, which God had specifically separated from the heathen to represent Him in the world. (3) “ Strangers to the covenants of promise ”: The Gentiles were “not” the beneficiaries of the four unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) New (2) Palestinian (3) Davidic (4) Abrahamic. (4) “ Having no hope ”: The Gentiles were under the deception and tyranny of Satan, in fear of death and having no understanding of the true meaning and purpose of human life, which is to love and serve and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. (5) “ Without God in the world ”: The Gentiles did not know or have a relationship or fellowship with the true and living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you (Gentiles) who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.” (NASU)

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Ephesians 2:14, teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death on the cross demolished the barrier that separated Jew and Gentile races from being united. Our Lord’s death united both Jew and Gentile races and made both groups into one new entity and organic unit. “The barrier ” is a reference to the Jewish Temple, which was divided into various courts: (1) Holy of Holies (2) Holy Place (3) Priests (4) Israel (5) Women (6) Gentiles. A wall, about 3 or 4 feet high, ran through the temple area separating the Court of the Gentiles from the inner court into which Jews only were permitted. This wall contained an inscription, which read: “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” The inner court is where the worship of God took place and the Gentiles were not allowed but Christ’s work has enabled the Gentiles to worship God. Ephesians 2:15, “by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.” (NASU) The term “ His flesh ” refers to the perfect “human nature” of our Lord. “The enmity ” is a reference to the Mosaic Law. The cause of the enmity was the Mosaic Law, because the Law made a definite distinction between Jews racially and Gentiles. The Mosaic Law was perfectly fulfilled by the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union during His 1 st Advent (Rm. 10:4). The Law was designed to show man his total helpless and hopeless condition before a righteous and just God and to lead him to the Savior. Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (NASU) Ephesians 2:16, “and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” (NASU) Ephesians 2:16 teaches that one of the purposes of Christ’s death was to not only fulfill the righteous demands of the Mosaic Law but also make effect a reconciliation between the Jewish and Gentiles races into one body. Both Jews and Gentiles were reconciled into the body of Christ through the baptism of the Spirit, which takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age. It is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit places the believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.

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1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (NASU) Ephesians 2:17, “AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR.” (NASU) Where Ephesians 2:14 teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is our peace, Ephesians 2:17 teaches that He proclaimed God’s peace treaty to those were “ far away ,” which refers to the Gentiles and to those “ near ,” which refers to the Jews. The Gospel means, “good news” and is God’s victorious proclamation of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, which delivers the believer from the power of the old sin nature and Satan and eternal condemnation. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Ephesians 2:18, “for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.” (NASU) Paul is teaching the Ephesians that their citizenship is in heaven and are now members of God’s household. Philippians 3:20, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (My translation) Ephesians 2:20, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” (NASU) The phrase “ the foundation of the apostles and prophets ” refers to the “teaching” of the mystery doctrine for the church by the apostles and the “New” Testament prophets who proclaimed the mystery doctrine for the church age until the New Testament canon was closed in 96 A.D. The Person of Jesus Christ and His teaching is the Chief Cornerstone of the church. Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. 23 This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” (NASU) Ephesians 2:21, “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” (NASU) Both Jewish and Gentile believers are said to be growing into a holy temple in the Lord, which is accomplished by growing up spiritually and becoming like Christ.

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Ephesians 4:11, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” (NASU) Ephesians 2:22, “in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (NASU) God does not dwell now in a temple built with human hands but now dwells in His new temple, which is constructed not from inanimate materials but of living believers. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit now permanently indwell every church age believer, both Jew and Gentile. Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (NASU) Colossians 1:25, “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (NASU) Ephesians 3:1-13 teaches that it was a mystery that the Gentiles through faith in Christ would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members of the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. Ephesians 3:1, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. 2 If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief ( in Ephesians 1:8-9).” (NASU) “Mystery ” is the noun musterion , which refers to doctrines that centered upon the Person of Christ and members of His body and were doctrines never revealed to Old Testament saints.

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Ephesians 3:4, “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ (that which is disclosed in Christ), 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (NASU) The mystery is not that the Gentiles would be saved since this was prophesied in the Old Testament (Isa. 11:10; 60:3). Rather, the mystery concerning the Gentiles is that they would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members with Jewish believers in the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the covenant promises to Israel. The content of this mystery is three-fold: (1) The Gentile believers are fellow heirs with Jewish believers in the sense that they share in the spiritual riches God gave them because of His covenant with Abraham. Ephesians 3:6, “to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (NASU) (2) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow members of the body of Christ with Jewish believers. There is one body, the body of Christ (Eph. 4:4), which has no racial distinctions (1 Cor. 12:13) and has the Lord Jesus Christ as its head (Eph. 5:23). Each individual member of the body of Christ shares in the ministry (Eph. 4:15-16). (3) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. The four great unconditional covenants to Israel will be fulfilled: (1) Abrahamic deals with the race of Israel (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18). (2) Palestinian is the promise of land to Israel (Gen. 13:15; Num. 34:1- 12). (3) Davidic deals with the aristocracy of Israel (2 Sam. 7:8-17) (4) New deals with the future restoration of Israel during the millennium (Jer. 31:31-34). Although, the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel were specifically given to Israel (Rom. 9:1-6), the church will still and does benefit from them since they are in union with Christ who is the ruler of Israel. Ephesians 3:7, “of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.” (NASU) Ephesians 3:7 teaches us that the Gentile believer’s union with Christ gives them the 100% availability of divine power that was manifested in the life of Paul and His proclamation of the Gospel. Ephesians 3:8, “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.” (NASU)

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Ephesians 3:8 teaches that the Gentile believer’s union with Christ gives them infinite wealth. Ephesians 3:9, “and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” (NASU) Ephesians 3:9-10 teaches that this mystery concerning the Gentiles is important to the angels both elect and non-elect since it reveals the multifaceted wisdom of God. Ephesians 3:11, “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.” (NASU) Paul told the Colossians that salvation was available to the Gentiles. Colossians 3:9, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him, 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.” (NASU) Stuart has the following excellent comments regarding Jonah chapter 4, he writes, “Each of the two major sections of the passage begins with a narrative introduction, setting the scene, and proceeds to a dialog in which Jonah converses with God. Each ends with a brief divine speech correcting Jonah’s (and the hearer/reader’s) improper attitudes toward the fact of Nineveh’s release from destruction. Repeated verbatim and clearly pivotal for the chapter as well as the entire book is Yahweh’s question: ‘What right do you have to be angry?’ This question constitutes the rhetorical conclusion to the first section, in v 4. As the narrator has constructed the passage, the audience is invited to keep that question in mind, while the narrator ‘flashes back’ to the event he has chosen as a coda to conclude the book, the story of the gourd. In this sense the second section (vv 5– 11) may be understood as a kind of expansion on that question. It, too, contains the now applied ( ההיטב חרה לך ’,… same question (‘What right have you to be angry specifically to Jonah’s anger about the gourd’s demise. Jonah’s answer, ‘(I) have and his following protestation of being angry enough to die, are ( היטב ) ’!the right his final words in the book. By this arrangement the audience is left with a choice: to copy Jonah’s ‘embarrassing and ridiculous’ (von Rad, The Message, 269) hatred of his enemies, or to see the world as God sees it, a world greatly in need of mercy.” (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 31: Hosea-Jonah; pages 500-501)

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Lessing makes an interesting observation, he writes, “In chapter 4, Jonah’s words and Yahweh’s words are split with mathematical precision. They get absolutely equal ‘air time’ since each utters a total of forty-seven Hebrew words. Even the lengths of their statements correspond exactly. This symmetry of words is too precise to be accidental:

A Jonah speaks thirty-nine Hebrew words to Yahweh in 4:2–3. B Yahweh speaks three Hebrew words in 4:4. B′ Jonah speaks three Hebrew words in 4:8. C God speaks five Hebrew words in 4:9a. C′ Jonah speaks five Hebrew words in 4:9b. A′ Yahweh speaks thirty-nine Hebrew words in 4:10–11. (Concordia Commentary: Jonah, page 347)

The book of Jonah ends with Lord speaking just as it began with the Lord doing so. This demonstrates to the reader that the Lord is in control and sovereign over Jonah. The book never records Jonah’s reply if there was one to the Lord’s statements that end the narrative. In chapter 4, we again see Jonah requesting that he die. Also, in the chapter, he addresses God by His covenant name, Yahweh . This corresponds to Jonah’s affirmation concerning the Lord’s grace policy towards the human race. The prophet uses the noun ělō·hîm when God is used with respect to His creation and using that creation to discipline Jonah. Stuart has the following comment, he writes, “The form of the pericope is vivid (or sensational) historical narrative, continuing the didactic style which characterizes the book as a whole. There is a rather heavy concentration of dialog in the chapter. And for the first time, Jonah and God converse with one another, i.e., back and forth. This method of narration allows the hearer/reader actually to learn firsthand rather than guess at Jonah’s own self-expressed ideas and attitudes, selfish and inconsistent as they are, as well as God’s reasons for his actions in contradiction to Jonah’s wishes. All is finally explained to the hearer/reader, so that the book ends leaving no doubt as to its message: God has every right to show mercy to all nations and peoples and we (like Jonah) have no right at all to think that some are intrinsically less deserving than others of this mercy.” (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 31: Hosea-Jonah; page 500). Next, we will note Jonah 4:1, which records that Jonah thought it was an unjust decision rendered by God, in fact, a great injustice, which made him furious that the Lord did not destroy Nineveh because the Ninevites believed in Him and repented from their evil way of living.

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Jonah 4:1, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.’ 4 The Lord said, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry?’ 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life.’ 9 Then God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘I have good reason to be angry, even to death.’ 10 Then the Lord said, ‘You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?’” (NASU) Jonah 4:1 describes the prophet’s reaction to the Lord’s decision to spare the city of Nineveh, which is recorded in Jonah 3:10. This verse begins a new emphasis in the narrative. In scene six (4:1-4), we have the angry reaction of Jonah because the Lord exercised His mercy and grace with respect to the Assyrians, who were the Nazis of the eighth century B.C. In scene five (3:3b-10), the prophet is never mentioned but in scene sixth, he dominates. However, in the seventh and final scene (4:4-11), the focus shifts to Yahweh and the lessons He taught Jonah. Julius Bewer writes, “Jonah recognizes that Yahweh has forgiven Nineveh and that He will not destroy it. He needed no special divine revelation for this, for it was in accord with Yahweh’s character and prophetic doctrine. Nor did he need to wait till the time of grace was over to know Yahweh’s change of attitude. He knew it as soon as he saw the repentance of the people. But instead of rejoicing over Yahweh’s kindness, he was displeased exceedingly and very angry.” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jonah; pages 56-57) Jonah 4:1, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.” (NASU) wa), which is prefixed to the third person) ( וָ ) But ” is the conjunction wa“ raw-ah), “ it) ( רָ עַע ) masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb rā·ʿǎʿ

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13 displeased ” to form an adversative clause. The conjunction is introducing a statement that stands in direct contrast with the preceding statement. The preceding statement in Jonah 3:10 records that when God saw the actions of the Ninevites and that they repented from their wicked behavior, He relented concerning the judgment He threatened them with. Jonah 3:10, “When God observed their actions, namely that they turned from their evil way of living, then God graciously relented concerning the judgment, which He had threatened to carry out against them. Indeed, He never carried it out.” (My translation) Now, in Jonah 4:1, the conjunction wa introduces a statement which says that Jonah thought it was unjust of God to not destroy the Ninevites, in fact he thought it a great injustice, so much so that it infuriated him. The contrast is between Jonah’s angry reaction with what should have been his reaction, namely, joy and thanksgiving. Therefore, we will translate the word “ however .” The verb rā·ʿǎʿ means “to be unjust.” It is used here of Jonah considering God to be unjust for not destroying the Ninevites and for exercising mercy and grace towards them and forgiving them of their sins when they believed in Him and repented from their evil behavior. The word does not mean “to be evil” since this would have Jonah ascribing evil to God which the prophet knows is totally absent from the character of God. Rather, the word means “to be unjust” since in context, he is referring to God’s decision to relent when the Ninevites repented. In fact, the noun form of the word appears in Jonah 3:10 where it means “judgment” speaking of God’s decision to relent from destroying Nineveh. In fact, in the Old Testament, statements with the verb rā·ʿǎʿ and its noun form rā·ʿā(h) essentially involve judgment or decision (Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, page 1250). The declaration that something is bad in someone’s judgment such as Jonah’s declaration that God was exercised bad judgment with regards to the Ninevites, occurs frequently in the Old Testament (Genesis 21:11f.; 38:10; 48:17; Numbers 11:10; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 8:6; 18:8; 2 Samuel 11:25, 27; Isaiah 59:15; Jeremiah 40:4; Proverbs 24;18; 1 Chronicles 21:7). This is indicated by the context since in 4:6, God provides Jonah with the qiqayon plant in an attempt to persuade the prophet that He was justified in sparing the lives of the Ninevites (4:10–11). Lessing writes, “To what does this refer? What was so evil to Jonah? It is possible that this includes all that happened in 3:5–10: the Ninevites’ believing in God, performing acts of repentance, and turning from their evil, as well as God changing his verdict. Most likely, however, it is the specific fact that God changed his verdict from destruction to the salvation of the Ninevites (3:10) that Jonah perceives as ‘a great evil’ (4:1). This view finds support in 4:6, where God provides the qiqayon plant ‘to save him [Jonah] from his evil,’ since Yahweh will

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14 use the plant in his attempt to persuade Jonah that he was justified in saving Nineveh out of his pity (4:10–11).” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 351) The qal stem of this verb is stative and so is the active voice indicating that God’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites because they believed in Him and repented from their evil way of living existed in the state of being unjust in the judgment of Jonah. The imperfect tense and the conjunction wa form an adversative clause. The imperfect tense is used to describe this attitude of Jonah as temporally succeeding God’s decision to relent and not destroy Nineveh. We will translate the verb “it was unjust.” ale), “ to ,” whose object is the) ( אֶל ) Jonah ” is composed of the preposition ʾě l“ ”. yo-naw), “ Jonah) ( יוֹנָה ) masculine singular form of the proper noun yownah The proper noun yownah is the object of the preposition ʾě l, which expresses judgment or opinion indicating that God’s decision to not destroy Nineveh “in the judgment” or “opinion of” Jonah was unjust. We will translate this prepositional phrase “ in the opinion of Jonah .” “Greatly displeased ” is composed of the feminine singular form of the noun it displeased ” and the feminine singular form of the adjective “ ,( רָ עָה) (rā·ʿā(h ”. ga-dol), “ greatly) ( גָּדֹול) gā·ḏ ôl The noun rā·ʿā(h) means “unjust” and is referring to God’s decision to not destroy Nineveh. The adjective gā·ḏ ôl is modifying this noun and denotes that Jonah considered this decision by God as a “great” injustice. The noun rā·ʿā(h) functions as a cognate accusative meaning that it has the same root as the verb rā·ʿǎʿ . The cognate accusative amplifies its cognate verb. Thus, this noun is amplifying the meaning of the verb rā·ʿǎʿ and emphasizing it. This indicates that in the opinion of Jonah, God’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites because they believed in Him and as a result turned from their evil way of living, was a “great injustice.’ This cognate accusative construction emphasizes the intensity of Jonah’s displeasure with God’s decision to spare the Ninevites. Therefore, we will translate this expression “ a great injustice .” Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:1: “However, it was unjust in the opinion of Jonah, a great injustice…” Jonah 4:1, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. ” (NASU) ”, wa), “ and) ( וָ ) And he became angry ” is composed of the conjunction wa“ which is prefixed to the third person masculine singular qal imperfect form of the (lamed) ( לְ ) khaw-raw), “ became angry ” and the preposition le) ( חָרָ ה ) (verb ḥā·rā(h ”. who), “ he) ( ־הוּ) and the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû The conjunction wa introduces a result clause indicating that Jonah became infuriated “as a result of” considering God’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites a great injustice. Therefore, we will translate the conjunction “ so that .”

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The verb ḥā·rā(h) means “to be infuriated” and is used of Jonah’s great anger or rage with respect to God’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites. Lessing writes, “The idiom here uses the Qal (third masculine singular burn, be kindled, be hot,’ impersonally‘ , חָרָ ה imperfect with waw consecutive) of with third masculine) לְ with no stated subject), followed by the preposition) singular suffix), literally, ‘It was hot for him,’ referring to the heat of anger. This idiom portrays ‘the emotion as coming to the undergoer from outside’ (Waltke- O’Connor, § 22.7b; see example 3). This common idiom is used for both people ,Qal 1 b and 2 b , חָרָ ה .and God becoming inflamed with anger (BDB, s.v respectively). Twice in the chapter (4:3, 8–9) Jonah is ready to die; his emotional state is anger to the point of extreme depression. The Vulgate renders, Et iratus est , ‘And he was irate.’ Less accurate is the LXX, which translates, καὶ συνεχύθη (from συγχέω ), ‘and he was confused, bewildered.’ Elsewhere in the OT, another nose; anger’ as its subject: literally, ‘His‘ , אַף is with the noun חָרָ ה common use of nose became hot’ means ‘He [God or a person] became enraged’ (see BDB, s.v. frequently indicates anger toward people or חָרָ ה a and 2 a). The verb 1 , חָרָ ה circumstances (e.g., Num 24:10), sometimes out of jealousy, as in the case of Saul’s anger toward David (1 Sam 20:7; see also 20:30). Often Yahweh is the subject for the verb. He becomes angry when a person is uncooperative (Ex 4:14), disobedient (Josh 7:1), unfaithful (Ex 32:10), or ungrateful (Num 11:4–10). His anger goes hand-in-hand with his own self-proclaimed jealousy, ‘I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God’ (Ex 20:5; see also Deut 4:24; Ezek 36:6; Nahum 1:2). People can reflect this righteous divine anger. Moses becomes angry at the Israelites for making their idolatrous golden calf (Ex 32:19), and the ‘Spirit of God’ rushes upon Saul so that he becomes angry over the injustice that the Ammonites were threatening to do to the Israelites of Jabesh-gilead (1 Sam 11:6). However, Jonah’s anger is unrighteous. He is inflamed because Yahweh is not inflamed and does not destroy Nineveh, but instead saves the Ninevites by converting them to faith (3:5) made evident in their acts of repentance (3:5–9).” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 351-352) The qal stem of this verb ḥā·rā(h) is stative and so is the active voice indicating that Jonah existed in the mental attitude state of being infuriated with God’s decision to spare the Ninevites. The imperfect tense and the conjunction wa form a result clause. It is used to describe this attitude of Jonah as temporally succeeding God’s decision to relent and not destroy Nineveh. We will translate the verb “it was infuriating.” The third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû , “ he ” refers of course lamed), which) ( לְ ) to Jonah and means “him” and is the object of the preposition le is a marker of content as a means of specifying a particular referent, which in our context is Jonah. Therefore, we will translate this prepositional phrase “ to him .”

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Completed corrected translation of Jonah 4:1: “However, it was unjust in the opinion of Jonah, a great injustice so that it was infuriating to him.” To summarize, this verse begins the sixth scene in the narrative. It presents the contrast between Jonah’s angry reaction with what should have been his reaction, namely, joy and thanksgiving. The Lord’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites infuriated Jonah. This rage against the Lord was due to Jonah’s self- righteousness. He like Israel was no better than the Assyrians since there is none righteous according to God’s perfect holiness standards. Jonah was treated in grace and mercy by the Lord after Jonah rebelled against His command to go to Nineveh. Like the Ninevites, Jonah was worthy of death in the eyes of a holy God since both were disobedient. In fact, Jonah more so since he like the rest of Israel were given greater privileges by God (See Romans 9:1-5). They were given the Law in writing. The Gentiles did not have it in writing. Thus, Jonah stood more condemned than the Ninevites since he like the rest of Israel received greater revelation from God than the Ninevites and the rest of the Gentile world. The Gentiles had creation and the inherent law within them. However, the Jews not only had these things but also they were given the temple worship, their forefathers were the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were the recipients of the covenant promises made to these men since they were their racial descendants. The Lord promised that the Messiah would be a Jew. Therefore, Jonah, like the rest of Israel was under greater condemnation because they received greater revelation concerning God and His ways than the Ninevites who were Gentiles. The prophet thanked the Lord for exercising grace towards him. However, he is infuriated when God exercises that same grace towards those whom he considers to be more evil than him. Jonah repented with respect to his attitude towards God and in particular obeying Him as demonstrated in 3:1-4. However, he still hasn’t repented with respect to his attitude towards the Ninevites because he is self-righteous as demonstrated by his anger in 4:1-4.

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Jonah 4:2-Jonah Reveals His Motivation For Disobeying The Lord’s Command To Go To Nineveh And Announce Judgment Against It

The sixth scene in the book of Jonah began in Jonah 4:1, which records that Jonah thought it was an unjust decision by God, in fact, a great injustice, which made him furious that the Lord did not destroy Nineveh because the Ninevites believed in Him and repented from their evil way of living. Jonah 4:1, “However, it was unjust in the opinion of Jonah, a great injustice so that it was infuriating to him.” (My translation) This verse presents the contrast between Jonah’s angry reaction with what should have been his reaction, namely, joy and thanksgiving. The Lord’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites infuriated Jonah. This rage against the Lord was due to Jonah’s self-righteousness. He like Israel was no better than the Assyrians since there is none righteous according to God’s perfect holiness standards. Jonah was treated in grace and mercy by the Lord after Jonah rebelled against His command to go to Nineveh. Like the Ninevites, Jonah was worthy of death in the eyes of a holy God since both were disobedient. In fact, Jonah more so since he like the rest of Israel were given great privileges by God and greater revelation (See Romans 9:1-5). They were given the Law in writing. The Gentiles did not have it in writing. Thus, Jonah stood more condemned than the Ninevites since he like the rest of Israel received greater revelation from God than the Ninevites and the rest of the Gentile world. The Gentiles had creation and the inherent law within them. However, not only had these things but also they were given the temple worship, their forefathers were the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were the recipients of the covenant promises made to these men since they were their racial descendants. The Lord promised that the Messiah would be a Jew. Therefore, Jonah, like the rest of Israel was under greater condemnation because they received greater revelation concerning God and His ways than the Ninevites who were Gentiles. The prophet thanked the Lord for exercising grace towards him. However, he is infuriated when God exercises that same grace towards those he considers to be more evil than him. Jonah repented with respect to his attitude towards God and in particular obeying Him as demonstrated in 3:1-4. However, he still hasn’t repented with respect to his attitude towards the Ninevites because he is self-righteous as demonstrated by his anger in 4:1-4. Next, we will note Jonah 4:2, which for the first time reveals Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants. This verse records Jonah praying to God. In this prayer the prophet reveals the reason for his being infuriated that God relented

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18 from destroying the Ninevites. He also reveals why he refused to obey His command initially to go to Nineveh and instead went to Tarshish. Jonah says that he refused to go to Nineveh initially because he knew that God was gracious and merciful, slow to exercise His righteous indignation and transcendent in unconditional love and relents concerning threatened judgment. Jonah 4:1, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.’ 4 The Lord said, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry?’ 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life.’ 9 Then God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘I have good reason to be angry, even to death.’ 10 Then the Lord said, ‘You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?’” (NASU) Let’s look at verse 2. Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) ,(wa) ( וָ ) He prayed to the Lord and said ” is composed of the conjunction wa“ which is prefixed to the third person masculine singular hithpael middle imperfect paw-lal), “ he prayed ” and this is followed by the) ( פָּלַל ) form of the verb pā·lǎl ale), “ to ” and its object is the masculine singular form of the) ( אַל ) preposition ʾě l yeh-ho-vaw), “ the Lord ” and then we have the) ( יהוה ) proper noun Yahweh wa), “ and ,” which is prefixed to the) ( וָ ) epexegetical use of the conjunction wa

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-aw) ( אָמַר) third person masculine singular qal imperfect form of the verb ʾā·mǎr mar), “ said .” These same exact words appear in Jonah 2:1-2a. They were used with the addition of “Jonah” and spread over 2:1-2a to introduce the prophet’s song of thanksgiving. However, ironically, in Jonah 4:2 they are used to introduce a prayer that is an angry complaint by Jonah to the Lord for His decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites. Jonah 2:1, “Then , Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of this fish. 2 Specifically, he prayed , ‘I call out to the Lord because of my distress and as a result He answers me. I cry out for help from the belly of Sheol. He hears my voice.’” (My translation) In Jonah 4:2, the conjunction wa that is prefixed to the third person masculine paw-lal), “ he) ( פָּלַל ) singular hithpael middle imperfect form of the verb pā·lǎl prayed ” is not translated. The word is used to introduce a result clause that presents an action taken by Jonah that was the “result” of his considering it unjust of the Lord to not destroy Nineveh. Therefore, the word indicates that Jonah’s prayer in which he voices his complaint to the Lord for sparing the lives of the Ninevites was the “direct consequence” of considering the Lord’s decision to relent as unjust. We will translate the word “ then .” The verb pā·lǎl means “to pray” and does not give any indication as to what type of prayer this is. However, the prophet’s statements in verses 2 and 3 indicate that the prayer that Jonah offered to the Lord was an angry complaint. The hithpael stem indicates an active meaning for this verb. The imperfect tense of the verb is used of a past action from the perspective of the writer. It is used with the conjunction wa to form a result clause. We will translate pā·lǎl, “ prayed .” ale), “ to ” and the) ( אַל ) To the Lord ” is composed of the preposition ʾě l“ yeh-ho-vaw), “ the) ( יהוה ) masculine singular form of the proper noun Yahweh Lord .” The proper noun Yahweh is the “Lord ,” which emphasizes that Jonah possessed a covenant relationship with God. The member of the Trinity being referred to here is the Father since all prayer is to be directed towards Him. The term Yahweh is the object of the preposition ʾě l, which functions as a marker of direction indicating that Jonah prayed in the direction of Yahweh . We will translate the prepositional phrase “ to the Lord .” The conjunction wa that is prefixed to the third person masculine singular qal aw-mar), “ said ” is epexegetical) ( אָמַר) imperfect form of the verb ʾā·mǎr introducing a clause that explains the previous clause identifying for the reader specifically the content of Jonah’s prayer to the Lord. Therefore, we will translate the word “ specifically .”

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The verb ʾā·mǎr means “to pray” since the previous clause says that Jonah prayed to the Lord and the epexegetical clause to follow identifies the specific content of Jonah’s prayer. The qal stem of the verb is fientive expressing an action on the part of Jonah. The active voice indicates that Jonah as the subject performs the action of offering to the Lord a prayer in the form of a complaint. The imperfect tense speaks of this action of Jonah as taking place in past time from the perspective of the writer. It is used with the conjunction wa to form an epexegetical clause. Therefore, we will translate the verb “ he prayed .” Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed…” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) ,(awn-naw) ( אָנָּא ) (Please Lord ” is composed of the interjection ʾān·nā(ʾ“ yeh-ho-vaw), “ the) ( יהוה ) please ” and the masculine singular proper noun Yahweh“ Lord .” The interjection ʾān·nā(ʾ) is a marker of emphasis upon this request made by Jonah to Yahweh . We will translate this expression “ Oh Lord .” ( הֲ־) Was not this what I said ” is composed of the interrogative pronoun hǎ“ low), “ not ” and the demonstrative) ( *א) (ha), “ was ” and the negative particle lō(ʾ) zeh), “ this ” and the masculine singular construct form of the) ( זֶה ) (pronoun zě(h daw-bawr), “ what said ” and the first person singular pronomial) ( דָּבָר ) noun dā·ḇār ”.an-ee), “ I) ( אֲנִי) suffix ǎnî The interrogative pronoun hǎ introduces a rhetorical question and is employed with the negative particle lō(ʾ) to form a rhetorical question, which serves as an indictment. The demonstrative pronoun zě(h) refers to the Lord’s decision to spare the lives of the Ninevites because they believed in Him and repented from their evil way of living. They believed in the sense that they repented of their evil way of living and lived in obedience to the inherent law within them. The noun dā·ḇār refers to the inner speech or thought of Jonah since nowhere in the book of Jonah does it record that the prophet argued audibly with God. This thought or belief or conviction about the Lord is the Lord’s gracious character towards sinners as indicated by the causal clause later on in the verse. The pronomial suffix ǎnî refers of course to Jonah. literally means “Is this not ( הֲלוֹא־זֶה דְבָרִ י ) The expression hǎ lô( ʾ) z ě(h) ḏeḇār î exactly what I said?” However, it can be rendered idiomatically “this is exactly

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21 what I thought would happen” since the rhetorical question implies a positive answer. Therefore, we will render it as an emphatic declaration in the translation. The phrase “would happen” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied to smooth out the translation and provide clarity. Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) ode), “ still ” and) ( עַד ) While I was still ” is composed of the preposition ʿǎḏ “ ,(haw-yaw) ( הָיָה ) (the qal active infinitive construct form of the verb hā·yā(h ”.an-ee), “ I) ( אֲנִי) while was ” and the first person singular pronomial suffix ǎnî“ The preposition ʿǎḏ means “when” and is used of an event in the past. It is employed with the infinitive construct form of the verb hā·yā(h) . Together they form a temporal clause that refers to a thought of Jonah’s prior to the Lord ordering him to go to Nineveh and pronounce judgment against its inhabitants. This temporal clause indicates the time when Jonah thought that the Lord would refrain from destroying the Ninevites if they believed in Him and then repented from their evil way of living. This temporal clause is therefore, referring to Jonah residing in the land of Israel when he received his marching orders from the Lord to go to Nineveh. The first person singular pronomial suffix ǎnî refers of course to Jonah. The verb hā·yā(h) refers to living in a particular place, which in our context refers to Jonah’s homeland, Israel. The qal stem and the active voice of the verb are stative referring to Jonah existing in a state of living in his homeland, Israel prior to the Lord ordering him to Nineveh. We will translate this temporal clause “ when I was living .” al), “ in ” and the) ( עַל ) In my own country ” is composed of the preposition ʿǎ l“ ,(ad-aw-maw) ( אֲדָמָה ) (feminine singular construct form of the noun ʾǎḏā·mā(h ”. an-ee), “ my) ( אֲנִי) country ” and the first person singular pronomial suffix ǎnî“ The preposition ʿǎ l is a marker of location or place indicating the place or location in which Jonah was staying when he held the conviction that the Lord is gracious in character prior to the Lord ordering him to Nineveh. The word’s object is the noun ʾǎḏā·mā(h) , which means “home country” or “homeland” and refers to the nation of Israel. The first person singular pronomial suffix ǎnî functions as a possessive pronoun indicating that Israel “belongs to” Jonah in the sense that it is his homeland. We will translate this prepositional phrase “ in my own country .”

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Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) ( כֵּן ) al) and the adverb kēn) ( עַל ) Therefore ” is composed of the preposition ʿǎ l“ (kane), which together establish a causal link between two clauses. They establish a causal relation between the clause it introduces and the kî clause that follows it. Therefore, these two words introduce the clause qid·d ǎm·tî ḇer ōaḥ t ǎr·šî·š ā(h) in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish .” They link this “ ,( לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְ שִׁישָׁה) clause with the clause kî y ā·ḏǎʿ ·tî kî ʾǎ t·t ā(h) ḥǎ n·nûn w r ǎ·ḥûm ʾēl, ʾě ·r ěḵ כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל־ חַנּוּן וְרַ חוּם אֶרֶ 6 אַפַּיִם ) (ʾǎ p·p ǎ·yim w r ǎḇ ḥě ·s ěḏ , w ni· ḥām ʿǎ l r ā·ʿā(h for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate “ ,( וְרַ ב־חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל־הָרָ עָה God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity .” Thus, Jonah is saying that he fled to Tarshish to prevent the Lord from sparing the lives of the Ninevites “because” he knew that the Lord was gracious and merciful, slow to exercise His righteous indignation and transcendent in unconditional love and one who relents concerning judgment. We will translate these two words “ for this reason .” “In order to forestall ” is composed of the first person singular piel active kaw-dam), which is used in a temporal) ( קָדַם ) perfect form of the verb qā·ḏǎ m sense and means “to do something previously.” Therefore, it indicates what Jonah (lamed) ( לְ ) did previously, which is identified for the reader with the preposition le .(baw-rakh) ( בָּרַ ח ) and the qal active infinitive construct form of the verb bā·rǎḥ qadam ) in the Piel stem has a broad ) קָדַם The NET Bible writes, “The verb range of meanings and here could mean: (1) ‘to go before, be in front of’ (1 Sam 20:25; Ps 68:26); (2) ‘to do [something] beforehand,’ (Ps 119:147); or (3) ‘to anticipate, to do [something] early, forestall [something]’ (Ps 119:148). The lexicons nuance Jonah 4:2 as ‘to do [something] for the first time’ (HALOT 1069 The phrase .(3 קָדַם .or ‘to do [something] beforehand’ (BDB 870 s.v (4 קדם .s.v qiddamti livroakh , ‘I did the first time to flee’) is an idiom that ) קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ probably means ‘I originally fled’ or ‘I fled the first time.’ The infinitive construct to flee’) functions as an object complement. This phrase is translated‘) לִבְרֹחַ variously by English versions, depending on the category of meaning chosen for to do [something] for the first time, beforehand’: ‘That is why I fled‘ (1) : קָדַם beforehand’ (JPS, NJPS), ‘I fled before’ (KJV), ‘I fled previously’ (NKJV), ‘I fled

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23 at the beginning’ (NRSV), ‘I first tried to flee’ (NJB), ‘I fled at first’ (NAB); (2) ‘to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]’: ‘That is why I was so quick to flee’ (NIV), ‘I hastened to flee’ (ASV), ‘I made haste to flee’ (RSV), ‘I did my best to run away’ (TEV); and (3) ‘to anticipate, forestall [something]’: ‘it was to forestall this that I tried to escape to Tarshish’ (REB), ‘to forestall it I tried to escape to Tarshish’ (NEB), ‘in order to forestall this I fled’ (NASB). The ancient versions also handle it variously: (1) ‘to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]’: ‘Therefore I made haste to flee’ (LXX), ‘That is why I hastened to run away’ (Tg. Jonah 4:2); and (2) ‘to go before, to be in front’: ‘Therefore I went before to flee to Tarshish’ (Vulgate). The two most likely options are (1) ‘to do [something] the first time’ = ‘This is why I originally fled to Tarshish’ and (2) ‘to anticipate, forestall [something]’ = ‘This is what I tried to forestall [= prevent] by fleeing to Tarshish.’” here first) קָדַם Lessing has the following comment, he writes, “The Piel of can mean ‘go before, in front’ in either a spatial ( קִרַּ֖מְתִּי :common singular perfect sense (BDB, 2; HALOT, 3) or in a temporal sense, as here (BDB, 3; HALOT, 4), ‘to do something earlier, beforehand, previously.’ What Jonah previously did is . לְ to flee,’ with the preposition‘ , בָּרַ ח then denoted by the Qal infinitive construct of was used in 1:3 in the purpose clause ( ֣לִבְר ֹחַ ) The same form of the same verb was used in בֹרֵ֔ חַ stating that Jonah arose ‘to flee’ to Tarshish. The Qal participle ,Tarshish,’ occurred in 1:3 three times‘ , תַּרְ שִׁישׁ ’.to describe Jonah as ‘fleeing 1:10 to Tarshish.’ Thus Jonah’s‘ ,( ◌ָה ) twice (as here) with directional ending terminology here precisely matches the description of his behavior in chapter 1. with an adverbial meaning (denoting ( קִרַּ֖מְתִּי Often when a finite Hebrew verb (here the finite verb ,( ֣לִבְר ֹחַ time, manner, etc.) is followed by an infinitive construct (here functions as a subordinate auxiliary and is best translated adverbially, while the infinitive conveys the most important action and is best translated as a finite verb. See Waltke-O’Connor, § 36.2.1d, including examples 13–15; GKC, § 114 m, ,probably means קִרַּ֖מְתִּי ֣לִבְר ֹחַ ,especially footnote 2 (cf. Joüon, § 124 n). Therefore literally, ‘I did beforehand to flee,’ hence, ‘I previously fled’ (similar are KJV, NKJV). Alternatively, it could mean ‘I quickly fled’ (similar are RSV, ESV, NIV) or perhaps ‘in order to forestall this I fled’ (NASB). The LXX translates, προέφθασα τοῦ φυγεῖν, which probably means ‘I anticipated this and so fled,’ since προφθάνω can mean ‘to act with foresight or in anticipation’ (LEH).” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 353) Therefore, the verb qā·ḏǎ m is used in an adverbial and temporal sense meaning “to do something previously.” What Jonah did previously is identified for the reader by the verb bā·rǎḥ , which means “flee, run away, escape, i.e. make linear movement away from something.” Here in Jonah 4:2 as was the case in Jonah 1:3

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 and 10, the verb refers to Jonah “fleeing” to Tarshish to avoid going to the great city of Nineveh and announcing judgment against its inhabitants. The piel stem of the verb qā·ḏǎ m is factitive meaning that the subject causes its direct object to enter a state that can be described by the same verb in the qal. This stem indicates that Jonah as the subject caused himself to enter the state of fleeing to Tarshish. The active voice of the verb means that Jonah as the subject performs the action of the verb. The perfect tense of the verb speaks of a completed action in the past. We will translate the verb qā·ḏǎ m, “ I previously ” since when a finite Hebrew with an adverbial meaning (here denoting time) is followed by an ( קִרַּ֖מְתִּי verb (here the finite verb functions as a subordinate auxiliary ,( ֣לִבְר ֹחַ infinitive construct (here and is best translated adverbially, while the infinitive conveys the most important action and is best translated as a finite verb. (See Waltke-O’Connor, § 36.2.1d, including examples 13–15; GKC, § 114 m, especially footnote 2 (cf. Joüon, § 124 n)). The preposition le precedes the verb bā·rǎḥ and together they form an infinitive construct that functions as the object of the verb qā·ḏǎ m. This is customarily called a verbal complement indicating that the preposition le and the verb qā·ḏǎ m are completing the situation of the verb qā·ḏǎ m or its thought. The active voice of the verb indicates that Jonah, as the subject, performs the action of fleeing to Tarshish. The qal stem is fientive expressing an action that Jonah is performing. We will translate this prepositional phrase “ fled .” “To Tarshish ” is composed of the masculine singular form of the proper which is traceable back to tart (uli ), an Iberian ,( תַּרְ שִׁישׁ) geographic noun tǎr·šîš place-name, which occurs in Neo-Assyrian sources (Kur Tar-si-si) and in Greek Tartessus. Tarshish was one of the coastal territories or islands west of Palestine. The Septuagint identified Tarshish with Carthage but most locate it in Spain at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, which produced silver, iron, tin and lead (cf. Ezekiel 27:12). In Jonah 1:3, it is probably Tartessus in southern Spain, approximately 2,500 miles west of Joppa. Constable writes, “Tarshish was the name of a great-grandson of Noah through Noah's son Japheth and Japheth's son Javan (Gen. 10:1-4). From then on in the Old Testament the name describes both the descendants of this man and the territory where they settled (cf. 1 Kings 10:22; 22:48; 1 Chron. 7:10). The territory was evidently a long distance from Israel and on the Atlantic coast of southwest Spain (cf. 4:2; Isa. 66:19). It also contained mineral deposits that its residents mined and exported to Tyre and probably other places (Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 27:12). Since the Hebrew word tarshishu means smelting place or refinery, several such places on the Mediterranean coast bore this name. Therefore it is impossible to locate the

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 25 exact spot that Jonah proposed to visit. The identification of Tarshish with Spain is very old going back to Herodotus, the Greek historian, who referred to a Tartessus in Spain. In any case, Jonah sought to flee by ship from Joppa on Israel's Mediterranean coast and to go to some remote destination that lay in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Joppa stood about 35 miles southwest of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Nineveh lay about 550 miles northeast of Samaria.” (Constable, Thomas L., Notes on Jonah-2009 Edition, page 9; copyright 2009; Published by Sonic Light: http://www.soniclight.com/ ) תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ The NET Bible commenting on Tarshish, write, “The place-name (tarshish , ‘Tarshish’) refers to a distant port city or region (Isa 23:6; Jer 10:9; Ezek 27:12; 38:13; 2 Chr 9:21; 20:36, 37) located on the coastlands in the Mediterranean west of Palestine (Ps 72:10; Isa 23:6, 10; 66:19; Jonah 1:3; see BDB 1076 s.v. E.a). Scholars have not established its actual תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ .HALOT 1798 s.v ; תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ location (HALOT 1797 s.v. B). It has been variously identified with Tartessos in southwest Spain (Herodotus, Histories 1.163; 4.152; cf. Gen 10:4), Carthage (LXX of Isa 23:1, 14 and Ezek 27:25), and Sardinia (F. M. Cross, ‘An Interpretation of the Nora Stone,’ BASOR 208 [1972]: 13-19). The ancient versions handle it with Carthage/ Καρχηδών ( karch ēdōn; Isa תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ variously. The LXX identifies is rendered ‘Africa’ in תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ Ezek 27:12; 38:13). The place name ;14 ,10 ,6 ,23:1 the Targums in some passages (Tg. 1 Kgs 10:22; 22:49; Tg. Jer 10:9) and elsewhere as ‘sea’ (Isa 2:16; 23:1, 14; 50:9; 66:19; Ezek 27:12, 25; 38:13; Jonah 4:2). The Jewish Midrash Canticles Rabbah 5:14.2 cites Jonah 1:3 as support for the view that Tarshish = ‘the Great Sea’ (the Mediterranean). It is possible that does not refer to one specific port but is a general term for the distant תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ Mediterranean coastlands (Ps 72:10; Isa 23:6, 10; 66:19). In some cases it seems to as ‘[he arose to תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ mean simply ‘the open sea’: (1) the Tg. Jonah 1:3 translates flee] to the sea’; (2) Jerome’s commentary on Isa 2:16 states that Hebrew scholars topaz’ (BDB‘ , תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ as ‘sea’; and (3) the gem called II תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ in his age defined 1076 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.) in Exod 28:20 and 39:13 is rendered ‘the color of the אֳנִיּוֹת sea’ in Tg. Onq. (see D. Stuart, Hosea-Jonah [WBC], 451). The designation oniyyot tarshish , ‘Tarshish-ships’) referred to large oceangoing vessels’ ) תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ equipped for the high seas (2 Chr 9:21; Ps 48:8; Isa 2:16; 23:1, 14; 60:9; Ezek 27:25) or large merchant ships designed for international trade (1 Kgs 10:22; is תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ Chr 9:21; 20:36; Isa 23:10; HALOT 1798 s.v. E.b). The term 2 ;22:49 derived from the Iberian tart[uli] with the Anatolian suffix –issos /essos , resulting is תַּ רְ שִׁ ישׁ in Tartessos (BRL2 332a); however, the etymological meaning of uncertain (see W. F. Albright, ‘New Light on the Early History of Phoenician תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ Colonization,’ BASOR 83 [1941]: 21-22 and note 29; HALOT 1797 s.v. I appears in sources outside the Hebrew Bible in Neo-Assyrian תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ A). The name KURTar-si-si (R. Borger, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons [AfO], 86, §57 line 10) and

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Greek Ταρτησσος ( tart ēssos ; HALOT 1797 s.v. C). Most English versions render ,as ‘Tarshish’ (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, NIV, NEB, NJB תַּרְ שִׁ ישׁ JPS, NJPS), but TEV, CEV render it more generally as “to Spain.” NLT emphasizes the rhetorical point: ‘in the opposite direction,’ though ‘Tarshish’ is mentioned later in the verse.”

Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country. For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) kee), “ for ” and the) ( כִּי ) For I knew that ” is composed of the conjunction kî“ yaw-dah), “ I) ( יָדַע) first person singular qal active perfect form of the verb yā·ḏǎʿ ”. kee), “ that) ( כִּי ) knew ” and the conjunction kî

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The conjunction kî is a marker of causation introducing an object clause that presents the reason why Jonah fled to Tarshish previously. Therefore, we will translate the word “ because .’ The verb yā·ḏǎʿ means “to known by faith,” thus “to hold a conviction” regarding God’s character. A “conviction” is a “strong persuasion or belief” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition). Convictions are beliefs which govern our behavior. The Christian’s convictions are to be based upon the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God. A biblical conviction comes about in a Christian when he or she has been fully convinced or convicted by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the Word of God with regards to the character and will of the Father regarding a particular subject and thus has decided to accept this teaching. Consequently, this teaching becomes a part of their conscience, i.e. their norms and standards and thus governs their conduct. A conviction is a decision concerning what it is true about God’s character or His will for the Christian’s life, which in turn determines what the Christian should or should not do when faced with a particular situation or circumstance. Here in Jonah 4:2, the verb yā·ḏǎʿ refers to the conviction that Jonah possessed regarding the character of Yahweh. The qal active stem is stative and so is the perfect tense indicating that Jonah as the subject exists in the state of having a conviction about God’s character. We will translate the verb “ I am of the conviction .” The conjunction kî appears a second time and this time introduces a direct object clause, which refers to a clause that is the direct object of the verb yā·ḏǎʿ . “You ” is the first person masculine singular form of the pronomial suffix .aw-thaw), which refers of course to Yahweh) ( אַתָּה ) (ʾǎ t·tā(h “Are ” does not translate a word in the Hebrew text but is correctly added by the translators since they correctly interpret the writer as using the figure of ellipsis haw-yaw), though) ( הָיָה ) meaning that the writers deliberately omits the verb hayah it is implied. The verb means “to possess certain inherent characteristics,” which are identified as being gracious, merciful, slow to exercise His righteous indignation, transcendent in unconditional love and one who relents from judgment. “Gracious and compassionate ” is composed of the masculine singular form of ( וָ ) khan-noon), “ gracious ” and the conjunction wa) ( חַנּוּן ) the adjective ḥǎ n·nûn -rakh) ( רַ חוּם ) wa), “ and ” and the masculine singular form of the adjective rǎ·ḥ ûm) oom), “ compassionate .” The adjective ḥǎ n·nûn means “gracious” and is used only of God in the Old Testament. The word denotes an action performed by God on behalf of man that is not merited by man but rather is an action that is based upon and originates from His attribute of love. The word speaks of God’s grace policy. It describes God as

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 28 imparting unmerited blessings to sinners based upon the merits of the object of the sinner’s faith. Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross. It is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God. Grace means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the Cross. It excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none. By means of faith, we accept the grace of God, which is a non-meritorious system of perception, which is in total accord with the grace of God. Grace and faith are totally compatible with each other and inseparable (1 Tim. 1:14) and complement one another (Rom. 4:16; Eph. 2:8). Grace, faith and salvation are all the gift of God and totally exclude all human works and ability (Eph. 2:8-9). Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” The unique Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross- is the source of grace (2 Cor. 8:9) and He is a gift from the Father (2 Cor. 9:15). 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Jesus Christ was full of “ grace and truth ” (John 1:17) and the believer receives the grace of God through Him (John 1:16). John 1:16-17, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” It is by the grace of God that Jesus Christ died a substitutionary spiritual death for all mankind (Heb. 2:9). Therefore, the throne in which Christ sits is a “ throne of grace ” (Heb. 4:16). Hebrews 2:10, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

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Hebrews 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The grace of God has been extended to every member of the human race because of the act of love and justice on the Cross. At the Cross, the Father imputed the sins of every person in history-past, present and future to the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the Cross and judged Him as a substitute for the entire human race (Titus 2:11). Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” The message of God’s saving act in Christ is described as the “ gospel of the grace of God ” (Acts 20:24), and the “ word of His grace ” (Acts 20:32; cf. 14:3). By His grace, God justifies the undeserving and unworthy through faith in His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24). Romans 3:23-24, “For each and every person has sinned consequently, they are always failing to measure up to the glory originating from God with the result that they might, as an eternal spiritual truth, be undeservedly justified based upon His grace by means of the redemption, which is by means of the spiritual death of Christ who is Jesus.” Grace is an absolute and is no longer grace if we are saved on the basis of human works (Rom. 11:6). Romans 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are the recipients of three categories of grace: (1) “Antecedent” grace: The Father’s work in eternity past. (2) “Living” grace: Our spiritual life and its accompanying invisible assets. (3) “Eschatological” grace: Resurrection bodies and our eternal inheritance. Ephesians 1:3-14, “Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Person of Christ. When He elected us to privilege in Him before the foundation of the world for the purpose of being holy and blameless before Him. By means of divine love He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption for Himself according to grace purpose of His will. For the praise of the glory of His grace by means of which (grace) He has graced us out in the Person of the Beloved. In whom (the Beloved) we have the redemption through His blood (Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death), the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. From which (riches of

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His grace) He has directed infinite wealth toward all of us by means of all wisdom and perfect judgment. When He made known to all of us the mystery of His will according to His grace purpose, which He (the Father) purposed in Him (Christ). With respect to the dispensation of the fullness of the times to unite all things in the Person of Christ those in heaven and those on earth by means of Him (Christ). In whom also we have obtained an inheritance when we were predestined according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will. For the purpose of us being for the praise of His glory, those of us who have confidently placed their trust in the Person of Christ. In whom (the Person of Christ) you have confidently placed your trust after hearing the word of truth, namely, the gospel of your salvation, in the Person of whom (Christ), in fact, when you had trusted, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit who is the Promise who (the Holy Spirit) is the guarantee of our inheritance until the deliverance of the purchase possession (church) for the praise of His glory.” Therefore, since God has dealt graciously with the believer, the believer is in turn commanded to be gracious with all members of the human race, both believers and unbelievers (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; 4:6; 1 Thess. 3:12). Colossians 3:12-13, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” A Christian is someone who is a “ partaker ” of the grace of God (Phil. 1:7) and he is to live by the same principle of grace after salvation (Col. 2:6; Rom. 6:4). Grace is the Christian’s sphere of existence (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; Col. 1:2). The believer who rejects this principle is said to have “ fallen from grace ,” (Gal. 5:1- 5). God in His grace and love disciplines the believer in order to get the believer back in fellowship with Himself (Heb. 12:5-12). He also trains the believer through undeserved suffering in order to achieve spiritual growth (2 Cor. 12:7-11). 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” The believer is commanded to “ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (2 Pet. 3:18). The believer experiences the grace of God while in fellowship with God, which is accomplished by obedience to the Word of God. God in His grace has given the believer the ability to learn and apply bible doctrine through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in order to achieve spiritual maturity (Jn. 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 2:9-16).

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God in His grace has provided the church with the spiritual gift of pastor- teacher to communicate the mystery doctrine for the church age, which produces spiritual growth (Eph. 3:1-5; 4:8-12, 16). The Christian life from beginning to end is built upon God's policy of grace (2 Cor. 6:1-9; Rom. 5:2; John 1:16). The grace of God has been manifested and revealed to the entire human race in time through the following: (1) Unique Theanthropic Person of Jesus Christ (2) Salvation work of Christ on the Cross (3) Word of God (4) Holy Spirit’s various salvation and post-salvation ministries. God the Father according to His grace policy has provided the unbeliever the spiritual gift of evangelism and the royal ambassadorship of believers as the vehicles that God the Holy Spirit employs to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ for their salvation (Jn. 16:7-11; Eph. 4:11; 2 Cor. 5:17-21). God the Father according to His grace policy has provided the believer with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher as the vehicle, which the Holy Spirit employs to communicate the Word of God, which produces spiritual growth (Eph. 3:1-5; 4:8- 12, 16). God the Father according to His grace policy has provided the human race the Word of God and the Spirit of God, which reveal His plan from eternity past (Word: 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; Spirit: Jn. 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 2:9-16). In relation to the unbeliever, God the Father’s gracious provision of salvation based upon faith in the merits of the Person and Work of Christ on the Cross-is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Gospel. In relation to the believer, the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God reveals all the benefits of God the Father’s gracious provision for their salvation. The Spirit of God through the communication of the Word of God reveals all that the Father has graciously done and provided for the believer to do His will. Therefore, we learn about the grace of God by listening to the Spirit’s voice, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God. Colossians 1:3-6, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard by means of the word of truth , the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as {it has been doing} in you also since the day you heard {of it} and understood the grace of God by means of truth .” The Word of God informs the believer of all that God the Father has provided for the believer through Person, Work and Life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals the will of the Father through the communication of the Word of God (Acts 21:11; 28:25; 1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:7; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17; 3:6, 13, 22).

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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is not only His impeccable unique Person and Work on the Cross but also it is the gift of His Words, His thoughts as communicated to the believer by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:16, “For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we possess the mind of Christ.” The Spirit does not operate independently from the Word of God when He is actively working on behalf of the believer. John 16:13-15, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose {it} to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose {it} to you.” God the Holy Spirit in common grace makes the Gospel message understandable to the unbeliever (John 16:7-11; 1 Cor. 2:10-15). God in His grace has to seek after spiritually dead human beings who have no ability to seek Him (Rom. 3:11; 5:6-11; Eph. 2:1-5). God the Father is the author of the salvation plan of God for sinful mankind that is based upon His grace policy and is executed by God the Son and revealed by the Holy Spirit. The attributes of each member of the Trinity are involved in grace in that the grace of God is expressed through the harmonious function of all God’s divine attributes in relation to both men and angels. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal and all with the same divine essence. God is not only a unity of three Persons, all with same divine essence but also the essence of God is a unity of invisible attributes, never working independently of each other. If they did work independently of each other, this would corrupt the integrity of the divine essence. Each of the divine attributes has a role to play in man’s salvation. Grace involves the attributes of each member of the Trinity providing in imparting unmerited blessings to the believer at the moment of salvation without compromising the divine integrity. They are also involved in providing the unbeliever the opportunity to receive these unmerited blessings by exposing them to the Gospel of grace. Grace is God giving of Himself (His holiness) in order to benefit all mankind. Grace is the sum total of unmerited benefits, both temporal and spiritual, imparted to the sinner through the harmonious function of the sum total of divine attributes of each member of the Trinity as a result of the sinner making the non-meritorious decision to trust in the Person and Work of Christ on the Cross. This is why John

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 33 writes the following: John 1:16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace .” God manifested His grace towards the Ninevites in that He treated them better than they deserved and spared their lives when they exercised faith in Him as manifested by the fact that they repented from their evil way of living. The adjective rǎ·ḥ ûm is used of God and means “merciful” in the sense that He is compassionate towards sinners and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in Son Jesus Christ. Mercy is God acting upon His policy of grace and withholding judgment. The mercy of God is a manifestation of Who God is and is thus helps to compose His glory (Ex. 34:7). Psalm 86:15, “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” Psalm 119:156, “Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances.” Psalm 145:8-9, “The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.” James 5:11, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” God’s love is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7). Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches us that God’s attribute of love causes Him to be “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them when they believe in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:1-7, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” David acknowledged and expressed in his song that God had been merciful to him (Ps. 30:1-3; Ps. 86:15; 103:1-14).

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The Lord Jesus Christ perfectly manifested the mercy and compassion of God since He is the love of God incarnate who manifested perfectly the character and nature of God, and thus has explained the love of God (cf. Jn. 1:18). The mercy of God as an expression of the love of God was manifested perfectly to the entire human race through the Father’s sacrifice of His Son at the cross of Calvary and the Son’s willingness to be that sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ revealed the love of God through His mercy and compassion towards members of the human race during His First Advent (Mt. 9:27, 36; 14:14; 15:22, 32; 17:15; 20:30-31, 34; 23:37; Mk. 1:41; 5:19; 6:34; 8:2; 10:47-48; Lk. 7:13; 10:33; 15:20; 17:13; 18:38-39; Lk. 7:13; Jn. 11:35). The mercy of God is related to the believer’s salvation since God saved us on the basis of His mercy and not on the basis of human merit or actions (Tit. 3:5). Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy , by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” God has been merciful to all believers in that He sent His Son to the cross while we were yet sinners. Romans 5:6-8, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The Lord taught His disciples to imitate the Father in being compassionate towards their enemies. Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Mercy and compassion are chief tenants of the royal family honor code (Matthew 5:7; Jn. 15:9-13; Rm. 12:8; 12:1; 12:9-16; 15:1-2; Ga. 6:2; Eph. 4:30-32; Col. 3:12-14; Jam. 2:8; 1 Jn. 4:16-18; Jude 22). The Lord was merciful towards the Ninevites in that He did not destroy them because of their disobedience to His law inherent within them but withheld judgment when they exercised faith in Him and repented from their evil way of living. The adjective ḥǎ n·nûn , “ gracious ” and the adjective rǎ·ḥ ûm , “ compassionate ” both appear in Exodus 34:6-7. Exodus 34:6, “The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 35 iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” (NET) Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.” (NET) Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful ; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.” (NET) Psalm 145:8, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate ; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.” (NET) Nehemiah 9:17, “They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate , slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious blasphemies.” (NET) Joel 2:13, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate , slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment.” (NET) ,(el-o-heem) ( אֱ*הִים) God ” is the masculine plural form of the noun ʾělō·hîm“ which emphasizes the transcendent character of God and in particular His attribute of love from which flows His mercy and grace. The narrator uses ělō·hîm rather than Yahweh since he wants to emphasize that the Ninevites who were Gentiles were not members of the covenant nation of Israel. It is also used to emphasize that Yahweh is God, the only true God. Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country. For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish because You are a gracious and merciful God…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) “Slow to anger ” is composed of the masculine singular construct form of the aw-rake), “ slow to ” and the masculine dual singular form of the) ( אָרֵ noun ʾā·rēḵ ( 6 ”. af), “ anger) ( אַף ) noun ʾǎ p̄ The noun ʾā·rēḵ means “slow” and the noun ʾǎ p̄ refers to the nostril, the face, an opening of the body or the body itself. From these fundamental meanings, other derived or extended meanings have developed. In Isaiah 2:22, the nostril is said to

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 36 be the necessary organ if life (breath) is to continue, underscoring the mortality of humans. If one’s “nose is kindled” it means he is angry. It seems that the development of the concept of anger in the ancient Near East follows the pattern of linguistic movement from words to overt focused emotion such as strong breathing or snorting, “red” connoting a flushed face or “nose.” Although this word is not the only one for “anger” in the Old Testament, it is the most frequently used term, occurring over 200 times. The connection between the nose as the external organ for breathing and its used in expressing emotion is evident when we recognize the association between the physiology of anger involving muscle contraction, increased rate of breathing, increase of adrenalin into the bloodstream, general bodily preparation for physical action-usually fight or flight; flushing face due to refocusing of blood supply, and similar bodily changes and the feeling of heat. The rate and manner of breathing is increased, focused and abrupt in anger conditions and the discernable result is often a kind of snorting. In Jonah 4:2, the noun ʾǎ p̄ means “anger” and is used in a figurative sense for God’s righteous indignation. This word speaks of God’s wrath, which is an expression of His holiness. “Wrath” in the Greek New Testament is the noun orge , which refers to God’s attitude of “righteous indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty. The difference between righteous indignation and anger is that the former is based upon concern for the holiness of God whereas the latter is emotional, selfish, self-centered, vindictive and intent on harming another. God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature. In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness. The holiness of God pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character or expressing the purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have nothing to do with sin or sinners. He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. The presence of evil, sin and injustice is totally absent in the character of God, thus God does not tolerate evil or sin because it is contrary to His character, i.e. His inherent moral qualities, ethical standards and principles. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “holiness” as “the quality or state of being holy; sanctity” and they define “sanctity” as, “sacred or hallowed character.”

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One of the definitions that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary gives for the adjective “holy” is, “entitled to worship or profound religious reverence because of divine character or origin or connection with God or divinity.” One of the definitions for the noun “character” that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary provides that applies to the context of our passage is the following: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual nature of some person or thing.” If we paraphrase these definitions, we would say that the God’s holiness refers to “the aggregate (i.e. sum total) of perfect features and traits that form the divine nature of God.” Therefore, God’s holiness refers to the absolute perfection of His character, expressing His purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and intolerance and opposition and rejection of sin and evil, thus God is totally separate from sin and sinners. Thus, God’s holiness is related to all of His divine attributes or in other words, it is simply the harmony of all His perfections or attributes. Therefore, God’s wrath, which is in reality, righteous indignation is an expression of His holiness, righteousness and love in opposition to sin and evil. God’s wrath or righteous indignation is used of God’s settled opposition to and displeasure against sin meaning that God’s holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form whatsoever. It is not the momentary, emotional, and often uncontrolled anger to which human beings are prone and does not refer to an explosive outburst but rather it refers to an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders, often unnoticed by others as in the case of God’s wrath. God hates sin so much and loves the sinner so much that He judged His Son Jesus Christ for every sin in human history-past, present and future and provided deliverance from sin through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The only way to avoid God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NASU) In Jonah 4:2, the nouns ʾā·rēḵ and ʾǎ p̄ literally mean “long of nose” but idiomatically they mean “slow to anger,” “slow to exercise righteous indignation.” Exodus 34:6, “The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger , and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” (NET)

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Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.” (NET) Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.” (NET) Psalm 145:8, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.” (NET) Nehemiah 9:17, “They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious blasphemies.” (NET) Joel 2:13, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment.” (NET) Therefore, in Jonah 4:2, the expression “slow to anger ” is composed of the ” aw-rake), “ slow to) ( אָרֵ masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾā·rēḵ ( 6 ,af), “ anger .” Together) ( אַף ) and the masculine dual singular form of the noun ʾǎ p̄ they mean “slow to exercise righteous indignation” since the phrase contains the figure of metonymy where God’s righteous indignation is used for the exercise of it. These two words speak of God’s patience towards sinners. Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country. For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish because You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to exercise righteous indignation…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) wa), “ and ” joins these two nouns with the masculine) ( וָ ) The conjunction wa rab), “ abundant in ” and the) ( רַ ב ) singular construct form of the noun rǎḇ ”. kheh-sed), “ lovingkindness) ( חֶסֶד ) masculine singular form of the noun ḥě· sěḏ The conjunction is used in an adjunctive sense indicating it is introducing an additional characteristic of God. The noun ḥě· sěḏ appears in Jonah 2:8 and in this passage Jonah is thanking the Lord for the mercy he received from Him even though he was disobedient to the Lord and refused to go to Nineveh and proclaim judgment against it.

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Jonah 2:8, “Those who, as a lifestyle worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy available to them. 9 But, in direct contrast I myself will offer a sacrifice with a song of thanksgiving. I will do what I promise. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (My translation) The prophet is thanking the Lord for “withholding judgment” against him by not killing him for his disobedience. However, in Jonah 4:2, ḥě· sěḏ also means “unconditional love” describing God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel. The word does not mean “merciful” since the description of God by Jonah is taken from Exodus 34:6-7, which uses the word of God’s love with respect to His covenant relationship with the Israelites. The New American Commentary, “The word ḥesed refers to the covenant love of God. This attribute expresses itself in redemption from sin. It encompasses the qualities of kindness, loyalty, and unfailing love. No one term in English adequately and accurately expresses the meaning of ḥesed .” (The New American Commentary: Amos, Obadiah, Jonah; pages 273-274) Hě·sěḏ is an attribute of God and thus originates with Him. 1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” God would continue to love even though there were no sinners because His attribute of love is a part of His divine essence. God’s love is an attribute but there are two kinds of attributes: (1) Absolute or intrinsic: those attributes that God possesses of Himself such as life and love. (2) Relative: those attributes related to His creation and especially men and angels. For example, by nature God is truth but when God relates that truth to man, God’s truth becomes faithfulness. Love is one of God’s intrinsic or absolute attributes but when His love is directed towards sinners, it becomes grace and mercy and compassion. Ephesians 2:4-7 teaches that is “God is rich in mercy” and in “grace” and these riches make it possible for sinners to be saved. We are not saved by God’s love but by His grace and mercy, which are expressions of His love. He treats us in a manner that we don’t deserve and this is made possible because of the spiritual death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross. God manifested at the cross, His hatred of sin and His love for sinners. Therefore, one of the attributes or characteristics of God’s love is that it is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7). Mercy characterizes God’s love.

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Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches that God exercised His attribute of love by being in rich in mercy in raising us up and seating us with Christ at His right hand while we were His enemies and enslaved to the sin nature and the devil. Ephesians 2:1, “Although, all of you were spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, 9 it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The greatest act of love by the God-Man was His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. The love of God is a gift to mankind since the Lord Jesus Christ is the Father’s gift to mankind and He is the love of God incarnate. The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man (John 1:18). All men are the objects of God’s impersonal love and all believers are the objects of His personal love. Impersonal meaning that God’s love does not need an attractive object. God’s love is able to love the obnoxious and those who are His enemies even to the point of self-sacrifice. Personal love means that believers are attractive to God since they have His holiness, the new Christ nature indwelling them. All church age believers are the objects of God’s love and the beneficiaries of this love. We are objects of God eternal love, which He manifested to us when He sent His Son into the world to die for ours sins so that we might live with Him for eternity. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of the immutable eternal unconditional self-sacrificial love of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The Greek adjective agapetos ( a)gaphtov$ ), “beloved” expresses this fact. All church age believers are the beneficiaries of God’s impersonal unconditional self- sacrificial love before salvation (John 3:16). They become the objects of God’s personal love after salvation. The imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation qualifies the believer to become the objects of God’s personal love. God loves the unbeliever

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 41 from His own integrity because the unbeliever does not possess the perfect righteousness, which would make them worthy of God’s personal love. The believer possesses the perfect divine righteousness, which qualifies them to be objects of God’s personal love. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of divine love because he possesses imputed divine righteousness, which makes the believer as holy as God. Imputed righteousness and eternal life enable the believer to enjoy and experience fellowship with God after salvation. Before salvation, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual death. At salvation, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature. 1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” The divine-love of the Trinity expressed itself through three categories of divine grace provision: (1) Antecedent grace: Election, Predestination, and Escrow Blessings (2) Living grace: Provisions to live the spiritual life. (3) Eschatological grace: Resurrection body, rewards, and Escrow Blessings. The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself through His work in eternity past on behalf of every church age believer: (1) Election (2) Predestination (3) Escrow Blessings (i.e. eternal inheritance). The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself through His work in time at the cross: (1) Redemption (2) Propitiation (3) Reconciliation. The divine-love of God the Holy Spirit expressed itself through His work from regeneration to resurrection: (1) Efficacious grace (2) Regeneration (3) Baptism of the Spirit (4) Indwelling of the Spirit (5) Filling of the Spirit (6) Sealing of the Spirit (7) Spiritual gifts (8) Mentorship of the Spirit (9) Fruit bearing. The divine-love of the Trinity expressed itself toward the Christian through the provision of sixty irrevocable gifts for them at the moment of salvation. The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself through His plan for the incarnation of the Son, which was designed to provide salvation for all mankind. The divine- love of God the Son expressed itself through His willingness to volunteer His services to execute the incarnation plan of God the Father. The divine-love of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union expressed itself through His voluntary spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for all mankind. The divine-love of the Holy Spirit expressed itself through His work of making the gospel understandable

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 42 at the point of salvation and also performing His seven salvation ministries when an individual believes in the Lord Jesus for salvation. Love is an attribute that helps to compose the essence of the Triune God. Essence means “inner nature, true substance, a person’s qualities or attributes,” and implies being or existence. Some of these qualities of a person are visible and some are invisible. God’s essence is made up of attributes, which are essential characteristics of the Trinity and without these qualities, God would not be who He is-God. We can only understand God’s essence through His attributes. The Scriptures teach that God is three co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal Persons with the same identical essence or attributes (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 6:3, 8; 48:16; John 10:30 cf. Ps. 110:1; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2). God is one in essence, three in Person. All the invisible attributes of God are always present in Him, but not all are revealed to man at the same time. We understand the personality of God from the Scriptures, which reveal the manifestations of His attributes. The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man who has explained the character and nature of God, and thus has explained the love of God perfectly since love is an attribute of God (cf. Jn. 1:18). John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time; the uniquely born God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” The love of God was manifested perfectly to the entire human race through the Father’s sacrifice of His Son at the cross of Calvary and the Son’s willingness to be that sacrifice. God manifested His attribute of love by raising the Christian up when the Christian was under real spiritual death and seating the Christian with Christ at His right hand (Eph. 2:1-10). The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself through His work in eternity past on behalf of every church age believer: (1) Election (2) Predestination (3) Eternal inheritance) (Eph. 1:1-14). The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself through His work in time at the Cross: Redemption: The Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross-purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin with His substitutionary spiritual death (Mark 10:45; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Propitiation: The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the righteousness of God with His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross-as the payment for our sins (Lev. 1; 16; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). Reconciliation: God’s peace treaty with the entire human race as a result of the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ the Cross which removed the Barrier which separated mankind from God (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:20-21). Mediatorship of Christ: Our Lord as the God-Man is the Peacemaker or Mediator between God and man (Eph. 2:14-16; 1 Tim. 2:5).

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At the present time, the Lord Jesus Christ is expressing His divine-love towards the believer through His Advocacy for the believer at the right hand of the Father where He defends the believer against the accusations of Satan. 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am providing information in writing at this particular time concerning these things for the benefit of all of you in order that all of you might not enter into committing an act of sin. Now, if anyone does enter into committing an act of sin, then we possess as an Advocate with the Father, Jesus who is the righteous Christ.” The divine-love of God the Holy Spirit expresses itself through His seven salvation ministries on behalf of the believer: Efficacious Grace: Makes faith in Jesus Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:1-2; Eph. 2:8-9). Regeneration: Creates a human spirit for the purpose of the imputation of eternal life (John 3:1-16; Titus 3:5). Baptism of the Spirit: Places every believer in union with Jesus Christ (John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5; 1 Pet. 3:21). Indwelling: Creates a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:16). Filling: Influences the soul of the believer in executing the plan of God for the church age (Eph. 5:18). Sealing: Puts His stamp on the believer to guarantee his salvation (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Distribution of Spiritual Gifts: Gives every believer a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:4- 11; 1 Pet. 4:10). God the Holy Spirit’s post-salvation ministries on behalf of the believer: Empowers the believer to execute the plan of God (Jo. 14:16, 26; Ga. 5:16, 25; Eph. 5:18; Phlp. 2:13). Reproduces Christ-like character (fruit of the Spirit) in the believer (Ga. 4:19; 5:5, 16-23). Teaches the believer the doctrines of Christ (Jo. 14:26; 1 Co. 2:10-16; 1 Jo. 2:20, 27). The fact that we are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal love after salvation is designed to not only bless us but also to encourage us when we go through adversity in life and also serves to challenge us to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God. The love of God has many characteristics: (1) Loyal (John 21:7, 15-16, 20; Rom. 8:35, 39; Eph. 5:28).(2) Self-sacrificial (John 3:16; 15:13; Gal. 2:20). (3) Eternal (John 17:26). (4) Kind (1 Cor. 13:4). (5) Not self-centered (bragging, jealous) (1 Cor. 13:4). (6) Immutable (Rm. 8:39). (7) Unconditional (Rm. 8:35, 39). (8) Faithful (Rm. 8:35, 39). (9) Compassionate (1 John 3:16-17). (10) Merciful

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(1 John 3:16-17). (11) Righteous and Just (Rm. 13:8-10). (12) Thoughtful and Considerate (Rm. 13:8-10). (13) Truthful or Honest (1 Cor. 13:6). (14) Long- suffering (1 Cor. 13:4). (15) Enduring (1 Cor. 13:7). (16) Confident in the Future (1 Cor. 13:7). (17) Forgiving (Eph. 4:32-5:2). (18) Tolerant (Eph. 4:2). (19) Giving (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20). (20) Encourages Others (1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11). (21) Prays for Others (Jam. 5:16). (22) Considers Others More Important Than Self (Phlp. 2:3). (23) Considerate Others (Phlp. 4:10-18). (24) Shares Another’s Burden in Adversity (Gal. 6:2). (25) Delights in Being Obedient to God (John 14:23-24). (26) Reciprocates (Phlp. 1:3-7). (27) Sincere (1 Pet. 1:22). God’s love is sacrificial. 1 John 3:16, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” God’s love is impersonal meaning that God does not need an attractive object to love since He simply loves from His own nature. Romans 5:8, “But, God (the Father), as an eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, proves His own divine-love for the benefit of all of us by the fact that while we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still sinners, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of all of us.” God’s love is immutable meaning that is never changes. Micah 7:18-20, “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old.” God’s love is eternal meaning it has not beginning and no end and is ever present. John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” God’s love is unconditional and faithful. Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s love is “forgiving” (Eph. 4:32-5:2). God’s love is “tolerant” of others (Eph. 4:2). His love intercedes for others in prayer (Jam. 5:16). God’s love is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7). His love is “forgiving” meaning that if we live according to

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God’s love we will pardon those who have sinned against us just as God in Christ granted us a free pardon and gave us the remission of our sins based upon the merits of the Person and Work of Christ on the Cross (Eph. 4:32-5:2). God’s love is “tolerant” meaning that if we live according to God’s love we will be able to put up with or endure with those whose opinions differ from one’s own (Eph. 4:2). His love is also “impersonal” meaning that God can love from His own divine nature sinners who are obnoxious and unattractive to Him. It is “giving” meaning that God in His love provided the entire human race eternal life as a gift, voluntarily and without expecting any compensation in return (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20). God’s love is “immutable” meaning that His love for us can never change (Rm. 8:39). It is “unconditional” meaning that no matter what sin the believer commits after salvation or how unfaithful the believer is after salvation, God will never ever disown the believer (Rm. 8:35, 39). God’s love is “faithful” meaning that He is true or eternally bound to His promise to save us through faith alone in Christ alone and keep us saved (Rm. 8:35, 39). It is “loyal” meaning that He is faithful to His promise to give us eternal salvation and is unswerving in His allegiance to us (John 21:7, 15-16, 20; Rom. 8:35, 39; Eph. 5:28). God’s love is “compassionate” meaning that God intensely desires and will act to alleviate the pain and suffering of another or remove its cause (1 John 3:16-17). It is “righteous” meaning that He is fair (Rm. 13:8-10). God’s love is “just” meaning that His love is based upon truth, justice and fairness (Rm. 13:8-10). It “encourages” others meaning that the one who operates in the love of God will inspire with confidence others and stimulate others by assistance and approval (1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11). God’s love “reciprocates” meaning that believers operating in God’s love will have a mutual exchange of care and concern for one another and will compliment one another gracefully and will return love for one another (Phlp. 1:3-7). It is “sincere” meaning that if we live according to God’s love we will be free from hypocrisy, deceit and will be genuine and real (1 Pet. 1:21-22). God’s love is “’magnanimous” meaning that the believer who lives according to God’s love will be generous in forgiving insults and injuries without being vindictive and becoming involved in petty resentfulness. Magnanimity is related to forgiveness (Col. 3:13-14). God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are inherently magnanimous. It is one of their attributes. The Lord Jesus Christ during His 1st Advent revealed this magnanimous character of the Trinity. The greatest manifestation of God’s magnanimity was at the Cross when every sin in human history, past, present and future was imputed to Christ on the Cross and He was judged as our substitute. Our Lord’s magnanimous

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 46 behavior was demonstrated during His 1st Advent by the manner in which He demonstrated the quality of being generous in forgiving insults and injury without being pettily resentful or vindictive. Luke 23:34, “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive all of them, for they know not what they are doing.’” He was noble in character, loving justice but not insisting upon the letter of the law in order to preserve the spirit of the law. The Lord was generous in forgiving insults and injuries without being vindictive and becoming involved in petty resentfulness. He was generous, tolerant, patient, moderate, courageous, and noble. He did not insist upon his own rights to the fullest but rectifies and redresses the injustices of justice. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, the apostle Paul provides us with some of the characteristics of God’s love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-4, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant.” “Is patient ” is the verb makrothumeo ( makroqumevw ). If the believer lives according to God’s love, he will be “patient” in the sense that he will endure provocation, annoyance, misfortune, pain without complaint, loss of temper, and will possess the ability and willingness to suppress restlessness and annoyance in waiting for God. “Is kind ” is the verb chresteuomai ( xrhsteuvomai ). If the believer lives according to God’s love, he will be “kind” in the sense that he will exercise a sympathetic attitude towards others and will possess a willingness to do good to others and be helpful and considerate towards others. “Is not jealous ” is composed of the emphatic negative particle ouk ( ou)jk ) and the verb zeloo ( zhlovw ). The believer who lives according to God’s love will not be “jealous” of others in the sense that he will not become resentful, intolerant and suspicious of another’s success, possessions or relationships. “Is not arrogant ” is composed of the emphatic negative particle ouk ( ou)jk ) and the verb phusioo ( fusiovw ). The believer who lives according to God’s love will not be “arrogant” or “proud” meaning that he will not have an exaggerated belief in his own importance and will not think or act as if he is superior to others. 1 Corinthians 13:5, “does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.”

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“Does not act unbecomingly ” is the emphatic negative particle ouk ( ou)k ), “not” and the verb aschemoneo ( a)sxhmonevw ), which means “to behave indecently, dishonorably, disgracefully.” The believer who operates in the love of God will do nothing, which would cause shame or disgrace and will be tactful and courteous. “It does not seek its own ” means that the God’s love is “unselfish” and thus is not concerned with one’s own interests, and concerns and is not without concern for others. God’s love considers others more important than oneself (Phlp. 2:3). Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” “Is not provoked ” means that God’s love is not “touchy” in the sense that it does not get exasperated with others or easily offended by others and is not provoked to anger and the loss of temper by the actions of others. “Does not take into account a wrong suffered ” meaning that if we live according to God’s love we will not keep a record of wrongs that others have committed against us in the past and therefore it denotes the concept of not holding grudges and not possessing an unforgiving spirit. 1 Corinthians 13:6, “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.” “Does not rejoice in unrighteousness ,” means that if we live according to God’s love we will not rejoice in those things (whether moral or immoral) in the cosmic system of Satan, which reject God’s Word. “Rejoices with the truth ,” means that the believer who lives according to the love of God will rejoice in the Word of God being taught regardless of who the communicator is. 1 Corinthians 13:7, “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” “Bears ” is the verb stego ( stevgw ), which originally meant “to cover over,’ and then, “to contain as a vessel.” From this latter meaning two metaphorical uses of the word are derived, either of which may be here adopted: (a) that love hides or is silent about the faults of others; (b) that love bears without resentment injuries inflicted by others. Therefore, there are two major dimensions to love’s consistent capacity to “hold up” rather than “fold up.” First, love bears up silently; that is, love covers sin with a cloak of silence. 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

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Love always bears up, no matter how great the persecution, suffering, or adversity. Job’s wife “tempted” him to sin by urging him to “curse God and die,” thus bringing his suffering to a conclusion. Love never caves in or collapses under duress and always holds up. “Believes all things ,” means that if we live according to the love of God we will trust in God’s care for us no matter how terrible the adversity we are going through or the circumstances surrounding us. “Hopes all things ” means that if we live according to the love of God we will have “confidence” in God because of our eternal relationship with Him, no matter how terrible the adversity we are facing or the circumstances surrounding us. “Endures all things ,” means that God’s love will persevere and endure adversity without complaining. 1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.” “Love never fails ,” means that God’s love is eternal and will endure forever. God’s love is “eternal” meaning it has not beginning and no end and is ever present (John 17:26). 1 Corinthians 13:9-13, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” If we compare 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 with the “ fruit of the Spirit ” recorded in Galatians 5:22-23, we will see that all of the characteristics of God’s love show up in that fruit. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Each element in the fruit of the Spirit is but a different facet of divine love. Joy is love’s song. Peace is love’s repose. Patience is love’s endurance. Kindness is love’s sympathy. Goodness is love’s self-forgetfulness. Gentleness is love’s forbearance. Faithfulness is love’s trustworthiness. Self-control is love’s discipline. Several of these characteristics of God’s love are directly related to the believer’s eternal security. God’s love is also “impersonal” meaning that when the believer becomes obnoxious and unattractive to God after salvation by living in his old Adamic sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan, God is still able to love the believer from His own integrity and will never disown the believer.

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God’s love is also “unconditional” meaning that no matter what sin the believer commits after salvation or how unfaithful the believer is after salvation, God will never ever disown the believer. God will discipline His children for sin if they do not confess sin but God will never disown His children. Hebrews 12:6, “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” Therefore, the “impersonal” and “unconditional” characteristics of God’s love are directly related to the eternal security of the believer. We have eternal security, as believers because God’s love is impersonal and unconditional meaning that no matter what sin the believer commits after salvation God will never ever disown the believer. The Lord Jesus Christ taught this principle to His disciples in His parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32). The fact that God’s love is unconditional insures the fact that the believer can never lose his salvation because of any act of sin since God judged His Son for every sin in human history at the cross-past, present and future because of His great love for all men (Rm. 5:6-11). If the believer could lose his salvation for a sin that Christ was already judged for as our Substitute, then God would be unjust and would not be acting in accordance with His own perfect virtue and integrity. Therefore, He would not be acting in love and since God is love, He would be denying Himself or who and what He is. For God to deny Himself by disowning the believer for any sin he commits after salvation would be impossible since God’s love is “immutable” meaning that it never changes towards us. Because God is immutable, His love is immutable. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Because His Son was judged as our Substitute at the cross, the Father was free to render the believer justified when he exercised faith in His Son for salvation and He would be unfair if He rescinded that decision that He made at the moment of salvation. Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, because we have been justified by means of faith as a source, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, always have peace in the presence of God through our Lord who is Jesus, who is the Christ. Through whom also, we have as a permanent possession access to this gracious benefit in which we forever stand and in addition we make it a habit to rejoice upon the confident expectation of sharing God’s glory.” The believer has eternal security because he is in union with Christ.

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Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now, as an eternal spiritual truth, never any condemnation, none whatsoever for the benefit of those in union with Christ who is Jesus.” If the believer could lose his salvation for any sin he committed after salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ would in effect be lying since He said the following: John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Because God is love is based upon truth, He will never lie to us. Hebrews 6:17-18, “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” God would be denying Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ would be a liar if the believer could lose his salvation through any act of sin he committed after salvation (Jn. 17:12; 2 Tim. 2:11-13). As we noted God’s love is “faithful.” Psalm 31:23-24, “O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” God’s love is faithful, unconditional, impersonal, immutable and truthful towards the believer after salvation no matter how unfaithful the believer becomes after salvation because love is who God is. 1 John 4:16, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Therefore, there is nothing after salvation the believer could do that would separate him from the love of God (Rm. 8:28-39). To say that you can lose your salvation is to say that God does not love you and if that is the case, then God is not love. Therefore, the believer’s salvation is as strong as the love of God. In Jonah 4:2, the noun rǎḇ means “transcendent,” which means “to go beyond ordinary limits of; overpass; exceed.” This Hebrew noun suggests the element of excess and fullness that overflows the set bounds. In this process of overflowing,

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 51 the existing standards and rules are transcended and what was comparable becomes incomparable. Corrected translation thus far of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country. For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish because You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to exercise righteous indignation as well as transcendent in unconditional love…’” Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” (NASU) wa), “ and ” joins the nouns rǎḇ and ḥě· sěḏ to the) ( וָ ) The conjunction wa -naw) ( נָחַם ) masculine singular niphal passive participle form of the verb nā·ḥǎ m kham), “ relent .” The conjunction is used in an adjunctive sense indicating it is introducing an additional characteristic of God. The verb nā·ḥǎ m means “to relent” in the sense of ceasing from taking a particular course of action, usually with emphasis upon a gracious act. Here the word is used of course with God as its subject. Therefore, the verb refers to God graciously not acting upon His decision to judge or condemn whether an individual, a group of individuals, or a nation. The niphal stem is causative-reflexive meaning that the subject causes the action to happen to himself. God is the subject here. So the niphal stem indicates that the action of the sinner turning to Him in faith and turning from their evil way of living causes God to cease from exercising His righteous indignation towards them. The passive voice of the verb means that the subject is receiving the action of the verb. This indicates that God as the subject is acted upon by the sinner in the sense that when the sinner turns to Him in faith and turns from their evil way of living, it causes God to relent and not exercise His righteous indignation towards them. So the passive voice indicates that God’s actions are effected by the actions of sinners who exercise faith in His message to them and repent from their evil way of living. The participle form of the verb is functioning as a relative clause. We will translate this verb “ one who graciously relents.” ,(al) ( אַל ) Concerning the calamity ” is composed of the preposition ʿǎ l“ ,( רָ עָה) (concerning ” and the articular feminine singular form of the noun rā·ʿā(h“ “calamity ” The noun rā·ʿā(h) means “judgment” referring to the execution of divine judgment. The articular construction of the word indicates that this judgment is

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 52 well-known to the reader since Old Testament Israel was familiar with the fact that God judges since this is taught in their Old Testament Scriptures. The noun does not mean “evil” in the sense of sin or committing wrongdoing since God who is holy can never commit evil or break His own laws since in order to do so He would have to change His holy character, which is impossible because He is immutable. The noun is the object of the preposition ʿǎ l, which is a marker of content indicating specifically what God graciously relented from doing with respect to sinners. Therefore, we will translate this prepositional phrase “ concerning judgment .” Completed corrected translation of Jonah 4:2: “Consequently, he prayed to the Lord. Specifically, he prayed, ‘Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country. For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish because You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to exercise righteous indignation as well as transcendent in unconditional love. Also, one who graciously relents concerning judgment.’” In this verse, Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants is finally revealed. Up to this point in the narrative, the narrator has withheld revealing Jonah’s motivation for disobeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants for rhetorical effect. He keeps the reader in suspense and to ultimately shock the reader. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh in order to prevent God from exercising His character towards the Ninevites, which the prophet knew would result in sparing the lives of the Ninevites, whom he hated. Commenting on this the NET Bible states, “Now, for the first time, the narrator reveals why Jonah fled from the commission of God in 1:3 – he had not wanted to give God the opportunity to relent from judging Nineveh! Jonah knew that if he preached in Nineveh, the people might repent and as a result, God might more than likely relent from sending judgment. Hoping to seal their fate, Jonah had originally refused to preach so that the Ninevites would not have an opportunity to repent. Apparently Jonah hoped that God would have therefore judged them without advance warning. Or perhaps he was afraid he would betray his nationalistic self- interests by functioning as the instrument through which the Lord would spare Israel’s main enemy. Jonah probably wanted God to destroy Nineveh for three reasons: (1) as a loyal nationalist, he despised non-Israelites (cf. 1:9); (2) he believed that idolaters had forfeited any opportunity to be shown mercy (cf. 2:9– 10); and (3) the prophets Amos and Hosea had recently announced that God would sovereignly use the Assyrians to judge unrepentant Israel (Hos 9:3; 11:5) and take them into exile (Amos 5:27). If God destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrians would not

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 53 be able to destroy Israel. The better solution would have been for Jonah to work for the repentance of Nineveh and Israel.” Reed Lessing has the following excellent comment, he writes, “The narrator records Jonah’s commentary explaining his actions in 1:3. Only now do we learn Jonah’s rationale for his earlier flight. The narrator deliberately had omitted any explanation for why Jonah responded to Yahweh’s Word in 1:2 by heading for Tarshish in 1:3, and so readers are left to wonder about the reason until this final chapter. Meir Sternberg states that the absence of an explanation between Jonah 1:2 and 1:3 is ‘the only biblical instance where a surprise gap controls the reader’s progress over a whole book.’ Besides ‘a surprise gap,’ various other terms have been used to label this kind of literary feature, including the ‘synoptic/resumptive technique’ (the repetition of an earlier episode in which the second account is longer, but dependent on the first), a vacancy, a lacuna, a hiatus, and a blank. But it is most frequently referred to as a ‘gap,’ a ‘lack of information about the world. It is an event, motive, causal link, character trait, plot structure or law of probability contrived by a temporal displacement.’ Some gaps in narratives are only temporary: they are ‘open[ed] at some point upon the continuum of the text only to [be filled in] explicitly and satisfactorily … at a subsequent stage,’ as in Jonah 4:2. Other types of gaps are permanent because they produce ‘questions or sets of questions to which no single, fully explicit and authoritative answer is made by the text.’ Jonah ends with such a permanent gap because we are never told how Jonah responds to Yahweh’s final question (4:11). Why does the narrator withhold Jonah’s reason for fleeing until now? In this integrated and highly sophisticated narrative, nowhere in the first three chapters are we told why Jonah flees. Once we arrive at 4:2, we understand that the narrator has done his utmost to provoke our search for a rationale. Jonah registers his protest in the first chapter by fleeing (1:3) and such actions as descending to the inmost parts of the ship, sleeping (1:5), and offering to be thrown overboard (1:12). The narrator records these but never explains the reason for them, heightening our curiosity. Even Jonah’s lengthy psalm (2:3–10 [ET 2:2–9]) provides no decisive means to close the gap. Attempts to fill it re main unsuccessful until the prophet finally answers our question, ‘Jonah, why did you run?’ In contrast to the call narratives of Moses (Ex 4:1, 10, 13), Isaiah (Is 6:5), and Jeremiah (Jer 1:6), where those prophets quickly resolve the gap by explaining why they initially were unwilling to preach, the question about Jonah’s initial unwillingness extends over the length of three chapters. There are many ways we could have answered it. For example, until 4:2, we might have believed that Jonah was afraid to go to Nineveh because it was a city full of blood (Nahum 3:1) or that he was too tenderhearted to carry a message of doom to a great city. It is even possible that we might have correctly inferred that Jonah fled toward Tarshish precisely because of his mean spirit toward Nineveh: he did not

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 54 want to preach to it because he did not want it to be saved. But we could not be absolutely sure that was the reason until Jonah speaks his mind in 4:2. So the narrator keeps us guessing almost to the end of the book. The reversal in 3:10–4:3 (when Nineveh is spared, Jonah changes from the prophet who faithfully spoke Yahweh’s Word in 3:2–4 to an angry antagonist who opposes Yahweh in 4:2–3) shatters any benign view of Jonah and changes our entire view of the narrative. Ironically, the same kind of change or overturning that was promised in 3:4 also happens in us as we read the narrative! By means of this gap that is now filled, we become more intimately involved. First, we are forced by our own questions about Jonah’s motivation in 1:2–3 to seek explanations for our own motivations for why we fail to proclaim the Gospel to the ‘Ninevites’ in our life. Second, when Jonah finally does fill the gap, we are appalled. How can Jonah be so upset that Nineveh has turned from its evil and now is saved? Where is the prophet’s forgiving spirit? And how dare he accuse and condemn Yahweh for being … Yahweh! Jonah 4:2 reveals that the prophet is far more vengeful than we suspected. His reason for fleeing the command (1:3), then, is Yahweh’s loving attitude toward people who are not Israelites (he even has compassion for their animals [4:11])!” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; pages 362-363) The statement “ Consequently, he prayed to the Lord ” is a result clause that presents an action taken by Jonah that was the result of his considering it unjust of the Lord to not destroy Nineveh. This statement indicates that Jonah’s prayer in which he voices his complaint to the Lord for sparing the lives of the Ninevites was the direct consequence of considering the Lord’s decision to relent as unjust. This result clause is followed by an epexegetical clause that identifies the specific content of Jonah’s prayer. “Oh Lord, this is exactly what I thought would happen when I was living in my own country ” indicates that prior to receiving orders from the Lord to go to Nineveh and announce judgment against its inhabitants, Jonah had the conviction that the Lord would spare the lives of the Ninevites when they believed in Him and repented of their evil way of living. “For this reason, I previously fled to Tarshish ” tells the reader that Jonah fled to Tarshish to prevent the Lord from sparing the lives of the Ninevites because he knew that the Lord was gracious and merciful, slow to exercise His righteous indignation and transcendent in unconditional love as well as one who graciously relents concerning judgment. The causal clause “ because You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to exercise righteous indignation as well as transcendent in unconditional love. Also, one who graciously relents concerning judgment ” presents the reason why Jonah fled to Tarshish previously and expresses Jonah’s conviction regarding the character of God.

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“Gracious ” speaks of God’s grace policy and describes God as imparting unmerited blessings to sinners based upon the merits of the object of the sinner’s faith. Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross. It is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God. Grace means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the Cross. It excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none. “Merciful ” describes God as compassionate towards sinners and pardons them by withholding judgment when they believe in Son Jesus Christ. “Slow to exercise righteous indignation ” describes as giving the sinner every chance to avoid facing His righteous indignation and speaks of the fact that He delays in exercising it so that the sinner can turn to Him in faith. God’s righteous indignation is His attitude toward any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty. God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature. In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness. “Transcendent in unconditional love ” describes God as loyal or faithful to His covenants with men and characterizes how God acts towards His covenant people Israel and that this love goes beyond ordinary limits of human love. It describes God’s unconditional love as transcending the standards of human love so that God’s love is incomparable. “Also, one who graciously relents concerning judgment ” describes God as one who graciously does not act upon His decision to judge or condemn whether an individual, a group of individuals, or a nation in order that they might turn to Him in faith. Reed Lessing writes, “The book of Jonah has two creedal statements about Yahweh, both uttered by Jonah. The first was in 1:9. The second is here in 4:2: Yahweh is ‘a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, and changing [his] verdict about evil.’ The foundation of this confession is Ex 34:6–7, where Moses records Yahweh’s self-description: 6 Yahweh, Yahweh, a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loyal love and truth, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin; yet surely he will not hold guiltless, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children and upon children’s children, up to the third and fourth generations.’ Jonah revises

2010 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 56 these verses from Exodus in several ways, some of which emphasize the grace of Yahweh. Jonah places ‘gracious’ prior to ‘merciful,’ but then has the same ‘slow to anger and abounding in loyal love.’ In place of Moses’ reference to Yahweh’s ‘truth,’ Jonah has ‘changing your verdict about evil’ (using terminology from Jonah 3:8–10), which can be compared to Moses’ later phrase in Ex 34:7, ‘forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin.’ But Jonah entirely omits the second half of Ex 34:7. Altogether, Jonah’s changes emphasize ‘gracious’ (which he puts first) and ‘changing your verdict about evil’ (a phrase Jonah adds) while eliminating ‘truth’ and punishment (‘yet surely he will not hold guiltless, visiting the iniquity …’). Strengthening the assumption that Jonah is deliberately adapting the Exodus passage is the fact that other Jonah verses borrow from the language of Exodus. The narrator’s wording in Jonah 3:9 of the decree of the king of Nineveh also alludes to the book of Exodus, specifically Ex 32:12b, where Moses implores from your fierce anger, and change your verdict [Niphal of [ שׁוּב ] Yahweh, ‘Turn about this evil against your people.’ Moreover, Jonah 3:10 is almost an exact [ נָחַם quote of Ex 32:14: ‘Yahweh changed his verdict about the evil that he threatened to do to his people.’ When Jonah 3:9–10 and 4:2 are placed along side of Ex 32:12–14 and Ex 34:6–7, it is clear that the same grace and mercy Yahweh showed to Israel he now gives to the Ninevites. Grace has universal implications! Jonah’s response is similar to the miserly complaint of the workers who labored all day in the vineyard in Mt 20:12, who complain about the workers who were hired most recently: ‘These last men worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.’ ‘Made them equal to us’ is the key phrase that could also express the cause of Jonah’s anger. While Jonah knows that Yahweh is ‘gracious and merciful’ (Jonah 4:2), he believes Yahweh should display these characteristics exclusively with Israel (cf. Joel 2:13), and certainly not with Nineveh. Jonah cannot fathom that Yahweh relates to a Gentile nation in the same way that he relates to his chosen people Israel. This implies that the chosen people are no better than the others; by God’s grace, they are equal!” (Concordia Commentary: Jonah; page 368)

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