The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 89

,·11conragcment of t.he very heathen power by which she was to fall. Then the over- ; !m,w of Nineveh by nn angry God would have been a terrible example to quote to Isrnel, nnd a rod to conjure with when calling on them to fly the wrnth of God; whilst its <'scape the prophet's careless countrymeu might wrest to their own destruction, and from it nrgue that the vengeance denounced would likely never fall. There is an atti- rnde of indifference toward the perishing, into which an analogous spirit of sectarianism i,ometimes cnuses believers to fall. The question of their salvation gets mixed up with i;ome question of denominational loss or di~credit. ,ve desire their conversion, and desire to be the means of it. But we don't desire it snpremely or disinterestedly. We don't desire it apart from all denominational considerations. 'l'he idea or their remaining a while longer in sin would be almost as tolerable to us as that some rival sect should win their gratitude and adherence by helping them into the kingdom, This is, at bott.om, the spirit of Jonah exactly. It is putting an earthly and narrow interest before the eternal life of souls. It is a spirit unworthy the Christian character, and a, shameful stigma on the Christian name. 3 . .A.further con.~ideration may be found in the surviving m-isanthropy of a half-sanctified ?Zature. God desires infinitely the highest well-being of men (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). And men, in proportion as they are God-like, desire it too (Rom. ix. 1-4). The sinful nature, which is lar,tely selfish, is being taken away, and the gracious character, which is essentially benevolent, is being inwrought. But neither process is complete on earth, and the missionary spirit, which is their joint issue, is proportionally weak. It was so with Jonah. He shows the old nature strong still in pride and petulance and ingratitude, and why not in lovelessness,. its characteristic Yice? Such a man is incapable of understanding the tender and gracious heart of God, which loves men absolutely and infinitely, and acts in every respect in character. He is incapable of desiring supremely the highest good of men~ for he has never climbed to the high spiritual level in which to apprehend his own. A half-sanctified man is considerably more than half selfish, and a good deal less than half benevolent. If we would know what it is to travail for men's salvation, we must rise to a love of God baptized into the likeness of the Divine love out of which it springs. II. GoD'S CBABACTEB IS CONSTANT, WlliTEVEB ELBE l'IAY CHANGE. (Ver. 2.) Jouah changed, and the Ninevites changed, and God's treatment was changed accordingly ; but the Divine character and rule of action remained the same throughout. 1. He acted strictly in character in this case. Jonah's language seems to imply a charge of weakness against the Divine dealing with Nineveh. On no other assumption can we- understand his qnoting in such a connection, and with disapproval, God's own re.vela- tion of the character in which he desired to be known (Ezek. xxxiv. 6). And the- supposition is strengthened by the fact that, whilst he gives literally the clauses that speak of God's mercy, he leaves out the claU11e that speaks of his justice (Exod. xxxiv. 7), and substitutes for it a sentiment of hill own. But justice and mercy met in the whole transaction. The Ninevitee were mercifully spared, yet not unjustly. 'fhey micrht in justice have been destroyed, but not in mercy (Isa. lv; 7; Jer. :uxi. 20). Th~refore Jonah absurdly makes it a charge against God that he is what he had always gloried in declaring himself to be. So blind and stupid can a sulky servant be. God- need not overact his merciful character in order to offend such people; it is hill mercy itself with which they have a quarreL 2. The prophet himself affirms the Divine con- 6isteney. "God," we are told, "repen~ of the evil," etc.; !1nd Jonah _says, "I knew that thou art a graciotlB God ... and repenteet thee of the evil." The thing that Jonah, knew he would do he did. His action was normal and entirely consistent-such action as he has always taken, and will take, in a like case. He repented, in fact, yet did not change. He did what it would be a change to cease from doing in the circumHtancee. He threatened Nineveh sinning, as be threatens all, and then he spared it turning, as he spares men in every age. His repentance, so called, is his method co-ordinating itself with the changing conditions of life, and is simply an aspect of his immutability. III. THE PB.AYER OF THE BELF-BEF:KEB. liB OF NE0ESBITY ILL-ADVISED, (Ver. 3.) Jonah's prayer WllB bona ftdea. It is as a believer he prays. His spiritual instinct brings him in hie unhappiness to a throne of grace. "He does not seek a refuge from God. He makes God his Refuge" (Martin). He shows a 11urly sincerity in unreservedly stating what is working in hie mind; and "so long as all can yet be declared unto the Lord, even though it be your infirmity, there integrity still rtigns" (Martin). Yet,. OH, IV, 1-11.] 'llIE BOOK OF JONAH. 67