The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 94

was absent in the case of Jonah. He had not produced, nor contrihnterl to th~ pro- duction of, the much-lamented gourd. But what had God not done for Nineveh? His were the lives forfeited, his the blessings menaced, his the repentance which led· to the reprieve. In pitying Nineveh God was pitying the work of his own hands, an. object in which he held, ae a vested interest, all that he had done for it and meant to do. 4. They are of lJrief endurance. "Which came up in a night, and perished in a night." The time element ie an important one in all attachments. The longer they have been growing the firmer they are. Jonah'e gourd was lost almost as soon as found, nnd could not have been the object of any settled regard. But Nineveh bad been in God's heart since before the world be~an, and many in it were to be his joy after time had ceased to be. His love had in it the incomparable strength of con- tinuance, an aspect of" the power of an endless life." What an overwhelming argument for acquiescence in the Divine purpose of mercy! And how often, in the giving and taking away again of some form of earthly good, does God press home the argument on men who are quarrelling with his will! My gourd, like Jonah's, may have grown and flourished, "to the end, perhaps, that it may wither and droop and die; and that my heart, untractable, may at last, by losing it, be taught to feel that, if the object which my poor foolish love fastens on be hard to part with, how infinitely wrong in me to desire God to abandon those purposes which his infinitely wise will bath cherished from eternity, and which he bath bound in with and wrapt around my destiny at once to bless and train me I " (Martin). Learn from this how to conceive of the value of the eouls of men. They are the prictless things. God's masterpieces as to their origin, they are unparagoned as to intrinsic excellence; whilst, as to their place and function, they are the crown jewels of Christ, and the objects for which all heaven is a place prepared. Let saint and sinner mark this well. To barter away our soul ie a transaction which will not profit us, though we" gain the whole world" instead. To love our neighbcur as ourself, and in doing so supremely to love his soul, is "more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." To love God supremely is to combiue in ideal ratio the love of self and the love of souls. They are the" children of the HighesL," whose hearts are the home of such affection, and they have in its presence the fruition of their inheritance begun.-J. E. H. Vers. 1-4.-Jonah's displeasure. "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry," etc. This is not a wholly unexpected manifestation of character in Jonah. His was evidently a strange character, full of contradictory elements. A pro- phet of the Lord, who can yet run away from his work-influenced by high considera- tions in the main, yet yielding to a low desire for personal comfort-=an sleep in a storm while pagans are at prayer-yet susceptible of profound contrition and repentance- frankly owns himself the cause of the storm-had ignominiously consulted for his comfort, but now generously sacrifices his life-in depth of his humiliation becomes wonderfully penitent, trustful, and obedient. Notwithstanding these contradictions, we should, perhap~, hardly have expected another outbreak of his lower nature, after so striking a Divine di~cipline and subjugation, and so remarkable a display of honesty, courage, self-sacrifice: it is a surprise to fiud him again quarrelling with God's appoint- ment, discontented, hard, unmerciful, excited and grieved at the respite of Nineveh. '!'here ie a certain inconstancy in impulsive natures; there is a desperate activity of the lower propensities; hence our need of Divine guidance, a continual need-God alone is able to keep the very best from falling. " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. n I. JoNAR's DISPLEASURE. (Ver. 1.) Proposed change of translation, makin"' words to express grief raLher than resentment, is hardly called for. Evidently Jonah l~st eelf- control, and gave way to violent excitemPnt. Here is another proof of the honesty of Bible narrative. It gives a faithful picture of human infirmity-" the law of sin in the members warring against the law of the mind." It would be a very untrue representa- tion if faults corrected once, even by God, were represented as subdued for ever. The moet distressing experience of true Christians is the renewed activity of their infirmities and corruptions even after profound humiliation and true contrition. "Who can understand hie errol's? cleanse thou me from secret faulte. Keep back thy serva1<t also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me" (Ps. xix. 12, 13). '92 TIIE BOOK OF JONAH. [on. Iv. 1-11.