Jonah 4

BUT And Heb. it The Divine forbearance sparing the great and sinful Nineveh. displeased Was very unagreeable to Ionah's hasty and fierce temper, to his love of his own credit, and it afflicted him to see Nineveh survive the forty days limited for their continuance. Jonah exceedingly 'Twas a great affliction to him, so highly distemper'd is Ionah at Gods Goodness to a repenting City., and he was very angry This kindled a fire in his Breast which was made up of Envy, Indignation and Grief, for that it was not done, and desire that yet it may be done. Ionah would yet have Nineveh a Sacrifice to God's Justice and an eternal Monument of his Truth who foretold it's Ruine..

And he prayed In a strange distempered humour sets about this work, and accordingly manageth it, when he designs to pray, his turbulent Affections hurry him into unseemly contests and quarrels with God, yet since he fell on his knees with purpose to pray to God, the Scriptures report it as his Prayer to the Lord. unto the LORD, and said Either spake it out in words, or else thus reason'd within himself, and now leaves it recorded what were his words, or his thoughts., I pray thee, O LORD This begins his complaint, or quarrel against the Lord., was not this my saying Did I not think of this? was I not apprehensive that it would be so? I should preach avenging Justice, and thou wouldst exercise pardoning Mercy; thy Pardon would contradict my Preaching., when I was yet in my own countrey Either in Canaan, or Galilee, or in Gat -Hepher, where had I died, and never been a Prophet to Nineveh I had ever had the Reputation of a true Prophet, but now at Nineveh I shall be reported a false dreamer.? Therefore I fled There was reason for what I did when I declined the message, and fled away from thy presence, he seems to justifie that flight which God condemn'd in him by a miraculous punishment inflicted on him. before unto Tarshish Vid. chap. 1. ver. 3. let. p.: for I knew He might know it by Gods dealings with so exorbitantly passionate a man as Ionah himself was, but he knew it from Gods account of himself, Exod. 34.6, 7. and many other places of the Scripture. that thou art a gracious Who has bowels of compassion, a heart that is a fountain of tender mercy. God, and merciful Readily expressing his compassions toward sinners that need and sue for Mercy.? slow to anger Who dost wait long for the sinners return, and dost not hasten thy Executions., and of great kindness And when provoked thou art yet of an infinite Goodness, lenity, and kindness, and forgivest the sinner that repenteth., and repentest thee of the evil Vid. chap. 3. ver. 9. let. a. and ver. 10. let. g..

Therefore And, Heb. now Now presently, let no time slip., O LORD Who art, as only Author, so the great Arbiter of Life. The mighty and eternal God; His Sovereignty was enough to command Ionah's Reverence, but Ionah forgets himself and his God. take I beseech thee, my life from me In a peevish humour Ionah is weary of his life and prays for death, yet in this request some mixture there is of Grace with Passion, somewhat of Mercy from God to Ionah in that he does not give him up to his own Passion. And Ionah, as weary as he is, yet will live till God will take away his life.: for it is better 'Tis more desireable to me to die and be buried, for then my Prophesying that never came to pass will be soon forgotten, however I shall never more blush at the rebukes the world will cast upon me. for me to die than to live Disgraced and upbraided by Atheists, and hardned sinners who will reflect the lye upon me or on my God.?

¶ Then So soon as Ionah's haste had sin'd against his God and his own life said Either by voice audible to Ionah, or rather by his Spirit, that Spirit which gave Ionah order to go and preach, now takes order to debate the case. the LORD Who is now, as Ionah needed he should be, Gracious, slow to Anger, and of great kindness toward Ionah, else he had not lived a moment longer to repent him of his last sins in this matter., Doest thou well to be angry Is thy vehement anger warrantable? or will this anger of thine do good to thy self or others? Think well of it whether thou dost act like a Prophet, like one that feareth God or like a man in this thine anger??

So When the Lord had taken notice and reproved the passions of Ionah, and made some impression on his mind for the present. Jonah went out of the city Discontented in himself, and doubtful of the issue whether God would be more tender of the life of multitudes or of Ionah's Credit, the Prophet withdrew himself, and waits, How long we have not any ground of conjecture. and sate Put himself into a posture of waiting, and therefore to repose himself, rather sat than stood. on the east-side of the city Which in likelihood was some higher ground, the City standing on the East-banks of Tygris, the farther he went East the higher the ground was, and the safer from the uncertain manner of the Cities overthrow., and there made him a booth Some small and mean shed for shade and shelter usually made of green boughes., and sat under it in the shadow These boughes thus pitch'd and made into a Booth afforded some shadow in which Ionah reposed himself., till he might see what would become of the city By this passage it should seem the forty days were not fully expir'd nor yet wanted much of expiring, and Ionah seems resolved there to expect the event of the City..

And the LORD God prepared Commanded that in the place where Ionah's booth stood, this Herb, or spreading plant should spring up to be a shade when the gathered boughes are withered. a gourd 'Tis not certain what this was, some say Ivy, others say 'twas Palma Christi, or five leaved, whose leafs are so set as to resemble a mans hand, or a wild Vine or Colocyntha, nor is it very material we should search farther into the nature of this in the Text 'twas some wild Plant with long and broad leaves which suddenly grew, spread it self, and made a good shade., and made it to come up God gave it a speedy growth, and directed the growth that it should cover the top of the gourd. over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head And be a shade to Ionah against the vehemence of the Sun which did shine very parchingly hot in those Countreys., to deliver him from his grief To give some ease to his Mind, refresh his Natural Spirits, much discomposed by the violence of his Passions and by the violent heat of the Sun. 'Tis probable this Grief was some extream fit of continued Head-ach.. So Jonah was exceeding glad As vehement in his Joy, now as in his Grief before, he was a man of great Affections whatever moved them. of the gourd His ease by the gourd made him glad of it, and I observe that here is no mention made of Ionah's seeing God in it..

But God prepared By the same power which caused the gourd suddenly, and to Ionah's great Joy, to spring, grow and spread it self, as a Canopy, prepar'd also. a worm What, is not said, some contemptible grub that was not seen by Ionah. when the morning rose the next day Which early next morning, i. e. by break of day., and it smote Bit the roo, the gourd that it withered so that the whole gourd suddenly withered..

And it came to pass After all these passages both in chastising and refreshing Ionah, and after all Ionah's deportment under them, but more immediately after the withering of the Gourd and the loss of the shadow., when the sun did arise With the rising of the Sun, so early in the morning as the Sun arose., that God prepared By a particular command from God. a vehement eastwind A dry, scorching blasting Wind wherever it blows, but more than ordinarily, so in those Climates, and most so when sent out on such an errand by the Lord. Silent, says the Hebrew. Ruffling Winds usually cool the Air, but the silent which blow with even Tenour, rather increase the heat of the Air. However this Wind was sent to do so, and certainly did it., and the sun beat upon the head Did perpetually and vehemently shine, or point its burning beams upon the undefended head of Ionah. No Wind to cool, no shade to cover scorched Ionah. of Jonah, that he fainted Overcome by the heat, he was no longer able to stand, but as a fainting man fell down ready to die. His strength of body, and his courage of mind also failed him., and wished in himself to die In this weakness and pain, in this perplexity of body and mind he comes once more to a down right impatience and weariness of life. and said, It is better for me to die, then to live And here he will justifie his Passion, 'tis best of the two, but Ionah must be wiser, and humbler, and more merciful too er'e he die. Before God has done with him, he will teach him to value his own life more, and to be more tender of the life of others..

And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry Vid. ver. 4. for the gourd God adds this to the same question before propos'd, that Ionah might be his own Judge, and at once condemn his own Passions, justifie Gods patience and mercy, and submit himself with Satisfaction in that God had spared Nineveh.? and he Ionah said Passionately answers for himself, whereas ver. 4. he was silent, now he is out of all patience and quarrels highly against God, who had spared Nineveh, which Jonah thought should have been consumed as Sodom, or as the old world, but he feels in himself a heat almost as devouring as he wished to the Ninevites, thus unexpectedly crossed he lies out against God himself., I do well to be angry even unto death If in the violence of this passion I should die (as we know some have) yet were I not to blame, thus he tacitely chargeth God with hardly using Jonah, and breaking his heart, though he had come a long Journey to deliver a message, he would fain have been excused from. So exorbitant and unreasonable is Jonahs anger..

Then When Jonah had showed his Affection of Love and Pity to the Gourd. said the LORD Showed Jonah the little reason he had to concern himself for the Gourd, and the great reason God had on his side in pittying and sparing Nineveh., Thou Thou a man, of narrow, and uneven compassions. hast had pity Hast both had and showed. on the gourd A common and worthless weed., for the which thou hast not laboured 'Twas not the work of thy hand to se it., neither madest it grow Nor didst thou water, and give growth to it; 'twas not thine., which came up As a Mushroom, was the birth of one night. in a night and perished Died, and was only fit for the fire when wither'd. in a night With equal suddenness withered..

And should May not I by virtue of my Sovereignty, pity, spare, or pardon if I well, or is there not good reason to incline me to do it and to justifie my doing it. not I God of infinite Compassions, and goodness. spare Nineveh A mighty City, Ionah thou hast pity on a sorry shrub, and shall thy God be by thee confin'd that he should not have pity on a vast and mighty City? that great city A stately structure, which cost immense Treasures, was the labour of almost one Million and half of Labourers, through eight years, the great wonder of that world Thy Gourd, Ionah, may not be named in the day with this, only in a Passion this must be ruin'd to please thee, and thy Gourd must not least it displease thee. Is this equal? wouldst thou have me less merciful to such a goodly City, than thou art to a weed?, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons which cannot discern between their right hand, and their left hand It was a single Gourd Jonah pittied, and is angry that it was smitten; here are many hundred thousands of Men and Women, which I have pitied and spared. Here are more than sixscore thousand Innocents who are Infants, who are my Creatures made for Eternity, who grow slowly under my care and charge whom I value as my own; and peevish Jonah, wilt thou not allow me, (who can) to show Pity to mine own invaluable Creatures, when thou pitiest what is neither thine nor valuable? had it been thine this might have required thy Affection, had it been of worth this might have excus'd thy earnestness for it, but all this aggravates thy fierce and cruel passion against Nineveh., and also much cattel Beside Men, Women and Children who are in Nineveh, there are many others of my Creatures that are not sinful, and my Tender Mercies are and shall be over all my works. If thou wouldst be their Butcher, yet I will be their God. I know what becomes me, God of Prophets; and though once I hearkned to Elijah to send fire from heaven on contemptuous sinners, yet it is not meet to send fire from heaven upon repenting Nineveh, I know how to impress their Minds with a continued belief that Jonah came from God to Preach Repentance, and that it was their Repentance prevented their overthrow, I can salve thy credit Jonah and yet not humour thy Cruelty. Go Jonah, rest thy self content, and be thankful: That Goodness, Mercy, and Kindness which spared Nineveh, has spared thee in this thy inexcusable frowardness. I will be to Repenting Nineveh what I am to thee, God Gracious and Merciful, slow to Anger and of great Kindness, and I will turn from the evil thou and they deserve.?