Jonah's story takes a turn in the belly of the fish. There Jonah repents and commits his way to God's plan. Spit up on shore, he trudges unhappily toward Nineveh. Now it's important to remember that Nineveh wasn't just any large city; it was the central city of the largest, most powerful, and most ruthless empire of the time. Nineveh was almost a cliché for evil and destruction.

On arrival, Jonah walked the length and breadth of this "very large city," declaring in doleful tones, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown."

Notice here that there is not a hint of hope in Jonah's message. No ifs, ands, or buts. Forty days---that's it for Nineveh. It was a message of pure judgment. Certainly Jonah expected nothing more.

But then the unexpected happened. They actually listened! Those Ninevites squeezed some hope from a hopeless message. The king himself ordered a fast. Everyone, from the greatest person down to the animals in the fields, was to eat nothing while all the people called urgently on God to relent from his judgment. All the people were urged to repent from their evil and violent ways.

And God saw it and turned from his judgment against Nineveh.

"But to Jonah this seemed very wrong" (4:1). Why? Preaching judgment against the wicked is one thing, but actually letting them off the hook is another. This empire had committed unspeakable atrocities against people and nations. And now God is just going to forgive them? That's not right.

The idea of God being "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love" is fine when it comes to God's relationship with his own people. But it seems unfair, too lenient, when applied to Israel's bloodthirsty enemies.

So Jonah sat down under a tree near the city to "see what would happen." Or, you could say, Jonah went off to pout. While he sat there, it became hotter and hotter, and the Lord provided a "gourd" for shelter (evidently some kind of shading plant). "Oh, this is nice," Jonah thought as he settled in for the wait.

But then the Lord caused the gourd plant to wither, and Jonah was out in the scorching sun once more. Jonah wanted to die. The Lord explained: "You're concerned for a gourd that you did nothing to produce, and you resent me for being concerned for a whole city of people, and also many animals?" (v. 11).

The serious parable is humorously clear: God loves all the people in the world, even very bad people. If we want to be part of what God is doing in the world, we need to be in tune with his compassion and gracious love for all people. And surprisingly, perhaps, God's concern includes "also many animals."