Obadiah is very to the point, though it would stand to reason any Book of the bible that consists of 21 verses almost has to be. God, through his prophet, Promises judgement upon the Edomites, and a restoration of Israel.
So on to Jonah. I have a confession to make, I feel a very close kinship to Jonah, because I do believe that were the Lord to put me in the same scenario I might behave quite similarly. I'm not necessarily talking about the specifics of being in the belly of a Giant fish, or for that matter being so angry that I ask God for death, but more about having such a hard time getting over my own sinful desire for Judgement on the wicked as opposed to seeing true repentance.
Jonah 4:2 sums up the problem with Jonah Nicely, and honestly I think all of us are like this by default.
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.
This verse is kind of a whine. Nineveh was truly wicked before the prophecy and no doubt Jonah was hoping that God would have just wiped the map clean of the city. How often do we want the evil to be punished, not mercy in the face of true repentance.
That being said, this Book is not some clarion call for Christians to campaign against the Death Penalty or any other just penalty for a crime, because only God himself can grant the kind of mercy that forgives even the earthly penalty.
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