A God Whose Character Is Always to Have Mercy

October 20, 2026

by Laura Applegate

My almost-two-year-old has a book called “Jonah and the Whale”. Humorously, it is even shaped like a whale. This book is still around from when my husband was two years old so it has a fun 90’s aesthetic. As far as Jonah baby books go, it's not the worst I’ve read. It tells the story simply with engaging illustrations. All that being said, the book has two major flaws; firstly, it knocks the ironic edge off of the narrative. Secondly, it leaves off where our reading begins, with Jonah preaching repentance to the people of Nineveh and leaving in disgust when they do just that. 

In contrast to that children's book, we are fast forwarding through Jonah running away when God wants him to preach to the city of Nineveh, the sailors, and the big fish, all the most famous parts of the story. It is worth noting, though, that Christ uses Jonah’s experience in the whale as a metaphor of his imminent death and resurrection in Matthew 12:38-41: 

“38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” ESV 

The People of Nineveh 

So, who were the people of Nineveh and why did Jonah bear such a grudge against them? The archeological remains of Nineveh are very close to modern day Mosul, Iraq. Nineveh was the primary city of the Assyrian Empire that eventually conquered the biblical kingdom of Israel. For a long time, it was the empire’s capital city. Famously, the Assyrian Kings bragged in their own writings about the brutal conquest they made of the kingdoms surrounding them. One King went so far as to boast about not letting the ghosts of his enemies’ gods sleep! Israel lost chunks of territory to the Assyrians years before their final devastating takeover. In a nutshell, Assyria scared the pants off the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Putting myself in Jonah’s very wet shoes, I can understand some of his anger at God, voiced here in Jonah Chapter 3 verses 1-3: 

‘But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”’ ESV 

God still uses us even in our bad attitudes: 

The children’s book I mentioned earlier ends happily, with Jonah bouncing his way into Nineveh to tell their people about God’s love. But Jonah never actually repents in the story. Jonah stubbornly does what God asks after running and then he asks God if he can die twice before the end of the book. He preaches in Nineveh, witnesses their repentance and walks away to sit back and eat popcorn waiting for the live, in-living-color apocalypse of God’s judgement to unfold. Much to his chagrin, it never comes. 

A dead plant as a lesson in God’s value for Life: 

God grows a plant to shade Jonah as Jonah is waiting and then sends a worm to destroy it. Jonah throws a tantrum with his second deathwish. God responds again to Jonah’s anger with a question in Jonah Chapter 4, verses 9-11: 

‘9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”’ (Jonah 4:9-11 ESV) 

God sees the value in those created in His image. He values all 120,000 of Jonah’s repentant enemies and values, at least in part, their culture and civilization (calling Nineveh “that great

city”, Jonah 4:11). He sees value in the lives they have built, in their possessions and cattle. God sees value in the people of Nineveh. He sees their repentant hearts, and He has mercy. 

Questions for reflection: 

What enemy of mine does God want me to show his mercy toward? 

When have I had a stubborn heart like Jonah? 

What part of God’s creation have I not acknowledged is already under his authority? In what ways are we like Nineveh?