The Lord proceeded to teach Jonah His ways and to confront him with his attitude problem.
4:5 We might have expected Jonah to leave what so angered him quickly, as Elijah had fled from Israel and sought refuge far from it to the south. Why did Jonah construct a shelter and sit down to watch what would happen to Nineveh?69Did he think that judgment might fall anyway, or was he waiting for God to clarify His actions? Perhaps he hoped that the Ninevites' repentance would evaporate quickly and that God would then call him to pronounce the judgment that he so wanted to see. Jonah did not know if the Ninevites' repentance would be sufficient to postpone God's judgment. He evidently took up residence somewhere on the slopes of the mountains that rise to the east of Nineveh to gain a good view of whatever might happen. Perhaps he expected to witness another spectacular judgment such as befell Sodom and Gomorrah. His shelter proved to be a classroom for the prophet similar to what the town dump had been for Job.
4:6 God continued to manifest compassion for Jonah by providing him with a shading plant that relieved the discomfort of the blistering Mesopotamian sun. This is the only time that we read that Jonah was happy, and it was because he was physically comfortable. His anger grew out of his personal discomfort resulting from God's mercy on the Ninevites. It is impossible to identify the exact plant that God provided, and it is inconsequential.70
Notice the shift in the name of God again from Yahweh to Elohim in this verse. This is one of the rare appearances of the compound name "LORD God"in Scripture (cf. Gen. 2; 3; et al.). Its use here may help make a transition. God dealt with Jonah as He deals with all humanity in what follows.
4:7 The stress on God's sovereignty continues. God had provided (Heb. manah, to appoint, provide, or prepare) a storm, a fish, a plant, and now a worm to fulfill His purpose.71He would provide a wind (v. 8). Clearly God was manipulating Jonah's circumstances to teach him something. He uses large things such as the fish and small things like the worm.72
4:8 The scorching east wind that God provided was the dreaded sirocco. The following description of it helps us appreciate why it had such a depressing effect on Jonah.
"During the period of a sirocco the temperature rises steeply, sometimes even climbing during the night, and it remains high, about 16-22ûF. above the average . . . at times every scrap of moisture seems to have been extracted from the air, so that one has the curious feeling that one's skin has been drawn much tighter than usual. Sirocco days are peculiarly trying to the temper and tend to make even the mildest people irritable and fretful and to snap at one another for apparently no reason at all."73
Why did Jonah not move into the city and live is some residence there? Apparently he wanted nothing to do with the Ninevites whom he despised so much. He probably still did not know if God would spare Nineveh or destroy it catastrophically. Earlier he had wished to die because as God's servant he was not happy with God's will. Now he longed for death because as a common human being he was unhappy with his circumstances. Divine discipline had brought him to the place where even the loss of a plant affected him so deeply that he longed to die.
"The shoe Jonah wanted Nineveh to wear was on his foot now, and it pinched."74
4:9 God's question here was very similar to His question in verse 4. Was Jonah right to be angry about the plant, God asked? Jonah's reply was a strong superlative.75He felt strong anger was proper. Evidently Jonah believed that God was not even treating him with the compassion that He normally showed all people much less His chosen servants.
In this pericope God was setting the stage for the lesson that He would explain to His prophet shortly.
