In Scripture we see the law as a way for people to know how to define justice in their society. The law helped maintain order. It also gave the people a picture of the Holiness of God and man’s complete inability to be holy. The Law still does an important work today. When we read the law in scripture we see our need for a Savior. We see that God demands justice and holiness. He sent a Christ to save us from the damnation we so deserve.
In our society we have laws as well. We have rules and regulations to keep order. When those laws are broken the perpetrator is usually punished. When they are not we are outraged. How could this be? They were guilty! We feel unsettled because justice has not been done. Someone did wrong and they should pay. Bad people should get bad treatment and good people should receive good things.
Jonah is someone I can relate to when I think about the law. He is someone who was a prophet of God yet ran when God wanted him to talk to the wicked Ninevites about repentance. The Ninevites did not follow God’s law. In fact in many areas they did the exact opposite of what God requires. What gets me about Jonah is that he did not want to tell them to repent because he knew they would and that God would have mercy on them. He did not want them to have mercy. He wanted justice. He wanted God’s law measured out in full force on the wicked Ninevites.
Yet he did not want justice for himself. He wanted mercy and grace even though he had done wrong. He just viewed their sins as worse than his. So he thought they should be punished instead of forgiven.
I identify with Jonah because like him I have a rich heritage. I assume Jonah was raised in a Jewish home. Regardless of how he was raised he was a prophet and had a special gift from God. I was raised by Christian parents in a Christian home. I was saved by God’s grace at a young age. This was a great gift from God! Yet somehow the thought still crosses my mind of “you got what you had coming!”
This is not an attitude from God. It’s an attitude of pride, and I know that is something God hates. Like Jonah, I sometimes want mercy for myself and justice for the “bad people” around me. I deserve the same, yet Grace saves me.
