Jonah 1-4

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:1-2)

Jonah did not obey the word above. He went in the opposite direction. He sailed at sea. He was thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a fish, before he agreed to do as God instructed.

After Jonah did preach against Nineveh the people repented, fasted, and prayed. God saw their contrition and relented of the destruction announced by Jonah. Instead of being destroyed, the people of Nineveh lived and prospered, I suppose, much to the chagrin of Jonah.

He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:2-3)

I see a couple of possibilities why Jonah felt as he did. One is the possibility that Jonah, a Jew, disapproved of Nineveh, a gentile city and capital of the Assyrian Empire. If he could count on Nineveh's destruction, then he might have jumped at the chance to preach their downfall, but he could not, for Jonah knows God as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and inclined to relent from sending calamity. With a strong sense of disapproval Jonah had rather announce destruction to Nineveh and then see fire and brimstone rain down upon it!

Another possibility is that Jonah wanted to possess a 100% infallible reputation as a prophet. After all, the biblical test of prophecy is clearly stated:

You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed. (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)

So, it's possible Jonah longed for biblical status as a prophet more than he longed for Nineveh's salvation. He didn't want to be caught proclaiming destruction in the LORD's name only to have destruction suspended.

But whatever--despite both the possibility of stoking Jonah's feeling of disapproval and the possibility of inflicting damage on his prophetic reputation, God showed compassion to Nineveh. God is The Compassionate God!