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 4:11
And thus, the Book of Jonah ends with a question. It’s one of the rare times we see in the whole Bible a book end with a question, and it is a penetrating question.
Jonah 4:11 reveals God’s heart for sinners like us.
There’s so much we could talk about from the whole story of Jonah leading up to this point, but the picture here in Jonah 4:11 is God’s heart for Nineveh, for the Assyrian people who have sinned against him, who deserve his judgment, but whom he loves and he pities them, he has compassion for them, he cares for them. This is the greatest news in the world, that God cares for, has compassion for sinners who have rebelled against him, sinners like you and me.
But the problem in Jonah is that Jonah wants to receive that kind of mercy from God, but he doesn’t want others, particularly his enemies, the Assyrians, to receive that mercy from God. And so, he resists spreading it to them. It’s the whole story of the Book of Jonah. And, in this last verse, in this question, the Holy Spirit of God is asking us, “Do we have God’s heart for the people around us who need the salvation of Jesus,” and not just the people around us.
When you see this phrase about 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, this is likely a reference to people who have no revelation of God’s Word. And the picture here in the Old Testament is really those who are unreached by the good news of God’s grace and salvation. So, all the more so, Jonah 4:11 is saying, “Do you not have my compassion for the people around you without the gospel and people around the world who don’t have the good news of my love for them?”
Jonah 4:11 challenges us to reflect God’s heart for the lost.
And so, Jonah 4:11 leads us to pray for God’s heart to be our hearts, for God’s compassion, pity, care, love for the lost to be our compassion and pity and love and care for the lost. So, God, we pray that you would help us to see people without you as you see them, to love them as you love them.
In the most well-known verse in your Word, John 3:16, you so loved the world, including each of us, but not limited to each of us, the whole world, all 8 billion people in it, and all nations and tribes and even those who are evil and have done evil things, which is all of us. God, we praise you that you so love the world that you gave your one and only Son, that whoever believes in him from any part of the world will not perish but have everlasting life.
So, God, we pray that you would help us to love the world like this. Help us to so love the people around us, enough to share the good news of your grace and your love with them. God, help us to not be given over to the spirit of Jonah that we see here, as Jonah prioritized his comforts in this world over the eternal destinies of people around him.
Lord, we pray that you would help us to sacrifice our comforts and to be willing to take risks and to be bold in sharing the gospel with people around us today. God, we pray that you would help us, by your Spirit in us, to share the gospel with someone today and love for them with your compassion for them.
Prayer for the Arabized Nubian People
And God, we pray that you would give us your heart for the nations, as we pray for the nations, specifically today, for the Arabized Nubian people of Egypt, for 607,000 of them. Muslim men, women, and children who have not heard the revelation of your love in Jesus truly. Heard lies about Jesus but not the truth about his love for them, that he’s died on a cross and risen from the dead so that they might be safe from their sin. God, we pray that the Nubian people of Egypt be reached with your love, and God, we pray that you would help us as your church to love the Nubian people of Egypt and thousands of other people, groups like them, enough to spread your gospel to them, to sacrifice our comforts and our resources for their sake.
God, we pray that you would help us to live with the Spirit of Jesus, not the spirit of Jonah. Transform our hearts, we pray, to be like your heart for the lost around us and for the unreached around the world. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Jonah 4:11. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
