A STORY OF REVENGE
The other day, a soldier was in my office. He had been exposed to radiation poisoning while deployed in Afghanistan and was brought home to prepare for death. But he told me his story and said he wasn't prepared to die and meet God on Judgment Day. This soldier said that his parents were both killed on 9/11 and that he enlisted in the army in order to seek revenge on those who had killed his parents. While in Afghanistan he said he killed hundreds of insurgents, not because of his duty as a soldier, but because of his bitterness over losing his parents. He admitted that his attitude was all wrong, but he couldn't help himself because his hatred was so overwhelming. He was pretty sure, that when he died, God would send him to hell because of his desire for revenge on the death of his parents.
This same kind of attitude filled the heart of Jonah and for the same reason. He wanted revenge against these horrible Ninevites. Jonah wanted them to all be killed. And he explaned his bitterness in a prayer to God, "Oh, Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? This is why I was so quick to flee 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, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:2-3, NIV)