Jonah 4.5-Jonah Leaves Nineveh and Sits East of the City to Watch What Happens to It (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday April 19, 2026

Jonah Series: Jonah 4:5-Jonah Leaves Nineveh and Sits Down East of the City to Watch What Happens To It

Lesson # 41

Jonah 4:5 records Jonah departing Nineveh and then setting up camp, facing east the city in order to see if the Lord would destroy the city or not.

Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That 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. 3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (NIV84)

“Jonah went out” refers to Jonah departing from the greater Nineveh area.

Jonah sets up camp on the east of Nineveh since he enters of course from the west.

He departed from the shores of the Mediterranean after being expelled from the great fish and then made his way approximately 500 miles in a northeast direction to Nineveh.

Upon arriving in the city, he then proclaimed his message of judgment and continued to do so until he reached the eastern half of the city.

Undoubtedly, because of his great hatred of the Ninevites, Jonah waited to see if God would destroy Nineveh in the hopes that their repentance from their evil way of living would be short lived.

Thus, the prophet waited out the forty days.

Jonah 4:5 records no oral response by Jonah to the Lord’s rhetorical question that appears in verse 4.

However, the actions taken by the prophet demonstrate that he has rejected the Lord’s decision to spare the Ninevites.

His actions recorded in this verse demonstrate that he does not agree with the Lord’s rhetorical question that makes clear that Jonah is not justified in his anger toward God’s decision.

Jonah’s conduct here in 4:5 is consistent with the way he has handled himself in his relationship to the Lord.

In 1:3, Jonah does not verbally respond to the Lord’s command but does so through his actions by taking a ship Tarshish and not going to Nineveh.

The prophet expresses his anger to the Lord by his actions rather than with words, which is what we call a “passive-aggressive” response.

Therefore, Jonah’s silence and the actions he takes in response to the Lord’s rhetorical question express his anger with respect to God’s decision to spare the Ninevites.

His conduct here in 4:5 makes clear to God and the reader that Jonah believes that this anger is justified and that he feels that God made the wrong decision.

The silent treatment that he gives by refusing to respond to His rhetorical question expresses the depth of his rage against the decision to spare Nineveh.

Jonah 4:5 emphasizes Jonah’s stubborn rejection of God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites, which is why he waits to see if God will destroy the city.

The prophet’s actions are an expression of his stubborn rejection of God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites and the Gentiles as a whole.

He rejects God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites because of his nationalistic pride and self righteousness.

His actions serve as a silent protest to this policy.