To be fair, the Bible doesn't record Jonah repented. We have no idea if he eventually does or not.
We see Jonah repenting, clearly, in Jonah 2:1-10
We also see God acting to accept his repentance.
The confusion may come because Jonah got upset again, about a different but related issue, in Chapter 4.
The Storyline:
1.) God calls Jonah to preach to Nineveh.
- Please note, God does not tell Jonah he has to love them, he just tells Jonah to go and preach the message.
- Liking the Ninevites was not a requirement.
2.) Jonah doesn't want to preach to Nineveh and give them an opportunity to repent. He refuses.
3.) God punishes Jonah for this refusal.
4.) Jonah, in chapter 2, repents, and turns back to God, and becomes willing to finish his calling.
5.) We see God accepting his repentance (his change of heart and direction) by taking him out of the fish, and putting him back on task.
6.) Jonah preaches to Nineveh.
7. The Ninevites believe the message, surprisingly, and they repent.
8. Because they repent, God spares them.
9. Because God spares them, Jonah is upset.
10. This is the second time Jonah is upset, and he's upset about something slightly different.
- In the first instance, Jonah simply refused to obey his calling, because he did not want to preach to Nineveh.
- Why? We find out in Chapter 4 he was afraid God might forgive them... and Jonah hated them. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and they were unspeakably cruel. They were enemies of Israel, and they were the most cruel people on the earth at that time. They would slaughter people just to create terror, they would pile up the skulls of the slain at the gates of their cities in huge piles, they would hang the slain on the walls of the city so the birds could eat them... they were fiendish. They were monsters, who conquered all the nations through sheer terror. It's very possible Jonah had seem some of their terror first hand, up close.
- So Jonah refused to preach to them, God punished him, and then Jonah repented and preached to Nineveh.
- Jonah obeyed, and preached to Nineveh, possibly hoping they would fail to repent. I mean, it's possible he didn't even expect to live, they were very cruel people. But whatever the outcome, Jonah chose to obey God, and do what he was told.
- Then the Assyrians really DID repent... they did NOT kill Jonah for the message, and they DID repent. How could Jonah even live with himself? He'd probably seen the Assyrians slaughter people, maybe his own friends and relatives... the Assyrians were butchers. They ruled the whole world through fear and terror, and they were HATED BY ALL PEOPLE... and Jonah had just helped them to repent and be rescued from divine retribution. He was torn apart inside. He was aching and torn apart to have saved his cruel and wicked enemies.
- So now, Jonah is upset a second time. He isn't refusing to DO anything in particular, but he's just very angry in his heart. He's angry at God for saving Nineveh. He's so angry, and hurt, and confused, because he feels he's betrayed his people... so he asks God to kill him.
- It does not say Jonah repents of this... but I think it's implied.
11. CONCLUSION:
a.) There are two separate times when Jonah gets upset, and turns against God's plans.
b.) He clearly repents of the first instance.
c.) For the second instance, we do not see any repentance specifically stated... but I think it's implied.
d.) I think repentance of the second instance is implied, because God is gently talking to Jonah, explaining things to him like a child that he loves. This gentle care and explanation, so that Jonah can understand better, is an implication that Jonah would respond, and God is gently helping him so that he can. If Jonah was entirely cold hearted, and would never repent or soften his heart... God would have killed him, instead of babying him, and helping him through his pain and anger.
The Assyrians were very very bad, and Jonah had a lot going on in his heart.
The story is a lot deeper than the 4 short chapters we're given.
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