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He Learned a Lesson in MercyThe Watchtower—2009 | April 1
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Then God concluded: “For my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?”—Jonah 4:10, 11.d
Do you see the depth of Jehovah’s object lesson? Jonah had never done a thing to take care of that plant. Jehovah, on the other hand, was the Source of life for those Ninevites and had sustained them as he does all creatures on earth. How could Jonah place more value on a single plant than he did on the lives of 120,000 humans, in addition to all their livestock? Was it not because Jonah had allowed his thinking to become selfish? After all, he felt sorry for the plant only because it had benefited him personally. Did not his anger over Nineveh spring from motives that were likewise selfish—a prideful desire to save face, to be proved right?
A profound lesson indeed! The question is, Did Jonah take the lesson to heart? The book bearing his name ends with Jehovah’s question hanging there, in effect, still echoing. Some critics might complain that Jonah never answers. In truth, though, his answer is there. It is the book itself. You see, evidence indicates that Jonah wrote the book bearing his name. Just imagine that prophet, once again safe in his homeland, writing this account. We can almost picture an older, wiser, humbler man ruefully shaking his head as he describes his own mistakes, his rebellion, and his stubborn refusal to show mercy. Clearly, Jonah did learn from Jehovah’s wise instruction. He learned to be merciful. Will we?
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He Learned a Lesson in MercyThe Watchtower—2009 | April 1
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d God’s saying that those people did not know right from left suggested their childlike ignorance of divine standards.
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