Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 March 1912 — Jonah As a Reformer. [ARTICLE]

Jonah As a Reformer.

By Helen Mar.

That human nature was the same in the time of Jonah as today, is shown by Jonah’s melancholy over the repentance of Ninevah. Too many of us are seeking to do the Lord’s will in our own way; too many reformers wish the city of wickedness destroyed, rather than redeemed, should they not be let appear in dazzling righteousness and power. Jonah’s tribulations during the days he seeks to flee from the face of the Lord, are typical of the obstacles in the way of those appearing to do good with one hand, while trying to serve their own selfish purposes with the other. Loudly calling on sinners to repent, while stubbornly seeking to implant their own views of retribution on the universe. Jonah regretted the withering of the gourd that shielded him from the sun’s rays more than he did the deadly blight of sin eating into the very souls of the people, even as the worm destroyed the gourd. Also, had not Jonah preached the destruction of Ninevah, and the Lord in his tender mercy allowed the repentant city to live and jprosper, even though it became a greater power than Israel? As a reformer Jonah had the clannish or sectarian spirit stronger than the humanitarian or brotherly. Yes, Jonah was certainly a reformer of . the pessimistic type, and, lucky it was, God was able to manage his own world.