10. The gourd that sheltered Jonah must also have been of a peculiar species to have a vine that could grow several yards in one night, and stand erect so as to hold the gourd in a position to shelter the prophet; and the gourd would have to be as large as a cart or locomotive, or it would soon cease to afford him shade.
11. Jonah seems to have been a very proud and selfish man, with but little of the feeling of mercy, as he preferred that the whole nation of Ninevites should be destroyed rather than that his prediction should not be fulfilled, for he became very angry when he found the Lord was going to spare them.
12. The reason the Lord assigns for sparing Nineveh is a very sensible one,—because "there are more than threescore thousand persons that can not discern between their right and their left hand." This is certainly very good reasoning; but why did he not think of this when millions of innocent persons perished in the act of drowning the whole human race, excepting four men and four women, or when Sodom and Gomorrah were swallowed up, or when seventy thousand were killed for a sin committed by David, or in the numerous cases in which a war of extermination was carried on against whole nations, with the order to slay men, women, and children, and "leave nothing alive that breathes"? Why such partiality? But this is one of the two thousand Bible inconsistencies.
13. This is a very poor story, with a very bad moral. It indicates fickleness, short-sightedness, and partiality on the part of Jehovah; and selfishness and bad temper on the part of his prophet.
14. There are other absurdities in this story which we will bring to view by a few brief questions.
15. Why did Jehovah care any thing about the salvation or welfare of Nineveh, a heathen city, when usually, instead of laboring to save the heathen, he was plotting their destruction?
16. What put the thought into the heads of the mariners, that the storm was caused by the misconduct of some person on board? Can we suppose they ever knew of such a case? If the misconduct of human beings could produce storms or a disturbance of the elements, the world would be cursed by a perpetual hurricane.
17. We are told the sailors cast lots to ascertain who was the cause of the storm. Rather a strange way of investigating the cause of natural events.
18. Is it not strange that Jehovah would bring on a violent storm on Jonah's account, and continue it for hours, and let him sleep during the time; and still stranger that Jonah was so indifferent that he could sleep in such a storm?
19. Jonah must have been the most considerate and merciful sinner ever reported in history to propose himself that he should be thrown overboard as a means of allaying the storm, and saving a set of gambling heathen. What a wonderful freak of mercy and justice! But it seems to have been all exhausted on the mariners, so that he had none left for the poor Ninevites; for he became very angry when he found Jehovah was not going to destroy them, the innocent and guilty and all together. This was inconsistent, to say the least.