That None Should Perish.
I suspect that members of PIFA have more in common with Abraham than Jonah. It is recorded in Genesis 18:22-33 that Abraham pleaded with God to save Sodom for the sake of the righteous, first 50, then 45, then 40 and, eventually, just 10. Of course, not even 10 righteous men were to be found in the city and God went ahead and destroyed it after seeing to it that two angels ushered Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and family away from the city. (Lot’s wife famously looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.) Chapter 19, verse 29 records:
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Although the Bible does not record how long Abraham interceded, it was almost certainly longer than it takes us to read the narrative. God remembered Abrahams’ intercession and rescued Lot.
Jonah had a contrasting attitude. God explicitly instructed him to ‘cry out against the wickedness’ of the people of Ninevah, but he declined (Jonah 1:2) and fled to Tarshish where he boarded a boat. Owing to a raging storm, Jonah was tossed overboard and after he had been in the belly of a great fish for three days, God commanded him to preach to Ninevah again (Jonah 3:2). He obeyed this time, preaching to the people, ‘Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown’ (Jonah 3:4b). They repented: God relented (Jonah 3:5-10).
Jonah was not happy! In fact, God’s mercy ‘Displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.’ (Jonah 4:1)
Leaving aside theological arguments about whether it is possible to change God’s mind and how God’s sovereignty and human will interact, the contrast between Abraham and Jonah is stark. Abraham’s heart was to stand between God and a city self-condemned by sin and seek God’s mercy. Jonah’s heart was to see Ninevah, also a city self-condemned by sin, destroyed.
Perhaps, Abraham understood that God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked. Abraham’s intercession together with that of Moses (Exodus 32) and Elijah (1 Kings 19, Romans 11:1-3) pointed to Jesus:
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)
There is no record in the Bible of Jonah repenting of his anger. He wanted justice without mercy and preferred to die rather than accept that justice and mercy are both God’s character.
Intercessors follow the model Abraham, Moses and Elijah established. They understand:
(God is) not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9b)
Nevertheless, if you are like me, there is a bit of Jonah in you. When we observe the wickedness of the world, we can become angry and want to see evil nations, governments and individuals destroyed. (Maybe not you, but I confess I do.)
Yet as intercessors, we discipline ourselves to eschew anger and beg God to have mercy on those who are perishing.
