Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 4
In four places, the Book of Jonah says that God prepared (or provided) something. Each of these things belonged to our natural world, but God used it in an extraordinary way. So, God prepared a great fish (1:17), a plant (4:6), a worm (4:7), and a hot east wind (4:8). God used each of these things in turn to teach Jonah.
Worms are such small, soft animals that the Bible uses them as a word-picture for a state of complete weakness (Psalm 22:6). However, every gardener is aware of the severe damage that such small animals as caterpillars and worms can cause to his plants.
Jonah had not grown the plant that had so pleased him by its shade. It was God who provided that comfort for Jonah in the hot sun. Even as God had provided the plant, so he chose to remove it. The worm ate the stem of the plant and destroyed it completely. Its huge leaves, which Jonah had considered so pleasant, would all dry up, dead.
God had permitted that worm to destroy the plant. He did it for an important reason. He wanted Jonah to learn an important lesson about God’s love and care for people. Only the loss of that plant, which Jonah cared about so much, would teach that lesson to Jonah.
The worm ate the plant’s stem at the beginning of that day. So when Jonah awoke after his night’s sleep, the plant still appeared healthy. Its leaves would not dry up until the sun became hot. However, they had lost their connection to the root, so they would certainly die (compare John 15:5-6).
That day would be a very hot day. The heat of the sun would make Jonah feel weak and ill. He very much needed the plant to shade him – but it was dead.
Next part: Jonah again becomes weak and angry (Jonah 4:8)
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