ABSTRACT: The books of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles both tell the extended story of King David’s reign, yet they do so in strikingly different ways. Whereas the author of Samuel tells the tragic story of David’s sin and subsequent troubles, the author of Chronicles focuses almost entirely on David’s blessings. A close look at the context and audience of the two books helps to explain why they differ so significantly. The author of Samuel, writing between the nation’s division and its return from exile, needed to offer warnings and hope to an Israel facing God’s discipline. The author of Chronicles, writing after the return from exile, needed to encourage Israel toward wholehearted devotion to God in a time of blessing. Both authors offer a tour of the same reign, but they take different paths to communicate different lessons for their original audiences.

For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Richard Pratt, president of Thirdmill and former professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, to offer an approach for faithfully interpreting biblical narratives.

I grew up in a family that loved to tour important historical sites in the United States. I remember following my parents in a group of strangers, going to one station after another and listening to a tour guide tell stories about events that happened long before I was born. I always wanted to know more, but the intrigue was compelling, the treachery was frightening, and the jokes were funny too. What I remember most today are the subtle — and often not so subtle — patriotic lessons that the tour guides usually wove into their stories. We took a lot of those lessons home with us.

Old Testament stories are like tours, but they are sacred tours. “All Scripture is God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), and God “never lies” (Titus 1:2). While ordinary tour guides are notorious for mixing fact and fiction, the authors of Old Testament historical narratives never fabricated or misconstrued history for ancient Israel. Jesus and his apostles believed this to be true, and there are no more reliable witnesses. Moreover, unlike the flawed lessons ordinary tour guides often give, Old Testament authors taught fully trustworthy lessons through their tours. They selected, shaped, and arranged their narratives to give invaluable guidance for ancient Israelites to take home with them.

To explore how Old Testament authors acted like sacred tour guides, we will look at two presentations of King David’s reign in Scripture, the first in 2 Samuel and the second in 1 Chronicles.

Two Tours, Different Paths

Most of us already know a lot about David. God miraculously raised up David to be the king of Israel in the place of Saul, but when he sinned with Bathsheba, his kingdom fell into disarray. Actually, that’s a reasonably good summary of what appears in the book of 2 Samuel, but the book of 1 Chronicles gives us another, strikingly different path through David’s reign.

“Chronicles replicates, modifies, rearranges, supplements, and omits materials in Samuel in a variety of ways.”

If you’ve ever compared Samuel and Chronicles, then you already know that they do not tell the same story, even though they cover the same King David. Chronicles replicates, modifies, rearranges, supplements, and omits materials in Samuel in a variety of ways. Scholars have devoted a lot of time to analyzing thousands of smaller variations, but focusing on these details is a daunting task even for experts. Still, it isn’t difficult for anyone to discern significant differences in the paths these tours followed.

Before considering why the authors took these different paths, follow along on the two paths themselves.

Tour One: Samuel

Most of us are familiar with David’s reign in the book of Samuel, so let’s start there. By and large, interpreters agree that this book divides David’s reign in 2 Samuel 2:1–24:25 into three main sections, or to draw from our analogy, into three tour stations.

At the first station, the author of Samuel explains how David received tremendous blessings from God in the early years of his reign (2 Samuel 2:1–10:19). These chapters report David’s anointing, his widespread support in Israel, his possession of Jerusalem, and the placement of the ark there. The high points of these years of blessing were God’s covenant with David, David’s submission to the God’s plan that he would prepare for Solomon to build the temple, David’s subsequent victories, and a description of the strength of his kingdom as he ruled in Jerusalem.

The second station of the tour (2 Samuel 11:1–20:26) covers David’s later years, when he fell under severe disciplinary curses from God. David sinned with Bathsheba. The prophet Nathan confronted him and warned that the sword would never pass from his house. The rest of these chapters illustrate some of the ways Nathan’s prediction proved to be true. David’s own family members and a number of other significant figures brought terrible troubles to David’s kingdom.

The third station (2 Samuel 21:1–24:25) is often called an appendix because it consists of a topical chiastic arrangement of events that occurred throughout David’s reign. These chapters present three pairs of similar events. They open and close with two reports of David’s prayers that brought relief from Israel’s trials. Twice they draw attention to victories that David’s mighty warriors won in support of his kingdom. The centerpiece of this chiastic arrangement sets David’s psalm of deliverance in the days of Saul alongside David’s last words near the end of his reign.

Tour Two: Chronicles

Now let’s turn to the path followed in the second sacred tour of David’s reign, in 1 Chronicles 9:35–29:30. This version also divides into three main sections or stations, but it offers a different presentation of David’s kingdom.

The first station (1 Chronicles 9:35–12:40) closely resembles the book of Samuel. It also explains how David received God’s blessings for his faithful service early in his reign. Chronicles notes that David was immediately recognized as king after Saul’s death. He was anointed as king by representatives of all the tribes of Israel at Hebron. He conquered Jerusalem and continued to enjoy widespread support. This section then closes with mighty warriors from the tribes of Israel who supported David while he reigned in Jerusalem.

The second station (1 Chronicles 13:1–16:43) follows the book of Samuel less closely, but it also reports familiar blessings from God. It begins with it the well-known story of David’s failed attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem. Following this setback, the author of Chronicles turns to a few blessings David received years earlier to remind his audience of God’s special favor toward David. The account in Chronicles then moves to David’s success in bringing the ark into Jerusalem and adds how he instructed the priests and Levites to lead worship in ways that pleased God.

The third station (1 Chronicles 17:1–29:30) begins with God making a covenant with David and David agreeing to prepare for Solomon to build the temple, as in the book of Samuel. But at this point, this tour differs dramatically from what we learn from Samuel. Rather than reporting David’s failure and troubles, the author of Chronicles elaborates on David’s devotion to preparing for Solomon’s temple. Chronicles notes that David devoted the plunder of his victories to the temple. It adds to the story of David’s sinful census that David discovered where God ordained for the temple to be built. After this, the book of Chronicles takes us on a different path through the later years of David’s reign. David charged Solomon, and he organized the Levites, the priests, and other officials for Solomon. David then commissioned the temple construction and publicly appointed Solomon. He also held a grand assembly of Israel’s leaders in which he collected large donations for the temple. After this assembly, the tour in Chronicles notes that Solomon was anointed king and served alongside David until David’s death.

On the whole then, the book of Samuel begins with David’s early years of blessings, turns to his later years of curses, and ends with an appendix of positive events throughout David’s life. By contrast, the book of Chronicles begins with David’s earlier blessings, turns to more blessings, and ends with even greater blessings in David’s reign. But did you notice how the book of Chronicles forms this second tour? The author of Chronicles omits a major focus in Samuel and replaces it with a different set of events in David’s later years.

On the one side, the author of Chronicles omits the eleven chapters of Samuel devoted to David’s sin with Bathsheba and the curses that followed (2 Samuel 11:1–21:17). Think about that for a moment. It is nearly impossible for us to mention the name David without thinking of those events. Yet Chronicles does not mention David’s sin with Bathsheba, Nathan’s rebuke, or those tragic troubles that plagued David’s kingdom throughout his later years. That’s a significant difference.

On the other side, while the book of Samuel has little to say about ways in which God blessed David in his later years, 1 Chronicles 22–29 elaborates on God’s later blessings quite a bit. The author of Chronicles added eight chapters not found in Samuel to tell the rest of the story of David’s later years. God blessed David as the king devoted himself wholeheartedly to preparing for Solomon’s temple.

This quick comparison of Samuel and Chronicles makes it clear that we are dealing with two different tours of David’s reign. They do not contradict each other because they are both God-breathed. Yet it is undeniable that they represent two substantially different versions of the king’s reign.

Two Tours, Two Lessons

I first became aware that the two sacred tours of David’s reign followed different paths as a young student, and it troubled me deeply. There was just one David. Why did the authors of Samuel and Chronicles present two versions? Perhaps it will help to compare what we see in Samuel and Chronicles with the more familiar landscape of the New Testament.

The New Testament gives us four accounts of the one life of Jesus. As we study the four Gospels carefully, we learn that they are similar in many ways, but they are also different from each other. They represent four sacred tours of Jesus’s earthly ministry. Why are they not entirely the same? We’ve all heard the answer. God led Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to write different accounts of Jesus’s life to address four audiences facing different needs and challenges that had arisen in the early church.

A similar explanation holds for the two sacred tours of David’s reign in the books of Samuel and Chronicles. The Spirit of God ensured that the authors of these books wrote only true facts about David, but he also led them to follow different paths to give lessons that met the needs and challenges that Israel faced in two circumstances.

To understand how this is true, we have to say a few words about the human authors of Samuel and Chronicles. Who were they? For whom did they first write? What were their circumstances? What lessons did their versions of David’s reign offer? As you can imagine, answering these questions thoroughly goes far beyond the limits of our discussion here. Yet it isn’t difficult to grasp several helpful perspectives on the identities, circumstances, and purposes of these two books.

Tour One: Samuel

The book of Samuel is anonymous, so we cannot know precisely who wrote it. We can know, however, that its author was among the leaders of Israel. On many occasions, the book of Samuel indicates that its author made use of official records of Israel’s royal court. Such records were available only to a few nobles, officials, priests, Levites, and the like.

Beyond this, it is especially important for modern readers to keep in view that this book was written in the first place for other leaders in Israel. In our day, Bibles are so plentiful that we are accustomed to looking for lessons that address the personal needs of ordinary, individual believers. In ancient Israel, this was not the case. Literacy and publishing technologies were so limited in Israel that only leaders even had access to the Scriptures. Faithful leaders taught and applied the lessons of Samuel to the lives of common people. Yet the lessons of David’s reign in Samuel did not arise primarily from the personal needs of individual ancient Israelites. Rather, they arose from the conditions of the entire nation of Israel, the state of the kingdom of God in Israel.

So, what were the conditions of God’s kingdom when the book of Samuel was written? Evidences within the book itself clearly indicate that Samuel was written sometime after the division of Israel into the northern and southern kingdoms and prior to the return of a remnant of Israel from exile. On no less than five occasions, the author of Samuel acknowledges that the division had occurred (see 1 Samuel 11:8; 2 Samuel 5:5; 12:8; 21:2; 24:1). Moreover, 1 Kings picks up where the story line of Samuel ends. So the book of Samuel had to have been written before the last scene of 2 Kings. This last scene reports an event that occurred while Israel was still in exile (see 2 Kings 25:25–30).

God graciously sustained Israel during these centuries between the nation’s division and the return from exile, but by and large conditions were dire. It was a period largely characterized by God’s judgments against the kingdom of Israel. The nation was divided. The northern and southern kingdoms faced economic insecurity, threats of war, and foreign dominance. In the end, the Assyrians defeated northern Israel and exiled most of its population. Later, the Babylonians destroyed the temple and Jerusalem, and most of Judah’s population was exiled from the promised land as well.

Throughout these centuries, God sent prophets to bring his word to Israel, and the author of Samuel aligns himself with these prophets by weaving the themes of their proclamations into his stories. The prophets repeatedly explained that the troubles of the nation came from God’s responses to the failures of Israel’s leaders, especially the house of David, to lead the nation in righteousness. The prophets called for repentance, but Israel repeatedly spurned their message. As a result, severe judgments fell on the nation time and again and eventually led to exile from the promised land. Nevertheless, the prophets also assured Israel that one day, when they repented, God would bring their exile to an end. He would fulfill his promises to David by raising up a righteous son of David who would suffer and die for the sins of his people. This king would rise in victory, restore the nation in the promised land, rebuild their kingdom, and lead them into victory throughout the earth.

The author of Samuel wrote his account of David’s reign in the spirit of these prophets. Israel was suffering under curses from God. His record of David’s early years of blessing demonstrated God’s special favor toward David and his house. He raised up David as Israel’s king in Jerusalem and made a covenant to establish David’s house as the permanent royal dynasty over his people.

The record of David’s later years of curses from God explained why Israel was suffering. Their trials were rooted in the troubles that David’s rebellion introduced to the nation, and they continued generation after generation because the sons of David rebelled against God.

Still, like the prophets of Israel, the author of Samuel offered hope for Israelites under God’s curses as he wrote the appendix to his book. Despite the failures and troubles of David’ house, Israel must have faith that God will keep his covenant with David. He will raise up a righteous king from his royal line to bring God’s immeasurable blessings to the nation of Israel.

The author of Samuel called for faith in God’s promise to David throughout his appendix, but he did this most forcefully in David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23:1–7. There, David proclaimed to Israel that when their king

“rules justly over men,         ruling in the fear of God,he dawns on them like the morning light,         like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.         For does not my house stand so with God?For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,         ordered in all things and secure.” (2 Samuel 23:3–5)

The hope of Israel was to long and pray for this kind of son of David.

Tour Two: Chronicles

As crucial as the instruction of the book of Samuel was for Israel prior to the end of the exile, we have seen that the Spirit of God led the author of Chronicles to write a different version of David’s reign. His book is also anonymous, but his use of royal records indicates that the author of Chronicles was also a leader in Israel. Moreover, the author of Chronicles refers to an assortment of records that were available only to leaders, suggesting that ordinary people did not have access to his book. He wrote to guide the kingdom of Israel, not to meet individuals’ needs.

When did the author of Chronicles write his book? The book itself indicates that he lived after Israel had been released from exile in Babylon. The opening genealogies close with reports of people who had returned to Jerusalem (see 1 Chronicles 9:1–34). The closing scene of the book rehearses how Cyrus ordered Israel to return and to build their temple in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 36:22–23). Now, we cannot be certain precisely in which year or decade the author of Chronicles wrote. Yet Chronicles was written in relatively hopeful days of blessing. The exile had ended; a remnant had returned. The author wrote to call more Israelites to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple, and to set the priests and Levites in order under the leadership of David’s house.

The author of Chronicles weaves into his account of David’s reign the central themes of prophets who spoke hopeful words from God after Israel’s return. We have in mind here especially Haggai and Zechariah, both of whom called on Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, to lead Israel toward the goal of restoring the kingdom of God. As the representative of David’s house, Zerubbabel was to welcome the return of more Israelites, to lead the reconstruction of the temple and the reestablishment of proper worship in Jerusalem in preparation for the great Messiah to come. The Spirit of God led the author of Chronicles to confirm these priorities for Israel through his tour of David’s reign. He wrote to affirm the practical program of reconstruction begun in the days of Zerubbabel as the path toward God’s blessings.

“The first audience of Chronicles needed to follow David’s example in their day.”

Understanding this historical context helps us grasp why the author of Chronicles took Israel on a different tour of David’s reign. In comparison with conditions prior to Israel’s release from exile, Chronicles was written in a day of light and hope. Yet that hope had to be turned into a practical program of service to God. Those who had returned to the promised land faced new challenges. What were they to do to move the kingdom of God forward in their day? So, the author of Chronicles replaces David’s sin and troubles with a spectacular account of his full devotion to uniting the people of God in service to the construction of the temple. David was Israel’s exemplary king, the one who fulfilled the priorities they should have in their own lives. The first audience of Chronicles needed to follow David’s example in their day. If they did, they would see the blessings of God.

These themes appear throughout the tour of David’s kingdom in Chronicles, but they take center stage especially in David’s prayer near the end of his reign. When David saw Israel’s generous support for building the temple, he prayed these words:

In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, . . . keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. (1 Chronicles 29:17–18)

In Troubled and Hopeful Times

The two tours of David’s reign in Samuel and Chronicles had much to say to ancient Israel, but they also speak to us as followers of Christ. We know that Jesus is the great and final royal son of David who fulfills all of God’s promises to the house of David in the inauguration, continuation, and consummation of his kingdom.

“We know that Jesus is the great and final royal son of David who fulfills all of God’s promises to the house of David.”

Prior to the return of Christ in glory, the needs and challenges we face vary. There are times when the discipline of God comes upon us in Christ. We feel boxed in by disappointment and hardship; life in this world seems hopeless. In these sorts of circumstances, the tour of David’s life in Samuel has much to say to us. Just as Israel was to put their hopes in the righteous son of David to come, we are to put our hopes in Jesus, the righteous son of David. He is the one who will rescue us. Our faith must be in him alone.

Other times, however, our needs and challenges are much closer to the situation for which the book of Chronicles was written. God mercifully opens doors of service, opportunities to further his kingdom in the power of the Spirit. We are positive and hopeful, ready to reach for the sky. The tour of David’s life in Chronicles is especially good for us in those times. Just as Israel was to learn from David’s life after the exile, the lessons of David’s reign in Chronicles teach us the projects we should pursue and the priorities we should follow as we devote ourselves to the kingdom of God in Christ.

Go back to these two sacred tours of David’s reign on your own. Read through them. You’ll find countless ways they direct us all in service to Christ.

Audio Transcript

Do angels carry our prayers to God? Do angels play a mediating role between us and heaven? That’s today’s question. And what makes this question especially interesting is a theme we’ve already looked at three times on the podcast in the past: the fact that angels do hold the prayers of the saints. They hold them. That’s the glorious point of Revelation 8:3–5. The prayers of the saints — our prayers — accumulate in “golden bowls full of incense,” bowls that are held by the angels (Revelation 5:8). It’s an incredibly encouraging image. It’s meant to be. God wants us to know that every one of our prayers — our answered prayers and our yet-unanswered prayers, all of them — are heard by him, are precious to him, and always exist before him. It’s a trio of glorious truths we saw in APJ 37, APJ 630, and APJ 1226.

But this question today is different. Do angels carry our prayers to God? That’s the question on Barb’s mind, a listener to the podcast. “Pastor John, hello! Do angels carry our prayers to God? I have heard this ever since I was a little girl. But passages like 1 Timothy 2:5 seem to suggest otherwise.” Pastor John, what would you say to Barb?

I had a grandmother growing up who lived with us and who embodied some of the impulses, I think, for why over the centuries some churches and people have felt the need to shrink back from direct Christian access to God through Jesus and instead put various other beings between us and God to represent us before him.

Between God and Man

Barb, in this question, mentions angels as a go-between. In Roman Catholicism, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, is put between us and God as a mediator. People all over the world, sadly, pray to Mary. They say their Hail Marys and do their rosary instead of coming to God directly and confidently and humbly through Jesus alone.

My grandmother was fond of saying — as she declined to participate in family devotions, to the great grief of my father — “God has more important things to do than listen to my prayers.” Now, on the face of it, that sounds humble. It is meant to sound humble. But in reality, it is not humility. It’s a form of Christ-belittling, Christ-rejecting pride. Her supposed sense of unworthiness was not the reason she didn’t pray. She didn’t pray because she did not believe the word of God. She did not believe and cherish who Jesus was and the price he paid to open the door to God for sinners.

Her refusal to come to God the way God offered through Christ was not a humble refusal. It was a self-asserting refusal to see herself as needing a Savior whose life and death were utterly, gloriously sufficient to open the way to God and bid her come boldly to God. She did not believe that God is glorified by welcoming our burdens and carrying them for us, like the strong God that he is. She didn’t believe that what Jesus did on the cross and what he’s doing today in heaven would be glorified if she really humbled herself and was stunned out of her mind with wonder that the Son of God came into the world to open a way for repentant sinners, beyond all imagination, to come into the presence of the infinitely holy God through Christ alone — and find a fatherly reception rather than incineration. She did not believe.

Millions don’t believe that the infinite, blazing holiness of God is so great that no angel, nor the mother of God, Mary, could be a better protection for us than Christ. Let me say that again. That’s just so crucial. She didn’t believe, and millions don’t believe, that the infinite, blazing holiness of God is so great that no angel and no mother of God could be a better protection for us than Christ.

“No angel, nor the mother of God, Mary, could be a better protection for us than Christ.”

If we’re going to approach infinite holiness in prayer now, in fellowship with God now, and finally approach him face to face, then the thought of adding Mary or an angel to Christ for supplementary protection and acceptance is absurd. It’s simply absurd. It’s like saying, “Well, I’ve got an asbestos fire suit here, and it’s twelve inches thick. Now, let’s add a layer of tissue paper to make it more resilient.”

There is not one scripture that teaches us to approach God through angels or through Mary — not one. Let that sink in. Not one. All of that insertion between us and God in addition to Christ is unbiblical tradition, and it is a dishonor to Christ, what he accomplished on the cross, and what he’s doing today.

So let me celebrate with you for just a moment the glories of Christ’s finished work for us on the cross, and its ongoing application to us in heaven as he intercedes today for us and opens the way to God moment by moment for you to come.

Through His Flesh

So we start with that text that Barb mentions in her question: “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). There are not multiple mediators that make it possible to relate to God joyfully, without being destroyed. There are not. Christ and Christ alone accomplished this once for all.

Then there’s the gloriously clear statement of Paul in Ephesians 2:17–18 and 3:12: “[Christ] came [into the world] and preached peace to [those who] were far off and peace to those who were near.” And now here’s the key phrase: “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:17–18). And then he writes this phrase: “In [him] we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Ephesians 3:12). I mean, could it be clearer?

And how did Christ do that? How did he open the way for sinners to come boldly through him to the Creator of the universe in infinite holiness? Ephesians 2:16: “[He reconciled] us both to God in one body through the cross.” Glory! I love it. What a great gospel. “Through the cross” — through his death.

Or here’s the way it’s put in Hebrews 10:19–20: “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” So the blood of Jesus and the torn body of Jesus, dying on the cross in our place, covers our sins. It provides us with the righteousness we need to stand in the presence of the holy Creator of all things.

“The living, risen Christ goes on today, forever interceding for us by pleading his perfect sacrifice.”

And then the living, risen Christ goes on today, forever interceding for us by pleading his perfect sacrifice. Romans 8:34: “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” — right now as I talk. Or 1 John 2:1 puts it like this: “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

We don’t need another advocate. It’s almost blasphemy, I want to say, to say we need another advocate or some intercessor or mediator besides Christ. And it’s forever. Hebrews 7:25: “[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Always — always and forever welcoming us to God through his work.

In Jesus’s Name

So how do we come into the presence of a holy God in prayer and fellowship now? How do we come? Here’s Hebrews 10:19: “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” I can’t say it too many times. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God . . . let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:14, 16). How do we pray as we come to this throne through Jesus? Do we hold on to our rosary and pray our “Hail Marys,” as if the mother of God could improve on the access that Jesus has made? Do we call down some angel, and hope he has greater access with our prayers than the Son of God? No, we don’t.

Here’s what Jesus said, and this is simply amazing. How precious, glorious, and unthinkable it is. He said, “In that day, you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:26–27). In other words, “When you speak to God, pray to God, the infinitely holy Creator of the universe, in my name — that is, in my forgiveness, my righteousness — I don’t even have to ask Father to hear you. He loves you. He loves you as he loved me. That’s what it means for me to be the one and only mediator between you and God.” “Trust me,” he says. “Come to God through me.”

Though only four chapters long, the book of Jonah is filled strange and unique elements.

Whereas most prophets speak to other nations from Israel, God calls Jonah to address Nineveh from Nineveh. Prophets often resist God’s call, but Jonah actually runs away. On the boat headed for Joppa, idolatrous sailors encounter the living God and immediately begin to worship him. And then, of course, Jonah survives the sea by being swallowed by an enormous fish and living in its belly for three days.

When Jonah finally does preach to the Ninevites, they respond to his preaching with unrivaled repentance — and everyone, including the animals, takes part in mourning for sin. And though every preacher I know longs for Nineveh-like revival, Jonah is distraught at the city’s repentance and angry that God would show such wide compassion.

Finally, the book doesn’t end with a nice resolution. By the Lord’s providence, a plant grows up quickly to shade Jonah from the heat, but then, by that same providence, a worm destroys the plant. In the face of Jonah’s anger, God asks the prophet a question that is also intended for the reader: “Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11).

Among all these strange and unique elements, consider the book’s last phrase. Why does the story of Jonah end with the mention of “also much cattle”?

God’s Angry Prophet

To get to an answer to that question, let’s remember the near context. Chapter 4 begins with Jonah enraged with God. And here, we find out why Jonah ran away from Nineveh the first time. He tells the Lord, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he knew the Lord’s heart to bless; he knew and believed the Lord’s own self-disclosure that he is gracious and merciful and relents from disaster (Exodus 34:6–7).

Because Jonah knew God’s character, he knew that if he went to Nineveh and preached, the Ninevites might turn from their violence — and God, being the gracious God he is, would relent. Jonah was running away from giving Nineveh an opportunity to experience the mercy of God. One of the tragic ironies of this book is that Jonah himself experiences great mercy from the Lord (who spares him from death through the great fish), and yet Jonah is angry when the Ninevites experience that same mercy.

“God is the missionary in this book, pursuing both Nineveh and his prophet with amazing grace.”

But just as God drew near to Cain when Cain was angry at him (Genesis 4:6–7), in mercy and compassion, God draws near to Jonah. Though Jonah is quick to anger, the Lord is slow to anger. He asks Jonah an important heart-revealing question: “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). God is not only interested in Nineveh experiencing his mercy; he is also pursuing Jonah. God is the missionary in this book, pursuing both Nineveh and his prophet with his amazing grace.

While Jonah waits to see what God will do with Nineveh, God moves into the next stage of pursuing Jonah’s angry heart. After Jonah makes some shade for himself from the heat, the Lord appoints a plant to add extra shade. Jonah is very happy about the Lord’s kindness to him (Jonah 4:6). But when God appoints a worm to destroy the plant, and a scorching east wind to beat down on, Jonah is angry again — this time about the loss of the plant that shaded him from the heat. And now, in a very personal way, the Lord draws near to highlight his own compassion for Nineveh.

Pitying Plants and People

God’s words to Jonah follow a common form of argumentation as he moves from the lesser to the greater:

You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? (Jonah 4:10–11)

In this question, God affirms that Jonah is right, in a way, to have pity for the plant. But Jonah neither labored for nor cultivated the plant, and he experienced its relief for only a day. If Jonah is right to have compassion on the plant, is not the Lord’s right to have compassion on a city of more than 120,000 people, along with much cattle?

Now, with the context settled, we can get back to our question: Why does the Lord mention cattle?

In one sense, the mention of cattle is simply a part of the lesser-to-greater argument. Plants are important, and Jonah is right to have pity for the plant, but people and cattle are even more important than plants. Isn’t it right for the Lord to have pity on a great city with all kinds of people and cattle?

But to me and other commentators, the mention of cattle also signals something important that we need to remember about God’s love for all creation, for all he himself has made, from plants to animals to humans.

God’s Care for All His Works

God has made humans in his image (Genesis 1:26–27), and this was the crowning act of the six days of creation. He made humans a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). To save humans, the Son of God became like us in every way, except for sin (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). We humans are of great value to God, and though we have rebelled, God has much mercy for us.

At the same time, though not in the same way, God cares about animals. He has pity and compassion on animals. Animals are his creation, and God cares about what animals experience in his world. This is one of the reasons Israel was not to muzzle the ox (Deuteronomy 25:4). This is also why Jesus teaches us not to be anxious, based on the beauty of the plants of the field and the Father’s care for birds (Matthew 6:25–34). Notice Jesus’s lesser-to-greater argument regarding our Father’s care:

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)

Jesus’s logic is clear. Our Father feeds and cares for the birds of the air; they have what they need when they need it, though they do not sow, reap, or gather. The Father himself feeds them. And we are of more value than birds.

“Just because we humans are of more value than birds, plants, or cattle doesn’t mean they are of no value.”

But just because we humans are of more value than birds, plants, or cattle doesn’t mean they are of no value to our gracious and compassionate God. Cattle are of value to God, and we are to value them, as he does.

He Cares for Cattle — and Dogs

We could apply God’s surprising regard for animals in various ways, but I want to close with just one.

In 2007, I had to euthanize the first dog my wife and I owned. His name was Elliott, and he was a black-and-white English springer spaniel who went everywhere with us. We loved Elliott. I learned how to pheasant and grouse hunt with him, and we had a great bond. But in time, his body filled with cancer. When I took him to the vet to be with him in his last moments, I was not prepared for the waves of grief that would come upon me then and for weeks after we put him down. I felt silly and embarrassed telling friends about this because I would start to weep. He was just a dog, but I was grieving as if I had lost a close friend.

And that’s when Jonah 4:11 and the Lord’s pity for cattle started to help me. Yes, Elliott was a dog. But the Lord cares about dogs because he created dogs. I am right to have compassion on my dog. The Lord is right to have compassion on cattle; he made, sustains, and cares for cattle. Even more, God is right to have compassion on Nineveh, that great city. And it is absolutely amazing that the Lord would have compassion on me and you.