Jonah 4: 4-8
But God prepared a worm to come to the morning of the next day which wounded the pumpkin and the second. And it came to pass that when it came out of the sun God prepared in the wind; And the sun struck Jonah on the head and he fainted and death was desired saying Death would be better to me than my life.
The didactic aspect of this book clearly jumps in this and the next verses. God wants to teach his prophet a lesson about the value of all men, the breadth of divine mercy and the misplacedness of his theology.
The solitude that surrounded Jonah at his point of observation east of the city offers God an ideal opportunity to instruct him.
And the Bible tells us that Jehovah God prepared a gourd: Probably a plant that grows rapidly and has broad leaves similar to the palm.
God prepared this gourd so that Jonah could rest under her shadow and get rid of her discomfort, a question that greatly pleased Jonah.
But also how he prepared the gourd to shade it and also prepared a worm to hurt the gourd and dry it.
This greatly bothered Jonah, because, Jonah had fallen in love with the gourd, had become accustomed in a short time to rest in it to feel good, but realizing the destruction of the same feeling anger and helplessness for something that neither he had built it himself, God granted it for mercy and to give it a new lesson.
For this reason we look at the intervention of God where he says: are you so angry about the gourd? and he answered a lot, I get angry until death and that is where God gives him the lesson saying: did you have pity on the pumpkin, in which you did not work, nor did you make it grow that in the space of one night was born and in space of another night he perished, and I will not have mercy of ninive, where is the great city where there are more than one hundred and twenty people who do not know how to discern between his right hand and his left hand?
It is important to note that the confusion of values in Jonah's mind becomes painfully obvious. God challenges you to consider what the Ninevites are worth.
There are many people today who fall in love with things that can be identified as "pumpkins" and take it as priorities in their lives giving themselves as owners no matter what things God truly gives meaning to his kingdom.