In the Book of Jonah we find three examples

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III


Jonah

The compassionate God may use punishment and frightening if these are useful for man's salvation. In the Book of Jonah we find three examples:
(a) An example of giving a warning and a long respite. This is what happened with the Ninevites, " Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jon. 3:4), a warning given with a long respite. And the city was not overthrown because it feared the coming wrath and the expected punishment, and they repented.
(b) A more severe example is what happened with the mariners of the ship and the ship's passengers including Jonah. Here the matter was not just giving a warning, but it was carrying it out for a limited time. God gave orders to the winds to strike the ship so that it was about to be broken. But we notice that God put limits to the wind's blows: "Strike the ship from without, but your water shall not enter it. Strike the ship, shake it, but do not harm any of its passengers." We notice here that the blows caused some losses because the mariners were obliged to throw some of their wares into the sea in order to lighten the weight of the ship.
(c) The punishment within serious danger. The order was given to the great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah looked and found himself inside the belly of the whale.
These are the three ways of punishing, and God wants you to reach Him by any means that suit you or are convenient for you.