Jonah Week 2
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Last week we talked about the start of Jonah
How he was called by God, ran away, God didn’t give up on him, and used the worst message in history to save an entire city
From that we saw three things
God gives us a job
God doesn’t give up on us
God can use your work, no matter how small
Now this is typically where everyone ends the book of Jonah
Most people only know this much of Jonah
How he was swallowed by the fish, and then turned back to God, and the city was saved
Tonight however, I want to look at the last chapter of Jonah and see if it can’t give us some perspective on who God is
God isn’t scared of our emotions
God isn’t scared of our emotions
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Jonah, after seeing the city get saved was exceedingly displeased
In other words - Jonah was angry that the city got saved
He was so angry that he cried out the Lord explaining why he fled for Tarshish
Jonah knew that God would save Nineveh and He was angry
He didn’t think they deserved to be saved
He felt like they were too bad to be saved
So Jonah is crying out for God to take his life now, because things didn’t go the way he wanted
Here’s the first lesson from Jonah 4
God isn’t scared of your emotions
Jonah was exceedingly angry that God saved Nineveh
He felt like the city should have been destroyed, that they were too bad and shouldn’t be allowed to be saved
He then vocalized all that to God
Here is what I like about Jonah 4 though, God didn’t run away from Jonah in his emotions
He asked Jonah “does it do well to be angry?”
He didn’t just flee from Jonah because Jonah made him feel weird with his emotions
God isn’t afraid of your emotions
There are going to be things in life that happen that you will not understand
There are going to be moments that you will not like the outcome
We know what Romans 8:28 says
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
We know that God is working all things out for good, but that doesn’t mean we have to like everything that is happening
You can feel angry, confusion, you can have questions about why things happened, or the way things happened
God knows I have had questions about things happening
So don’t be afraid to voice your feelings to God
He isn’t going to leave you
Instead, He works with you to help you understand
God sees people differently
God sees people differently
Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”
Jonah then sets up a little camp so he can watch Nineveh
Still pouting about Nineveh not being destroyed
While that happens God starts to teach him a lesson
He has a planet grow, Jonah is happy
The planet is destroyed, Jonah is mad
Jonah again wishes that God would just take him out
He is saying he is done living because of this planet
And the Lord said, “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?”
God then comes in with the teaching moment
He points out how Jonah cares so much for the planet that came up one day, and is gone the next, and Jonah did nothing to it, or for it
Yet shouldn’t God care about Nineveh the great city, and all the people in it?
Here is the second thing this passage is teaching us
God sees people differently
He sees things differently than we do
Jonah looked at Nineveh and all he saw was a bunch of people that were evil and wicked
God looked at Nineveh and saw his creation
He saw His own image
Psalm 139 tells us how God created every person
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Genesis 1 tells us how every person is made in the image of God
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God looks at the people of Nineveh and sees his beloved creation
We look and see a sinful hurting people that don’t deserve saving, but God looks and sees people that He created and loves
The book of Jonah is a representation of John 3:16!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
God loves the world - including the people we don’t - and sent His son to die for all the world
Jesus’ death was to save all people to forgive all sins
It is the free gift we are given to come to Him
Do you care?
Do you care?
This leads to the last thing Jonah is teaching us
Do you care?
Jonah 4 ends with a question - “should I not pity Nineveh?”
God looks and sees more than a sinner, He sees His creation
And at the end of Jonah 4 God asks Jonah a simple question, should I pity Nineveh?
This is left open ended because we are meant to ask that same question today.
Should we pity those who are broken and sinful?
Jonah didn’t pity them
He waited for God to destroy the city
But God asks the question, should we pity Nineveh?
In other words - should you pity those who are far from Jesus?
Should you care about those who are sinful?
The answer to that question is yes
We are meant to love and seek to share with those who are lost
With those who are hurting
Just like God did with the people of Nineveh
God cared for them, even through their brokenness
That’s why he sent Jonah in chapter 1, chased after Jonah during chapter 1, gave Jonah a second chance at the end of chapter 2, and saved Nineveh at the end of chapter 3, after using Jonah in chapter 3.
We must see people the way Jesus sees people
We must love people the way Jesus loves people
Conclusion
Conclusion
We can’t scare God
He can handle our emotions and feelings, be honest with Him
God looks at things differently
He sees people as His, and wants people to come to Him
We must care like Jesus does
Seeking to love and share the Gospel
