The Angry Prophet

The Angry Prophet

Jonah 4:5-11

Last week we saw Jonah pray an angry prayer. His prayer does not relieve his anger.

Spiritual disciplines only help us if our heart is right before God.

If we are intent on continuing in sin:

Praying doesn’t help us

Going to church doesn’t help us

Fasting doesn’t help us

Reading the Bible doesn’t help us

Spiritual disciplines are only beneficial if we are willing to lay aside our sin. Jonah prayed but it didn’t help because he wanted to cling to his anger.

v. 5 “Jonah went out of the city”

Why did he leave?

Safety? No. The people had changed their ways.

Rejection? No. They received the Word of God. No use to dust off his feet.

These people were saved. Jonah could have settled down in the town as a teacher.

God doesn’t want us to win people to the Lord and then abandon them. He wants us disciple them. The truth is Jonah would have probably been treated well had he stayed in Nineveh. He was the spiritual father to the people in this city.

“Made a booth for himself there”

Jonah builds a tent for himself. He refuses to live in Nineveh. Here we have a church split before a church is even built! Rather than worship with the Ninevites Jonah decides he will be by himself. I can’t stress enough how much Jonah hated these people.

Jonah did as little as he could to obey God. He went and preached in the city and that was it. I would imagine the people of Nineveh were wondering where he went.

“He sat under it in the shade” This will be important in a moment. Jonah is in the desert and it is hot. Rather than live with someone in an actual home, he chose to build his own makeshift home. This tent offered some shade but nothing like the shade of the homes in the city.

“till he should see what might become of the city” Now we see why he was waiting. The Lord promised to destroy Nineveh in forty days. Those forty days were not up yet. Jonah hoped the repentance of the Ninevites was not sincere. He hoped they would return to a life of sin and God would judge them. I can almost see him with his little calendar. He is marking off each day hoping that when the fortieth day arrives the Lord judges Nineveh.

What a horrible thing!

I know we are accustomed to rooting against foot ball teams or politicians. But why would we ever root against a person’s relationship with God? Why would we hope someone fails spiritually?

If a church is preaching the Word of God, why would we hope they fail?

If a Christian is living for God, why would we hope he is caught in some scandal?

Jonah’s anger caused him to abandon the work of God and then hope that it failed.

v.6 “Now the LORD god appointed a plant and made it come over Jonah”

Like I said earlier, the tent Jonah built only gave him temporary relief from the sun. In the warm months, that area of Mesopotamia has an average temperature of 110.

Jonah was experiencing discomfort. Two times we see the sun beating down on his head (6, 8). Was Jonah bald? I don’t know. If he was that would make things all the worse.

Out of His grace God causes a plant to grow over his booth. It appears it grew quickly. We’re not sure what type of plant it was. Some say a gourd. Some say it was a castor oil plant. It doesn’t really matter. The point is it was a leafy plant that gave Jonah shade.

“So Jonah was exceedingly glad” This is the first time Jonah is happy in the book.

Wasn’t happy when God gave him an assignment.

Wasn’t happy when God spared his life.

Wasn’t happy when God gave him a second chance.

Wasn’t happy when the city got saved.

Now he is not only happy, but exceedingly happy!

Why? Because of the plant!

When his personal needs were met, he was happy. Jonah wanted comfort. He hasn’t been comfortable yet. Now he is. He is happy.

Can we be happy when our personal needs are not met?

Can we be happy when we are not comfortable?

That is the real test of spirituality.

v. 7 “God appointed a worm that attacked the plant”.

God gave Jonah a good day. That good day should have led him to repentance. He should have recognized God’s grace and repented of his anger. He didn’t.

The plant didn’t last long. God appointed a worm to eat it up. Small things can do a lot of damage.

Tomato worms are an example of that. This worm attacked the plant in some way. Whatever it did to the plant killed it. Likely the root system was damaged, and the heat caused the plant to shrivel up.

Notice the things God appointed in this story:

A fish (1:17)

A plant (4:6)

A worm (4:7)

A wind (4:8)

The book opens with Jonah being angry with God about big things- the call of God.

The book closes with Jonah being angry with God about little things- a plant and a worm.

It’s likely Jonah didn’t know anything about the worm. Worms are small. They are insignificant things. You’re going to see this very small thing has a big impact on Jonah.

v. 8 “God appointed a scorching east wind”

This is called a sirocco wind. It’s a dusty wind that occurs in that part pf the world. It causes the humidity to drop and the temperature to rise. It is scorching hot and is known to affect people emotionally.

Notice it says, “the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint.”

God turned up the thermostat.

Imagine how hot Jonah was. Imagine how miserable he was. I wonder if the Lord was giving Jonah a taste of hell.

If Nineveh were destroyed, they would be experiencing a lot more heat than that.

Did God in a very small way do to Jonah what Jonah wanted done to Nineveh?

Jonah asked the Lord if he could die. He told the Lord that would be better.

No. It would be better if he went back to Nineveh and loved those people.

Anger leads to misery. It always does. You can choose to be angry. If you choose to be angry you also choose to be miserable.

v. 9 “Do you well to be angry for the plant?”

Jonah was mad the Lord killed the plant. Guess what. It wasn’t Jonah’s plant. That was God’s plant. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Jonah should have been happy the Lord gave it to him for a day.

Notice the Lord asks him the same question He asked him in 4:4. The circumstances were the same. Jonah told the Lord he wanted to die. The Lord asks him if he has a right to be angry.

It wasn’t sorrow that drove Jonah to the point of asking for death. It was anger. He thought he could not live if things continued like they were.

Notice how Jonah responded this time. He says, “Yes I do!”

Jonah says not only do I have a right to be angry, but I also have a right to be as angry as I am!

Anger will make you:

Irrational

Irreverent

v. 10 Now the Lord gets harsh with Jonah. Don’t miss the gentleness the Lord has used in speaking with Jonah. His question to Jonah in 4:4 and 4:9 appears to be very gentle. God has been nothing but kind and patient with Jonah. Jonah has been harsh with the Lord.

Let’s look at what the Lord says:

You pity the plant.

You didn’t plant it, water it, fertilize it.

The plant was a temporary thing. It was here for a day. You became so attached to it that it angered you when it was gone.

The Lord says you are mad about a plant.

The Ninevites just sprouted up before the Lord in a very short time. One day they were not children of God. The next day they were the children of God. Jonah hoped they would wither away like that plant did.

The Ninevites did not wither away like Jonah wanted.

The plant withered away. Jonah chose to be angry about the plant. Had the plant stayed and Nineveh withered Jonah would have been happy.

Jonah pitied the wrong thing!

v. 11 The book ends with a question:

“Should I not pity Nineveh?”

These people were created in the image of God.

God brought these people into existence. God fed these people. God nurtured these people.

“120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from left”

Some think this refers to children.

Some think this refers to spiritual ignorance.

Either way it’s a lot of people.

These people are eternal. It would be a shame for them to go to hell.

Jonah has this question forced upon him.

He must wrestle with that question. Should the Lord pity people?

Should He save people from hell.

Jonah doesn’t like them. Is that what should determine the grace of God?

Jonah don’t like them so they should go to hell.

I’ll guarantee you someone didn’t like Jonah.

Someone doesn’t like me.

Someone doesn’t like you.

Thank God He is more compassionate than we are!

Here is a question for us?

Should God save people?

If He should, should we not be willing to go to a lost world with the gospel?

Should we not be willing to experience discomfort for the work of God?

Contrast Jesus with Jonah.

Jesus on the cross.

Sun beating down on his head.

He has no shade.

He is looking upon the people.

He is not hoping they will die. He is hoping they will be saved.

He prays “Father forgive them….”

He had every reason to be angry. He was not.

He had every reason to abandon the mission. He did not.