Jonah 4 Running against God Jonah: A Man on the Run

His mind knew God’s will / His will even obeyed God’s will/ But his heart did not share God’s heart. Jesus gives a parable:

(ESV) Luke 15 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

(ESV) Luke 15 11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. … 17 “But when he came to himself, … 20 he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. … 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

… 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

Two sons that a Father loves – both wander from him. One comes home. The condition of the other remains uncertain

In the Old Testament a story of men who are God’s creation – at some level both are sons of God The evil one repents and finds acceptance and grace

The condition of the religious one remains uncertain --- that one we are going to look at today.

Last week we saw Jonah obey – He ran with God.

But the journey was short – misleading-- today we find him turning and running against God just how much was he ever running with God?

Willing to receive God’s mercy himself, He is unable to accept that God desires to give mercy to others – especially to our enemies.

But if we reject this truth we will find ourselves running against God.

God is merciful and desires all people to be saved. He wants us to share His heart.

I. Running against God: Jonah’s bitter heart

A. A new source of evil Jonah 3:10, 4:1

(ESV) Jonah 3 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the (evil) disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. … 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly (it was evil to Jonah), and he was angry.

1. Word plays – use the same word with different meanings

a. The great evil/ calamity -- the people of Nineveh had been consumed The great evil /disaster that God announced on Nineveh The great evil / Jonah now is consumed with great evil himself

1) Sparing Nineveh - it was exceedingly evil to Jonah

2. Nineveh turned from their evil

3. God withheld the evil that He had pronounced as judgment

4. Jonah viewed this repentance / forgiveness as evil so the evil of bitterness and rebellion erupts in Jonah’s heart – another form of evil besides cutting off people’s heads

5. In fact this whole book is about the evil that invades the ‘righteous’ people’s heart – often harder to break through than the gutters evil

B. A contrast of hearts Jonah 3:10, 4:1

(ESV) Jonah 3 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. … 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly (it was evil to Jonah),, and he was angry.

1. Totally different reactions to the repentance of Nineveh / God turns from anger – Jonah becomes angry

2. God has a heart for others / Jonah focused only upon himself and his

a. The word “I” or “my” occurs no fewer than nine times in the entire prayer

b. Lacked a spirit of submission

c. Concerned with how events impact him and his alone

C. Bitterness against others Jonah 4:1-2

(ESV) Jonah 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I saidwhen I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;

1. Reason Jonah fled – afraid of their repentance and salvation

2. Angry that God did not destroy Nineveh

a. Past cruelty (earlier invasions of N Israel – already had terrorized – tradition that Jonah’s family had been killed by them – your mother killed by a terrorist beheading)

b. Misapplied nationalism – rather die than be the instrument of salvation to our nation’s enemy / God’s mercy only for us

c. Future destruction and cruelty to Israel (think ISIS – know they are going to destroy the US with great horror)

D. Bitterness impacts life Jonah 4:2

(ESV) Jonah 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 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 fleeto Tarshish; …

1. Was Jonah ever running with God? Outward only obedience is never enough – it is a matter of the heart

E. Bitterness ultimately against God Jonah 4:2-3

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … Therefore I fled previously 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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

1. Like a young teenager – you are bigger than me – I will do it – but I am not happy about it

a. Irony – He could have died earlier

2. Resisting God’s attitude (character) (and His attempt to change ours)

II. Running against God: Rejecting who God is

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

a. Jonah was certain of their repentance – He knew how God was

b. 5 other times similar descriptions are used of God --- this is who He is

c. But in the face of unforgiveness / self consumption Jonah uses these attributes as a triad toward God ---- So the power of unforgiveness twists us

B. Gracious Jonah 4:2c

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

1. God – Gracious - attitude of the Lord toward those who are undeserving, thereby expressing benevolence

C. Merciful Jonah 4:2d

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

1. God – Merciful - expresses the understanding and loving compassion of a mother to her child, hence the idea of understanding and loving favor

D. Slow to anger Jonah 4:2e

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

1. God – slow to anger – long of nose - patience and longsuffering of the Lord

E. Abounding in love Jonah 4:2f

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

1. God – Abounding in love - covenant love / steadfast love / faithful love expresses itself in redemption from sin. It encompasses the qualities of kindness, loyalty, and unfailing love

F. Forgiver Jonah 4:2g

(ESV) Jonah 4 2 … for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

1. Delights to withhold judgment

III. Running against God: A battle of different wills

A. God exposes the heart Jonah 4:4

(ESV) Jonah 4 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

1. Lord minimal response – you know better

2. A response to drive introspection – look in your heart – is your response appropriate? Should you be burning now? (different word for anger)

3. Inconsistency - Jonah enjoyed these same mercies of God / unwilling for others to get the same mercy

(ESV) Jonah 2 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

(ESV) Jonah 2 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

(ESV) Jonah 2 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

B. Jonah resists God Jonah 4:5

(ESV) Jonah 4 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a boothfor himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

1. Reaction to God’s probing question – Withdrawal behavior

a. Went to pout

b. Wait on Lord – perhaps He will repent and judge --- how crazy is this

c. Outside the city just in case God does bring judgment

d. Maybe Nineveh will turn back to their sinful ways

e. Instead of looking within and dealing with his own issues and the issues God had probed – he looks outwardly

f. Totally bizarre responses when we reject God’s probing

2. Built a booth = Embraced his inconsistency

a. Very hot area – 110-120 degrees / build lean to – like in Mexico – Put leafy branches as a roof to shield from the sun

b. Provide some relief – want to die /but do it comfortably

c. Seek comfort for himself / destruction on others

d. Reminder of feast of booths/Tabernacles and salvation

(ESV) Leviticus 23 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

1) Remember the mercies of God bringing Israel out of Egypt / providing for her in the wilderness in spite of their sins 2) Remember receiving mercy on oneself while be uncaring about others receiving the same mercy

C. God actively intervenes Jonah 4:6-8 * *

God is not content with mere external obedience – He wants us / He wants our heart – He keeps pursuing

1. Creates blessing

(ESV) Jonah 4 6 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.

a. After the initial covering of the booth shriveled and exposed the sun – the vine’s leaves provide even better shade

b. God creates the plant to ease Jonah’s discomfort (lit. ‘to deliver him from his evil/calamity’) --- covenant God here

c. or, ‘to deliver him from his wickedness’

d. Responds with as great a joy as he had displayed anger – deliriously happy

1) Focus here? Self – Angry with God when He doesn’t do what I want / Happy with God when He does good things for me ---- no consciousness that we need to align with God – with His character / concerns / passions

e. Not turning from his rebellion

2. Removes blessing

(ESV) Jonah 4 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

a. God now destroys –removes the blessing that He gave

b. Remove Lord God / Covenant name used for the blessing, mercy, deliverance / you act like a non covenant person, God interacts with him differently – only Elohim now – a sign of power / judgement

3. Brings suffering

(ESV) Jonah 4 8 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. …….

a. Same God who prepares help -prepares trouble (can’t play with God)

b. God brings hot wind from the desert – sap the life from someone

c. Causes direct suffering / intensity grows

1) ḥārāh means not only ‘to be angry’ but also ‘to be hot’

d. Just as the worm ‘attacks’ the plant so the sun ‘attacks’ Jonah’s head (Same word)

D. Jonah rejects God’s activity Jonah 4:8b

(ESV) Jonah 4 8 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.”

1. Life is totally twisted when it runs against God – better to die than repent

2. Return to hopelessness rather than to the God of blessing

IV. Running against God: God asks penetrating questions

In the middle of the night when no one else hears. When we are quiet enough we can’t drown out His still small voice.

Often doesn’t answer but asks –reflect – you know the answer

Probes our motives and attitudes (is it right to be angry)

A. To examine attitude Jonah 4:9

(ESV) Jonah 4 9 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.”

1. Question and probe

a. Rechallenge – same issue – same examination

2. Rejection

a. Reveals his attitude

b. If I can’t be in control then I might as well die

B. To expose inconsistency Jonah 4:10

(ESV) Jonah 4 10 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 nightand perished in a night.

1. The inconsistency rests with Jonah not with God.

2. Find joy in created things, but reject that God finds joy in created people

a. You find joy in the plant – unhappy when it is destroyed

b. Should not God find joy in the non destruction of people

3. Concern for temporal things not eternal things

a. A thing

b. A thing which you did not cause

c. A thing which doesn’t matter in eternity

d. You are concerned with a created temporal thing / but not the created people merciless on things that matter

4. Focused on the blessing not the blessing creator (God)

a. Importance of the plant was that it brought me blessing – exceedingly happy about it

b. Cared for the blessing not the one who gave the blessing – Have no interest in the one who created the blessing – what He desires / wants

c. You are concerned about how things you are concerned about / but not the things God is concerned about

C. To encourage a response Jonah 4:11

(ESV) Jonah 4 11 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?”

1. Reasons with Jonah about the value of people

a. God find’s joy in people - unhappy when it is destroyed

2. A vast number of people

3. People who have no discernment – moral compass

a. Not know right from the left – mentally deficient? Children? – or the inability of people to make moral/spiritual decisions who do not know God

4. If you don’t care for people at least have mercy on the animals who are greater than the plant you pitied

a. Rebuke: If you can’t care for the people / you could at least care for the cows

5. Share His heart

(ESV) Jonah 4 11 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?”

6. The story ends with a question: Should not God care?

7. Implied: Should not you care also?

8. Jonah how will you respond /// You, how will you respond.

a. We don’t know how Jonah responded. We can know how we respond.

b. The gracious and merciful God is pursuing you. You matter to Him. Yield to the gracious and merciful God. Submit to Him and find real joy and purpose.

c. Without Him we find only confusion, chaos, and ultimate judgment.

V. Final Lessons

A. A revelation of a gracious, active God

1. God is merciful and full of compassion seeking to draw all types of people to Himself

1) Both the ‘sinner’ and the ‘self-focused’ saint 2) The people of Nineveh in horrible external sin 3) The person of Jonah who while knowing God fights against God in his ill will and self focus

2. God is sovereign in His working - He does what He wills (this is good)

1) We are best to accept His plan – in obedience and attitude 2) It’s about aligning with Him not seeking our own control / way

B. A picture of a self-focused religious man

1. The bigot

2. It is about me and mine

3. The one who can’t forgive

4. The one who in a misguided manner seeks to protect his people from the future judgment of God

5. The self-oriented life instead of the God-focused life

6. The confusion and bitterness that results

C. An appeal to share God’s heart

1. God cares about people – you should too

D. An encouragement to respond and find a merciful God

1. Many in the story do

2. Only the religious guy is in doubt