Jonah 4
Notes
Transcript
A Great Lesson...
A Great Lesson...
Good morning my friends!
I hope you’ve had a good week.
I am blessed to see each of you today. It is always a great day when we can gather and worship the Lord our God, Amen.
I want to remind you, this summer we will start our push for you to get ready to do shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. With that in mind, you can go ahead and start shopping the sales and work ahead of time to be a blessing to children.
You can buy clothes, school supplies, toys, dolls, winter gloves and socks...... You know the things you bought last year, and our goal this year is a little more than last year, 125 shoe boxes.... We can do that!
I believe we can my friends, I believe we can.
Now we come back to the book of Jonah this morning and as we get ready to open up chapter 4, lets consider what happened in the previous chapter.
If you remember, Jonah traveled to Nineveh as the Lord commanded him, he was fortunate, blessed that he received a second opportunity to serve the Lord in spite of his previous disobedience.
He went and preached to the people and the more remarkable thing happened, the people believed! They believed in God and took His word to be true.
The king called for a fast, a fast for man and beast for three days no one was to eat or drink. They turned from their sin
and turned to God. And when the Lord saw their actions, He relented of His anger and wrath and did not punish them.
Wow…
And in spite of this revival, Jonah was mad. This is were our message begins today my friends.
So two major thoughts today....
1. Jonah’s Anger.....
Friends, it is hard to imagine, that anyone would be angry when people repent, but Jonah did....
As I mentioned over the last couple of weeks, Jonah didn’t particularly care for the Ninevehites, there was no love lost between he and them. They were a wicked people and Israel had experienced it first hand…
Jonah went and preached to those in that city, and they repented when they heard of the word of the Lord.
And God relented of His plans to destroy them since they turned from their wickedness and believed God.
And how did Jonah respond? Well lets go ahead and look at the first 4 verses of Jonah 4. Jonah 4:1-4
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 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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
So lets break down what Jonah is saying here in this text.
The Scripture tells us that Jonah’s response to all that happened was displeasure and anger..
And remember what I said a moment ago, he was upset because of God’s response to their repentance. Look at chapter 3, verse 10 Jonah 3:10
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.
The Ninevehites heard and repented, turning from their evil ways and turning to God, Praise the Lord to see a people turn to God in their sin and failures.
And God relented and turned his wrath away from them and did not destroy the city and its inhabitants.
And Jonah was mad for all the above, but chiefly that God showed them compassion and mercy in their repentance.
Look again at what Jonah says in verses 2 and 3, he said this is why he wanted noting to do with this and this is why he fled away from God’s presence.
Now his words to God here are a far cry from the Jonah we saw when he prayed to God from the belly of the whale… This is more like the old Jonah from chapter 1.
Jonah didn’t want the Ninevehites to have the opportunity to repent and most certainly he didn’t want God to show them compassion...
You know, I look at Jonah’s life and see an man who is uniquely conflicted, He praised God for saving his life in the belly of the fish, but complained when God spared others.
He says I know you were “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”...
What does that mean when Jonah describes God… He said God was gracious… that refers to the attitude of the Lord toward those who are undeserving, He extends himself in a way that benefits others.
He was merciful....or compassionate, He was loving and kind. It describes the attitude of a parent toward their child. That parent loves that child, wants the best of that child, and so they do their best to care and meet their needs.
I think we can safely say that God loves the inhabitants of this world. God loves me this I know we could aptly sing and believe...
Jonah says that God was slow to anger.... which speaks to the patience and longsuffering… God is not one who quickly acts.
And on the other side, He was abounding in love… The phrase here is uniquely special “Rab Hesed” in the Hebrew and it refers to his covenant love. It is a love that emphasis the redemption of sin not punishment. It encompasses the qualities of kindness, loyalty and unfailing love.
That covenant love is a wondrous thing, God is one who relents from destruction from ruin out of love…
It is unique that that these words are usually used to praise God, speaking of his good works and here Jonah is using his attributes to complain about God.
He was obedient to God but mummers against God’s revealed will to save them instead of destroying the Ninevehites. He was reluctant to be God’s voice.
And in light of all that is happened, Jonah who once praised God for saving his life, now asks God to take his life...
Look at verse 3 Jonah 4:3
3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Wow, Jonah is so sad, distraught that He asks God to end his life. But God doesn't do this…
*There is something positive to see here, God knows the depth of every heart and knows every need better than we may know ourselves.
God extended his mercy and grace to Jonah just as He did the Ninevehites
Let me ask you a question… How do we respond when God’s answer isn’t want we want at the time?
Are you angry or upset with God?
At times I think we are...
We must be careful to always, realizing that in every answered prayer or prayers that seem to do unanswered that our heaven Father knows what is good and best for us and our families.
There is mercy, grace and compassion in his answers… no matter if affirmative or negative...
Now we come to the second thought of this passage, So let’s consider this my friends...
2. The Lord’s Lesson on Compassion.....
The remainder of this chapter gives us a look at what compassion is and the Lord’s care for our lives.
I don’t think everyone understands what true compassion is and sadly I think it’s because not everyone really understands the love God has for humanity, all of humanity.
Jonah certainly did not, I think Jonah felt like God shouldn’t have had compassion on the Ninevehites since they had been enemies to Israel.
But he knew the Lord would be compassionate if they truly responded to the world of the Lord. And that is what they did… and God relented.
And he is upset.. and look at God’s response to his anger.
4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
What does that mean, well the NIV gives us a good translation of that verse, it simple means “Is it right for you to be angry?”...
Jonah thought he was justified in His anger, but he wasn’t. Namely because he really didn’t understand the mercy and compassion of God.
So the Lord takes some time to teach Jonah about his compassion for all people, not just Israel.
Lets look at verses 5-8 Jonah 4:5-8
5 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. 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. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 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.”
The setting is still Nineveh, and Jonah leaves the city and sat out on what might perhaps be a little hill area just to the east.
There it says the he made a little shelter for himself there, sitting in the shade looking to see what might become of the city, perhaps waiting to see if they might revert back to their old ways...
Now this little shelter is just something that would deflect some of the days heat, but is not a complete covered area. But there he is, sitting in the heat, frustrated and mad.
And in His grace the Lord sends him a plant, one that sprouts and grows quickly, big enough to block all the sun’s rays and thus give him shelter and shade in the place he occupied...
So there is Jonah, sitting there, and he is happy because of the plant, he might not like Nineveh but he is enjoying the plant, the shade it provides and he is blessed to be out of the sun’s heat...
Now the next morning, just as the Father sent the plant, this day God sends a worm to attack the plant, and it surely attacks it… so much so that it withers away, destroyed.
The plant came one day and is gone the next…wow
And not only is the plant now gone, so Jonah’s shade is gone too. So the plant and the blessing it provides is gone.
And verse 8 tells us that God sent a scorching east wind, and the sun and its heat beat down on Jonah, on his very head.
So with all of this, we can conclude Jonah is sun burned and weary from the day’s heat and look at this..
Jonah asks God again that death might be allowed to come visit...
Little note here… 3 times he has asked for death… He told the men if they threw him overboard in chapter 1, they would be saved and twice in chapter 4 he has asked to die..
Now back to Jonah....While Jonah was trying to have a pity party, God sent him and plant and desirable shade that he might find comfort then took it away and gave him scorching heat to make it uncomfortable...
Just as God prepared the whale, so God prepared all this as well..
In all of these things, the whale that came and saved Jonah to the plant that came and went reveals to us that God is truly the one who is in control.
But here we are again, Jonah is ready to die again… Essentially Jonah says, God life’s just not fair, it’s not...please take me out of this unfair world.
Now think back....
Do you remember the question God asked Jonah? "is it right for you to be angry...”
Jonah thought he was justified in his anger, but was he??? … God is about to teach him a great lesson..
Look at verse 9.... Jonah 4:9
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.”
So what is God saying to Jonah?
Well he asks that same question again. Jonah, is it right for you to be angry??… this time the question isn’t about Nineveh, it’s about the plant.
Jonah had been shown mercy, God sent him protection from the elements with the plant God raised up for him.
Did Jonah earn the plant, No.. did Jonah raise the plant himself, No. So Jonah did nothing to bring this plant forth, it wasn’t his plant, it was God’s plant.
God is the one who showed Jonah mercy and its a second time when he didn’t earn it or deserve it...
But Jonah says He did have the right to be angry, He was mad that it was gone and he suffered before it… He was angry enough to die...
Asking that question a second time really brings forth a thought we have to consider…
What right do we have to expect God to show us favor, but not others?
Honestly we don’t.... God is just in all that he does, especially the fact that God loves the entire world, not just Israel.
Now lets look to God’s reasoning in verses 10-11
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 night and perished in a night. 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?”
Wow...
What is God saying to Jonah…???
Jonah, buddy… you care more about the plant, and frankly yourself instead of what’s really important.
The word “Pity” there, really has an idea of compassion. You cared for, you had compassion for the plant, it brought you joy and when it was gone, you were saddened that it was gone.
But did you care this much for Nineveh?
You didn’t do anything to bring that plant into this world, it was a gift of God’s grace for you.. And if I choose to show you mercy and grace to you, can I not do it for others
And the truthful answer is yes!
Jonah was angry that the plant perished, yet he would have delighted if Nineveh’s fell....He could have been angry at Nineveh’s sinful nature but not the people.
Jonah didn’t deserve God’s grace and mercy as God gave him a plant, , Nineveh didn’t deserve a chance to repent, but God have them the chance to repent.
God drives home the point by telling Jonah, you cared for the plant that came and went, one plant...
Should I not care for that great city with more than 120K people who do not know their right hand from their left..
And remember, in the OT, numbers like 120K really only represented the men, so it could have easily been 600K in that city along with its livestock.
God cared for them like Jonah…
And in the scope of the whole book, God loves the world, he cares for the world and because of that, God is just in showing grace, forgiving mercifully, and loving all for His glory.
And my friends, if God loves the world so much, shouldn’t we?
What are we doing to demonstrate that love?
Are we praying for those around you and around the world.
Are you telling those around you and maybe like Jonah, going to tell others.
Are you serving that others might hear and be saved…?
what are you doing that the world might now Jesus is Lord and loves them and gave HIs life as a ransom for sin.
Lets pray...