The Angry Shade Lover & the Cattle-Saving God
Notes
Transcript
Jonah 4
Jonah 4
What are the main things we have covered in Jonah so far?
Paul taught last week and essentially what happened? Jonah finally went to Nineveh and they repented—they turned from their sin.
Turn to chapter 3 we are going to start there.
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.
So God was going to destroy Nineveh but decided rather to relent and offer forgiveness.
Think of an evil wicked city in our culture. Las Vegas, some city in China, Mecca, etc.
We think there is no hope for them—and then God does a miracle and turns their hearts and relents his anger towards them.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
I think if we were being honest we might be in the same boat. Remember the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. What happened there?
Why were the workers who worked all day upset? They worked all day but got the same pay. Meanwhile the one group of workers goofed off in the market all day, showed up at the end and got paid the same.
The people of Nineveh hated God and mocked him, and yet they came to repentance and were not punished. Jonah thinks they should have been.
I have done what you asked God, and this is the reward? All these heathens are saved? I don’t want the streets of heaven filled with them.
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?” 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.” 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.” 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?”
What do we see about Jonah in this passage?
His attitude is so closely tied to his comfort. When the people who he didn’t like were saved, what did he want—kill me!
Then he gets shade and comfort under the plant—Jonah was exceedingly glad.
Then the worm attacks the plant and it withers—its better for me to die than to live.
How many times do we have our emotions so closely tied to our circumstances?
Let’s pause there—what are things that make you angry?
Is there is a difference in anger? Righteous vs Unrighteous
What is righteous anger?
14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
When things are wrong, against the word of God, take advantage of the down & outer, injustice are all reasons to be angry.
What is unrighteous anger?
It controls us, its not a matter of injustice but rather inconvenience.
The person who thinks they should have gotten the promotion of the job but thinks it unjust because they didn’t.
Side note: I believe one of the if not the biggest challenge you generation faces is a spirit of entitlement. You believe you are owed something and that you deserve XYZ. You deserve this job, not because you are qualified or because you are prepared but because you want it, so it should be yours.
Even apart from the bible, within America you are not entitled to a lot, but we think we are. Guard your hearts against that.
I bring this up because we like to get angry when we don’t get what we want. When we don’t get a discount somewhere or didn’t get the nicest car or don’t have the newest phone. Your not entitled to any of that.
Unrighteous anger is when we elevate our personal needs or preferences to the level of promises.
What are we promised?
God will never leave us or forsake. The church will endure. We are safe in the hands of God. Eternal life.
Health, wealth, family, marriage, children are all things we elevate to that level. We are not promised any of those things. They can be good things or are explicitly good things in the scripture but they are not promised and are anger cannot be centered around not having them.
Back to the story. Was Jonahs anger righteous or unrighteous?
Unrighteous. Jonah wanted them to be destroyed. He was upset that God has given mercy to repentant sinners rather than following through with the destruction Jonah preached. He takes offense to the grace God shows and the mercy he extends.
Ultimately Jonah takes offense to God acting like God. The one who has every right to do as he choses and act as he wants.
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
None of us know his thoughts and can give counsel to God. None of us are owed anything from God so he can act as he wishes.
The problem becomes like Jonah when we begin to center on ourselves and what we think should happen or what we want, we take the focus off of others and what they need.
Review:
What are some things over which you have been extremly angry only later to find out you were wrong about injustice being commited toward you? What was driving your original perspective on the situation? What later information helped you to think differently?
When have you been angry with the Lord about unfulfilled dreams or missed expectations? What was your original hope that went unfulfilled? Why was that expectation so significant to you at that period of your life?
When have you failed to express righteous anger—moral outrage or a cry for justice—over an occupational, familial, communal, or church issue, realizing in hindsight you should have made your voice known? Why is it sometimes difficult to express righteous anger, when there has been a social miscue, but easy to express unrighteous anger over mild discomforts? What truths about Christ do we need to embrace in order to grow in rightly expressing anger?
Name a recent experience in which you rejoiced in the Lord’s grace, mercy, or patience toward you. Why did you need such grace, mercy or patience? How did you feel about the Lord when you have this experience?
Almost every sovereign country has another nation of people that identifies itself as enemies. Think of an enemy of your home country. What are your feelings toward the people of that nation as a whole? How do you feel about a member of that nation moving next door to you, marrying your child, or becoming an elected official in your municipality? What does Jonah teach you about how you might view tolerance toward such nations and peoples as a follower of Christ?
What has been your response to people within your congregation who have experienced long-term despair or may even suicidal thoughts? What sort of practical, faithful, compassionate acts might turn them from their despair? What acts from Christian friends have been most helpful to your moments of greatest despair?
Consider the following verses:
17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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.”
What do you notice in these verses? What word is used multiple times?
Appointed.
What attributes of God does this reveal?
Is it normal for the Lord to appoint events or even “natural” evil. How should one view events of natural evil within the will of the Creator?
9 who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: 10 he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;
26 when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. 5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.
The Lord is in control of all of those things and can even use those things for our good and his glory.
When is a time God used natural occurrences for his glory?
The flood, the parting of the sea, the calming of the storm. God shows his power of creation to show how mighty and powerful he is.