Jonah 4
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Jesse just got done preaching through ch. 3
We saw
The Word of the Lord comes to Jonah a 2nd time
Unlike the first, this time Jonah is faithful to the call
And we saw how Jonah cried out - he preached repentance
“40 days” he says “and Nineveh shall be overthrown”
And we see a repentance in the people
From the least to the greatest
From the commoner to the king
They all put on sackcloth
They sat in ashes
There was even a decree put forth from the king himself
A proclamation that everyone be covered with sackcloth
Even the beasts of the field - the animals
And God sees this turning - this repentance - and what does it say He does?
He relents
He no longer brings judgement and destruction upon them
He shows mercy
He shows mercy to an undeserving people
And that brings us to our text today
Jonah the Sinner
Jonah the Sinner
Verse 1
Not everyone would take this first verse the same way I do
St. Jerome for instance, commends Jonah for his grief here
He actually compares what Jonah is experiencing to the holy zeal that we see in the words of Paul
When he wished himself to be accursed for his brethren according to the flesh
Some people even commend Jonah here because they see a sense of nationalism
And they think it a noble thing for him to be so grieved over the state of his own people - the chosen people
And we could say, if that were the case - sure there isn’t anything intrinsically wrong in that
The idea that you would want your people, your community, your family to be able to experience the mercy of God
But I would argue that isn’t all we see here
Instead I think - what we see here is Jonah - the sinner
This is a false zeal that we see here
It’s not just that he would have rather seen his own people - his own brethren according to the flesh - granted mercy
It’s that he doesn’t believe Nineveh should’ve experienced mercy at all
John Calvin actually restated this verse as if it were to say
“And it was an evil to Jonah, a great evil; and wrath was in him”
Jonah has gone so far that he is almost considering this an injustice from God
He’s filled with wrath, with hatred, with anger
That the Ninevites were spared from the wrath of God
Now remember, this is the same person who was just under judgement from God
He was on the brink of death, and spared only by being swallowed by a great fish
We know that it is God who brought this great fish to swallow Jonah
Jonah knows that it was God who did this, that it was God who spared him
And Jonah just saw what it is like to be under the wrath of God - to be under His judgement
And after all this - he would still wish for the Ninevites to remain in their state
A state that would have had them destroyed
We see this sentiment in the very next verse
Verse 2
And just before we start here it is important to note
Many of your translations have something like - “He relented from doing harm”
That’s all this means
It isn’t this idea that God didn’t know what was going to happen
Or that God truly had to repent of anything
He relented
He abandoned His judgement against Nineveh
It isn’t this idea like the open theists where God doesn’t know what is going to happen
Jonah here is clamoring against God
He is waging his head -
He is trying to justify his own actions
“This is why Lord - this is why I fled - don’t you understand now”
He goes on to say
Verse 3
We must now ask ourselves
What is Jonah’s chief end here?
If Jonah’s chief end were truly to glorify God
Well this shines forth the glory of God
Jonah should be praising God
He has just delivered the Ninevites
He has just reconciled men to himself - He has just become a father through adoption to these people
Jonah should be shouting for joy that that day was the day of salvation for those men
But what do we see instead?
Jonah is pouting
“Just take my life Lord”
Just kill me
“Didn’t I say this would happen?”
“And now look - the Ninevites have come to faith”
“I told you God, but you didn’t listen - just kill me”
Now, we must check our own heart here
As Ryan preached last week - it’s easy for us to be exuberant and praising God when He saves our friends or our family
It’s easy when He saves our own kindred, our own nation, our own people
Jonah would not be accusing God of any injustice if He showed mercy to the Israelites
But when it’s our enemy - it’s almost scandalizing
We love repeating phrases like “God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of abounding ins steadfast love” when it’s directed towards our own
But do we believe it when it isn’t?
Do we believe it when it’s the driver with road rage who cut us off?
What about the little thug who stole your bike off the back porch?
What about the murderer?
You know, Jeffery Dahmer seemingly came to faith in Christ was he was in prison
This man, who committed wicked, heinous acts
Who murdered children - practiced cannibalism and necrophilia
Are we willing the praise God when He saves a person like that?
What about the abortionist who cuts up little children in their mothers womb?
What about the rapist - or the pedophile?
When God saves people, who we believe are not our people, are we willing to praise Him?
Are we willing to praise God when He shows mercy to the worst of the worst
Because truly - that exhibits the grace of God - it is all for the praise and glory of His holy name
If we are like Jonah, and say “no God, you can’t do that”
Then it shows our heart
We aren’t truly living and working and longing for the glory of God
We are in it for ourselves
And not only that, but it is also highlighting the fact that we are downplaying our own sin
Sure we may not have murdered someone, but that’s only because God didn’t allow you to
Because God had His hand of restraint upon your life
I guarantee there have been times where we would have
There are times where we would have been worse than the murderer
Worse than the abortion doctor
Worse than Jeffery Dahmer
Worse than the Ninevites
If God would have removed His hand of restraint
And the only difference between us and them is that we have been covered by the blood of Christ
And just to show my heart a little for a second
I get so tired of the sectarian nature that we see over and over
The “I want my tribe, my kin to be saved”
No
The gospel call is for everyone
And woe to anyone who denies the call of the gospel to whoever they consider to be lesser than
The gospel is for every tribe, tongue, and nation
There is no restriction
There is no longer jew or gentile
We are all one in Christ Jesus
We need to be about the glory of God
Stop with the glory of self
Stop with the glory of your kin
Preach Christ beloved
If God desires all men to be saved
Then we do too
But Jonah is still not getting it, after all the mercy that God has just shown him
After he himself has just got done sinning against God, he goes on to do it again
So what does God say to Him?
God the Sovereign
God the Sovereign
Verse 4
This is clearly a rebuke by God against Jonah
God is reproving him
Our minds, our intellects, our knowledge and wisdom are all fallen
They are all tainted
And when we try to weigh facts and deeds and thoughts on our own, we end up deceiving ourselves
Jeremiah said that
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
We deceive ourselves
The only way to be sure about anything is by testing that thing by the word of God
Or, that which we can deduce by good and necessary consequence
But ultimately, that is our final authority, the word of God
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
And so God is reproving Jonah
And notice, God does not have to say, “Why are you angry”
It’s not like this is a conversation where Jonah can reason with God about his thoughts and feelings
All the Lord has to say is “Jonah, does it do you well to be angry?”
That is because, it is God who wills
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
God is the one who wills - As James 4:15 says
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Jonah must be silent at this point
Jonah must acknowledge that God is His maker and judge
Not only that He is his maker and judge, but that He is the Ninevites maker and judge
So what do we see
Jonah goes out of the city, sits down, waiting to see what becomes of the city - what will happen
And we see God supernaturally raise up a gourd or a very leafy plant or tree to cover him - to give him shade and protection
Then we see that God brings a worm to kill the plant
And so the plant withers away
And then a strong wind comes, and the sun is beating down upon Jonah to the point that he wants to give up
He wishes his own death
And again, we have to acknowledge that everything - in heaven and on earth - is under the sovereign control and dominion of God
There is not one molecule
Not one drop of rain
Not one breeze of wind
The wind doesn’t rise up by itself
It is stirred up by a Divine Hand
There is nothing That is outside of the control of God
And that includes you
Not a single molecule
Not a sparrow that falls from heaven
Do you trust that God is in control still in the dark providences of life
When death comes to the family
When cancer strikes
When calamity is around the corner
Nothing is outside of the control of God
God is ultimately working in your life
God has not abandoned you at that time
He may be reproving you
He may be correcting you
He may be revealing sin
But he has never abandoned you
But notice - Jonah does not cry out to God for His excellencies
He doesn’t thank God for His graciousness and Providence
It says he is glad of the plant, not of God
I mean, think about the tenderness of God in this entire story
God raised up a great fish to deliver him from injuries and death to the water
God now raises up a great plant to deliver him from the elements
And Jonah is grateful to the plant and not to God
This plant was a great blessing to Jonah in this time, it was a great comfort
But Jonah again misses the mark
Beloved, don’t miss the mark
When God raises up a gourd in your life
to protect you from the adversities of life
Don’t miss the mark
Don’t praise the plant
Don’t praise the things of this world
Remember the one who raised it up for you
Remember the one who wills and works in your own life
The one who is a tender God to you while you are yet still a sinner
And when that plant withers away
Do not curse God in hatred
Trust God that He is working all things
Trust God that that plant could have been a stumbling block
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
God the Maker
God the Maker
Verse 9
We see God now repeat the same question to Jonah
“Does it do you well to be angry, Jonah”
God is again, reproving Jonah
Jonah has been rebuked now twice, not by man, but by his creator
We must think,
To speak hastley in a time of anger is one thing.
More times than not when we do something in haste and are rebuked for it, if we take it back, if we repent, it is more excusable
But to speak hastely, to be rebuked, and to stand our ground
This is far more inexcusable
And that is exactly what Jonah does
He doesn’t say, “you’re right, Lord, forgive me”
He says, “I do well to be angry, even unto death”
“Yes, God, it is right for me to be angry”
And think about this
We have to think about the life of Christ
Christ became a servant - He humbled Himself
And we see the same thing with St. Paul
Paul, on the Road to Emmeaus and He has this encounter with the Lord
And all of the sudden his life is completely flipped on its head
He no longer is persecuting Christians but is a Christian himself
And Paul says that he became a slave to Christ
And Paul tells us to imitate him as he imitates Christ
That is what it’s all about
That we are willing to lay down our life for the sake of the gospel
Willing to become a slave to God and His glory
And yet
Jonah is more concerned with this gourd that has withered away and died
More than image bearers
And you think of the content of his loss
Something like this is a rather small loss, comparatively
A plant, withering away
When afflictions in the providence of God deprive us of such things
Such as relationships, possessions, enjoyments of life
We are called to bear it patiently
To trust in the providence of God in our lives
I have a friend, who has lost much
He owned a home, sold it when the market was low
He now looks back and recognizes that he could have made so much more money on this home if he would have held on to it a little longer
He’s become estranged to his parents
He has lost at least half of his retirement due to some policies that his job has enforced
Yet in all of this there has been an acknowledgement that God has providentially blessed him in many other areas of his life
Specifically within the church
It’s far too easy for us to let our passions dictate and guide our feelings
We let it over rule our conscience, we let it give false witness and judgement
And Jonah here has let his passions over run his thinking
So much so that he is willing to abandon his own life
It seems like this is Jonah’s go to when things get tough
We saw this in Chapter 2 and we see it again now
But remember what we see in Job 5:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, And envy slayeth the silly one.
If we are not careful, this world, and the lust of the things of this world, will blind our eyes
To the point where we can’t see the things of God
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Truly, if we fall in love with the things of the world, we become blinded to the things of God
Our priorities become jaded
We become disillusioned to the things that really matter
And I think that’s exactly what we see here in the life of Jonah
He has forgotten what truly matters in all of this
Because look at what God goes on to say to him
Verse 10-11
We see God’s explanation for raising up the gourd, and then causing the gourd to perish
He is teaching a lesson to Jonah
That it is folly, that he should have compassion upon the gourd, and not the Ninevite people
Should Jonah have more compassion upon the Ninevite people, than he has compassion upon the gourd?
These are human beings created in the image of God
Yet Jonah is more concerned with the gourd than he is for them
Look closely at this
“Thou has had pity on the gourd”
Or, you would have spared the gourd
God is saying
You are a man, a finite human being
And you are not as inclined to mercy as I
But you have desired to spare the gourd
But this gourd is not your work
“For the which thou has not laboured, neither madest it grow”
Jonah, this gourd wasn’t produced by your own cultivating
It wasn’t produced by the toil of your hand
You are not the one who has raised it up
“Which came up in a night, and perished in a night”
This shrub, that you have not worked for
Think of the circumstances
This gourd is raised supernaturally
And if you think of the circumstances then you will know
that there is no reason to be found that there should be any displeasure
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away
But in all things, blessed be the name of the Lord
“And should not I spare Nineveh”
“But should not I, the God of heaven and earth”
“in whose hands are all things created and upheld”
“Should not I, whose prerogative it is to save”
“Should not I spare Nineveh, although they too, are worthy of destruction”
“That great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle”
Jonah records here this very large number
Most of your translations probably have “more than 120.000 people”
And do not be confused at this point
It is not that God does not know the exact amount
It’s not as though someone is asking me of the population of the town that I grew up in
If someone asks me that usually I say, idk about 13,000
Because I don’t have that wisdom, I’m not all knowing
But God is, and when he uses this number it isn’t that He isn’t actually sure of the number
God has a very paternal, singular care for each of us
He has numbered the hairs on our head
But what He is doing here, is emphasizing this large number
So that it might be more manifest the size of the city, with which He has had compassion
And not only this, but he adds that they could not distinguish between their right and left hand
There are differing interpretations at this point
Calvin for instance, states that this is due to there being so many infants in the city
Others like Jerome state that this is because they have not been taught in the school of God
Meaning they don’t know the difference between right and wrong
While I am not at liberty to infer too much into the text here
Although if you pushed me on it, I would probably side with Calvin
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
I think one thing is sure
That God is telling Jonah
That it is His right to save who He saves
Its His prerogative
Closing
Closing
And in this all, the thing that was on my mind the entire time of preparation is the words of St. Paul
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
God has mercy on whom He wills
God hardens whom He wills
And Jonah is not at liberty to question the works of God
We are not at liberty to question the works of God
Jonah questions the works of God here
He said, “I do well to be angry”
Yet he could not prove it
God is able to prove it, when He says “I do well to be merciful”
This ought to be of great encouragement to us all
That the poor and miserable sinner can find such mercy in a loving God
God is so ready to justify Himself in showing mercy here in the words of Jonah
And God is an unchanging God
He is the God that is Lord over all
That is rich in mercy to all who call upon Him
That in every nation, whether it be Nineveh, or the US
That the one who fears God, the one who trusts in Christ
The one who repents and turns from the evil of this world, will find mercy in Him
The one who repents
Now let me ask you
Have you repented
Have you turned to Christ
Have you forsaken the evil of the world
Because there is mercy to be found
If you have not flown to Christ I exhort you
In the presence of God and all His people
To do so now while He may be found
Today is the day of salvation
God is not just willing, but will save anyone who is found in Christ
