Chapter 4:1-5 Jonah’s angry prayer.

21/6-26 Chapter 4:1-5 Jonah’s angry prayer. He prayer that God will kill him.

Late week, the people of Nineve believed God, and repented/ and stopped evil, and fasted and cried out to God for mercy. A great miracle a violent and evil people, was overthrown by God or let to turn and repent. And God did not destroy Nineve and all the people and animals. 

Jonah found it very evil! And he was angry that God relented and did not judge and destroy the Ninevites, according to Jonah the Ninevites were evil and deserved to die. But God chose so save them, that made Jonah very angry.   

The irony that Jonah was happy that God saved him and he declared “that salvation belongs to God”, - but now Jonah opposes this statement. Salvation should not belong to God; God should only save the people Jonah would save and not the people that Jonah hate. They should die because they are evil. In some sense salvation should belong to Jonah.

2. Jonah prays to God for the 2 time, this time a prayer of complaint, (key verse) O God, did I not say that my self when I was in my own country? (And that is why I went to Tarshish). Jonahs fear is realized as God did not destroy Nineveh. Jonah knew God, and he knew as also the prophet Joes said, God is gracious,(underserved favor giving people the opposite of what they deserve). Merciful,(sympathy and compassion) slow to anger, () abounding in steadfast love () relenting from disaster. That is all great and good when it is God that looks on Jonah, - but it is evil when God looks on Jonahs enemies like he does on Jonah, - God should just be this way to me and my people. Not our enemies and other people that are evil and horrible.   

3. Jonah then concludes if God will not kill his enemies, he should kill him, that would be better that to live with this God that forgives the evil of Jonahs enemies. It is better to die that to live. If you are so unjust God. That you forgive the evil of my enemies. (Jonah has just confessed that he ran from God and disobedience what God asked him to do, in Jonahs own estimation God should have killed him for his rebellion against God and Jonah did almost die, but God saved him, a disobedient prophet). Salvation belongs to God, as he proclaimed. – But not Jonah thinks he can judge who God should save. And if God does not what that, then Jonah does not want to live. (Or as one wrote Jonah here is trying to get God to relent and destroy the Ninevites instead of Jonah).

4. God asks Jonah a simple question. That Jonah ignores or don’t respond to until next time. Is it good that you are angry? Do you do well in being angry. (Reminded about Kains talk with God).

5. Instead of responding to God, Jonah goes outside Nineve, he makes a little hut/salter (he dose not seem to be a master carpenter, as we will see that next time) Jonah sits down to see what will happen to Nineve. I think Jonah still hopes that God will still destroy the city. Jonah had just prayed how unfair God was, and that God should take his life, if he would not destroy Nineve. Surly God would see it Jonahs way and not kill him his prophet, and instead destroy the Ninevites.

It might be easy to see Jonah as a religious Pharisee, with a nationalistic complex, that God only cares or loves his people and does not care for the other nations. But as God will ask again next week we see that is not the case. Jonah is a very unik book, that lets God’s people know, that God cares for all the people also all the other evil people that God created, and God made it clear in the Abraham, in you all the nations will be blesses. As Gods people today we are to be humble that God has chosen us, and not overcome by the words evil and the people in  it, just as we were in darkness and sins. If we got the good news of Jesus Christ for free, we are to live and share that great news, and God can and will use us to show who he is to the people around us. Jonah seemed to have fallen in to the trap that God only cared about the people of God, and therefore always would save them, but would always punish other nations evil, there God is the same, God character is the same, - slow to anger, but will not let the guilty go unpunished. And here is the Christ connection, that God will not let the evil go unpunished, so he takes the punishment – after passing over sins. Jesus Christ, that lives and does what Gods said, in Christ God delivers the punishment that Jonah was longing for, I think still Jonah and we would not understand this as justice since the evil goes free. But like Jonah, we as him were saved from our evil and disobedience, from darkness and from being children of wrath.

How? As we respond to Jesus, if we overthrow our own way, and turn, and trust in Jesus Christ’s life death, for our sin, and his resurrection for our justification, we can by the holy Spirts power be forgiven for our sin and rebellion against God, and become children of God.

Today do you want to trust in Jesus, then do it…

For you who have trusted in Jesus Crist – enjoy the newness of grace to today.