Jonah 4
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Justice/Mercy
Justice/Mercy
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.
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?”
A lady once came to Billy Sunday and attempted to rationalize her angry outbursts. She said, “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper. I blow up, and then it’s all over.”
Mr. Sunday replied, “So does a shotgun, and look at the damage it leaves behind!”
How far do you allow your anger to control you?
What kind of damage do you do to certain relationships when your angry?
This morning we will look at Jonah and his anger toward a group of people.
There are a few things that we can see, on how to control our anger toward others.
Go into what had taken place on why Jonah was there and then read
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.
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.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Scholars feel there are two reasons on why Jonah got angry.
First, Jonah reputation was on the line. He had preached for 40 days that Nineveh was going to be destroyed and now it was not. This could have made Jonah look like a lier and damage his ego and reputation.
Second, the Lord could have given Jonah a vision of the future and saw that the Assyrians was going to overtake Isreal in the future. So why would God not stop them now so it did not take place.
Either way, Jonah was angry.
Jonah lashes out at God in his anger.
Jonah 4:2-
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.
First point
In order to control our anger, we must have a heart as the Lord’s.
Time and time again we see these characteristics from the Lord.
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
4 so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing,
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
17 And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped.
Numbers
17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
Over and over we see God’s heart for people. Instead of giving them what they deserve, He continued to show compassion and love.
We must be willing to do the same. When someone speaks bad about you, hurts your reputation, does wrong toward you. Forgive, come back with love instead of anger.
My wife always states a phrase when it comes to being angry. Share the plate event.
Jonah continues
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?”
The Lord asked Jonah a great question. Why do you want to die?
We see this same question with Cain in Genesis
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:
How do we master sin
Anger is a sin, so how do we master it? Having the same attitude of Christ- love, compassion, merciful. Give what isn’t deserved, show love even when it isn’t warranted.
Second thing we learn: There are things that are out of our control.
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?”
Jonah sat down hoping the Lord would change His mind, but what God showed him was you don’t control things.
The Lord chose to create and destroy the plant He gave for shade. The Lord controlled the wind.
4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
Jer
The Lord is creator of each person. He alone knows the heart of man and how to best handle the situation.
We are not the potter, we can not control what people do, what they say, or how they act. What we can control is our reaction and response.
There is no greater picture then Jesus’ reaction toward man. In our anger, we beat Him and put Him to death.
But His reaction was compassion, forgiveness, and love. He gave us life when we deserved death.
Will you allow your anger to control you, or will you let love overshadow you?