Slow to Anger

Jonah 3:1–10 NIV

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Slow to Anger

Throughout the story of Jonah we see that God is slow to anger.

Time and time again Jonah, the sailors, and the people of Nineveh all do things that are worthy of destruction, yet it’s God’s will to save them all!

Jonah claims he would rather be dead than to obey God and go preach to Nineveh. Yet God saves him!

Jonah 4:1–3 NIV

1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

God’s Great Patience

Today most of us can’t even tolerate a different idea, different view, or different belief. We want instant punishment on anyone that we don’t like.

But notice God gives the Ninevites 40 more days.

God could have destroyed them instantly, as he did Korah (). Yet he even gave Korah a long time to repent, and years of grumbling.

God could have destroyed Nineveh in the same way, but he wanted to save them! God’s slowness to anger is a means of saving as many as possible.

1 Timothy 2:1–5 NIV

1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2:1–6 NIV

1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

God’s Patience Allows Sinners to Repent

Why is there evil in the world? Sin. And God abides with it for a time because he wills that none will perish. There was a time in most believers lives when if God dealt with our wickedness as we think he should, we would have been destroyed before we repented.

Romans 3:23 NIV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The wages of sin

Romans 6:23 NIV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

SDFDSFSDF

Everyone has done wrong. All of us, and the penalty for this is death. But God wants to save all people.

Jews and Christians, Red & Yellow, Black and White, Muslim and Hindu, Democrat and Republican, Pro Choice & Pro Life…All are made in the image of the one true and living God and He wills that none will perish.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

And within this framework, God calls Jonah to go preach the saving message of God. And Jonah didn’t want any part of it.

Romans 6:23 NIV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Yet God is still patient with Nineveh, he’s still patient with Jonah, he is still slow to anger with you and me when we sin, and he is still slow to anger when you and I refuse to go where he is calling us…just like Jonah.

Romans

Consider the Prodigal son. The Father (God) puts up with the son’s rebellion. If he had followed Torah, the son would have been stoned to death for this rebellion (). Yet the father was patient because he wanted the son to return, to repent. And he did.

And within this framework, God calls Jonah to go preach the saving message of God

God has every right to strike you dead right now where you sit because you are a sinner, yet he was patient because he wanted you to repent. And some of you have. But not all.

Romans 6:23 NIV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is why Jesus came to the earth, this is why he taught us, this is why he lived a perfect life, this is why he died on a cross and this is why he arose from the dead on the third day. This is the Gospel that we are to preach, this is the Gospel we are to respond to, and yet we don’t....time and time again, we don’t.

Summarize this portion of Jonah, God is slow to anger, but the clock is ticking. He wants all to repent, but those that refuse will be destroyed just like Nineveh was supposed to be. They repented, but will you?

God’s relentless grace is real. But will you relent/repent and follow him?