The Angry Shade-Lover and the Cattle-Saving God

Introduction

You know what I struggle with as a pastor. When you hear about a church that seems to be doing well. Joe Stole hit me with this many years ago. About praying that God would bless churches.

I want to be the church that gets blessed, not the other church.

How dare God show mercy and grace in such a way to those people. They don’t deserve it. They haven’t worked hard for it. Yet, God’s words to Jonah ring true to me today: Do you do well to be angry?”

There’s a big difference between righteous and unrighteous anger.

FCF: When it comes to growing in God’s grace, none of us are set up for life.

Transition: Jonah had an unrighteous anger that caused him to think life with God is not worth living.

Unrighteous Anger can make you think life with God is not worth living (4:1-4)

In this prayer, we find a reversion of the “old Jonah” who ran away from God’s command.

We need to see the selfishness of this prayer. In the original language, the personal pronoun is used none times. It shows an extreme selfishness, but also shows Jonah’s shortsightedness.

Jonah 4:1–4 ESV

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 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. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. What was he angry about? What God did in 3:10. RECAP

In this prayer, we find a reversion of the “old Jonah” who ran away from God’s command.

We need to see the selfishness of this prayer. In the original language, the personal pronoun is used nine times. It shows an extreme selfishness, but also shows Jonah’s shortsightedness.

Vs. 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. Displeased = had a moral problem with God’s decision. He thought it was gravely wrong.

You read this story and you’d hope that Jonah, who has received so much of God’s mercy and forgiveness for his own evil would be exceedingly happy for God showing his mercy to Ninevah.

Jonah had a problem with the character of God. (Vs. 2b)

Jonah was scandalized by the inclusiveness of God’s mercy. God’s mercy isn’t reserved for an ethnic group, but for all those who repent and believe. That’s it.

Vs. 2 For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Jonah’s selfcentredness is astonishing here. He even takes language from of one of the darkest moments in his own people’s lives. When they built a golden calf and bowed down in worship. It is in that context that God forgives his sinful people, that is the first time we see that he is a God who “relents from disaster”.

God’s mercy isn’t reserved for an ethnic group, but for all those who repent and believe. That’s it.

But for some reason, when God shows this same mercy and grace to others, Jonah is displeased. If God is going to forgive people who Jonah thinks are too wicked to deserve it, Jonah does not want to live in such a world. “ ‘Over my dead body’ is his vehement reaction to God’s grace.”

Jonah was angry with the freedom of God to be God. (vs. 2b)

If God is going to forgive people who Jonah thinks are too wicked to deserve it, Jonah does not want to live in such a world. “ ‘Over my dead body’ is his vehement reaction to God’s grace.”

These words are a reason to praise God, but Jonah uses to tirade against him. Even though Jonah had become obedient, he still lacked a spirit of submission to God.

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, p. 417). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Before we go all judgey on Jonah, we really need to remember who common this is amongst us all when we murmur against God’s sovereign will. As you flip through the pages of history, believers have stood in direct opposition to God’s revealed will and sought the implementation of our own wishes.

Vs. 4. And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” In other words, is this really the right attitude? The Lord responds with a searching question: “Do you do well to be angry?” (v. 4). In other words, “Is this the right response?”

In this context in particular, the issue is clear: “Is it right to be angry that the same mercy and grace you yourself have received from the Lord is shown to other people?”

Unlike most people, who sin in ignorance of what God is really like, Jonah’s heart rebels precisely because he knows the truth about God, and because the truth conflicts with his own heart’s desires.

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, p. 417). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Phillips, R. D. (2010). Jonah & Micah. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & I. M. Duguid, Eds.) (p. 115). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

Transition: What Has Jonah been forgetting here? That God has been gracious to him. Even in this story. God broke him so he could heal him through the fish. He delivered him from the fish. And then put him back in his presence.

FCF: When it comes to growing in God’s grace, none of us are set up for life.

Just in these first short verses, Jonah is showing he’s got a few problems with God.

Jonah had a problem with God showing mercy to anyone else but his own people. “My own country” (vs. 2)

Jonah’s objection reveals great pride. How else could Jonah presume to think better of things than God does? Yet many object to the Bible’s doctrines of grace in just this way. When Paul wrote of God’s sovereign grace in , he rehearsed two objections. The first demanded, “Is there injustice on God’s part?” (). People frequently object this way to the doctrine of election: the Bible says that God sovereignly chose his people from all eternity (; ), but people object, “Isn’t that unfair?” Paul rejoined, “By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy’ ” (). Paul reminds us that when we are talking about the salvation of any sinners, the proper category is God’s mercy, not God’s justice (or fairness). To claim injustice when it comes to grace is simply to confuse categories: no one deserves to be saved; if anyone is saved at all, it is only because of God’s mercy. The second objection to sovereign grace is equally wrong: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ ” (). This is a common objection to sovereign election: if God decides everything, how can we be blamed? But notice Paul’s answer: “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” ().

Phillips, R. D. (2010). Jonah & Micah. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & I. M. Duguid, Eds.) (pp. 117–118). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

A second perspective on Jonah’s anger arises from his hostility toward the salvation of the Gentiles. We see this in his emphasis on “my country” (). Jonah could embrace the grace of God for his countrymen, but not for alien pagans like the Ninevites. He knew, he says, that God was gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. It was wrong, he believed, for these blessings to be shown to the Gentiles—especially Gentiles who had shown such violence to the covenant people of God, the nation of Israel. Jonah had a problem with God showing mercy to anyone

Phillips, R. D. (2010). Jonah & Micah. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & I. M. Duguid, Eds.) (p. 116). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing..

Jonah had problems with the character of God.  

Jonah resented God’s mercy for sinners. Jonah was committed to the judgement of the wicked; this is what seemed right in his eyes. When God’s anger towards Ninivah ends, Jonah’s anger is still burning strong. Jonah is upset because he thinks God is soft on sin. The Lord might be rejoicing ‘in the presence of the angels’ over sinners come to repentance, but Jonah was seething with discontent and bitter revulsion. Jonah had problems with the character of God.

Phillips, R. D. (2010). Jonah & Micah. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & I. M. Duguid, Eds.) (p. 115). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

Jonah was angry with the freedom of God to be God.

God challenges Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” (). By his actions, Jonah answered, “Yes, I do!” Jonah saw God’s saving purpose as lacking in justice. This seems to be the cause of Jonah’s tantrum: “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (). If only Jonah was God, how different things would be! So offensive is God’s plan of grace that Jonah no longer wants to live: “ ‘Over my dead body’ is his vehement reaction to God’s grace.”Jonah was angry with the freedom of God to be God.

God challenges Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” (). By his actions, Jonah answered, “Yes, I do!” Jonah saw God’s saving purpose as lacking in justice. This seems to be the cause of Jonah’s tantrum: “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (). If only Jonah was God, how different things would be! So offensive is God’s plan of grace that Jonah no longer wants to live: “ ‘Over my dead body’ is his vehement reaction to God’s grace.”

Jonah’s objection reveals great pride. How else could Jonah presume to think better of things than God does? Yet many object to the Bible’s doctrines of grace in just this way. When Paul wrote of God’s sovereign grace in , he rehearsed two objections. The first demanded, “Is there injustice on God’s part?” (). People frequently object this way to the doctrine of election: the Bible says that God sovereignly chose his people from all eternity (; ), but people object, “Isn’t that unfair?” Paul rejoined, “By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy’ ” (). Paul reminds us that when we are talking about the salvation of any sinners, the proper category is God’s mercy, not God’s justice (or fairness). To claim injustice when it comes to grace is simply to confuse categories: no one deserves to be saved; if anyone is saved at all, it is only because of God’s mercy. The second objection to sovereign grace is equally wrong: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ ” (). This is a common objection to sovereign election: if God decides everything, how can we be blamed? But notice Paul’s answer: “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” ().

What you see here in Jonah is a really big Pride problem. How else could Jonah think he could do things better than God? Lots of people do argue with the Bible’s doctrines of grace in just this way. When Paul wrote of God’s sovereign grace in , he talked about two ways people argue: The first demanded, “Is there injustice on God’s part?” (). People frequently object this way to the doctrine of election: the Bible says that God sovereignly chose his people from all eternity (; ), but people object, “Isn’t that unfair?” Paul rejoined, “By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy’ ” (). Paul reminds us that when we are talking about the salvation of any sinners, the proper category is God’s mercy, not God’s justice (or fairness). To claim injustice when it comes to grace is simply to confuse categories: no one deserves to be saved; if anyone is saved at all, it is only because of God’s mercy. The second objection to sovereign grace is just as wrong wrong: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ ” (). This is a common objection to sovereign election: if God decides everything, how can we be blamed? But notice Paul’s answer: “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” ().

Transition: when we forget the grace God has given us. How he has been so merciful, how undeserving we are of what he has done for us, it’s easy to allow unrighteous anger rise up and say along with Jonah, “O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Phillips, R. D. (2010). Jonah & Micah. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & I. M. Duguid, Eds.) (pp. 117–118). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

BI: When it comes to growing in God’s grace, none of us is set up for life; we all have need for continual and perpetual growth in the grace of God

Unrighteous anger can make you hope for the judgement of God on others that you would not want for yourself. (4:5-8)

Redmond, Eric. Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Unrighteous anger can make you hope for the judgement of God on others that you would not want for yourself. (4:5-8)

Jonah 4:5–8 ESV

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. 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. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 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.”

Vs. 5 Instead of responding to God, Jonah leaves the city, kind of like a pouting child. Builds himself a shelter and waits, hoping the Lord might still send disaster on Nineveh. But what does God do? Creates an object lesson to help him understand the goodness of his worldwide grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.

Vs. 5. Instead of responding, Jonah just leaves the city.

Vs. 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. God’s going to teach him another lesson here. Did Jonah do anything to deserve what God is doing to him? No.

What an amazing act of God’s favour. Kind of seems a little unusual, but God had a lesson in mind for Jonah.

“Lord God” Yahweh-Elohim and Elohim is what in vs 7. God who provides.

What was Jonah’s response? He was happy. I would be too. I’ve been to the Middle East, a little shade goes a long way. But he did nothing, God gives him something he doesn’t deserve. Jonah didn’t do any work for it. God did it all, and he gets the benefits of it.

God, thank you for my blessings, but how can you bless those other people down the street. How can they have better and more? How can that pastor have a bigger church? Why is everything coming so easy to them?

Vs.7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

Vs. 8 God withdraws his deliverance.

In fact, God actively works with “appointing” his creation to prove Jonah a point.

You hope that Jonah will be broken, but becomes harder.

Transition: Somehow, he remains convinced he deserves deliverance from disaster but others do not—that his evil deserves forgiveness while the evil of others deserves judgment.

Somehow, he remains convinced he deserves deliverance from disaster but others do not—that his evil deserves forgiveness while the evil of others deserves judgment.

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, p. 419). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

BI: When it comes to growing in God’s grace, none of us is set up for life; we all have need for continual and perpetual growth in the grace of God.

Unrighteous Anger Can make You miss Opportunities to be merciful the way God is merciful. (4:9-11)

Jonah 4:9–11 ESV

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.” 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. 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?”

This lesson ends with God’s questions: Should I not show my grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness to all, even to the Ninevahs of the world? WE are not told how Jonah response, because at that point it is not his response that matters - it’s ours.

Vs. 9. Do you do well to be angry for the plant? I can’t help but ask: Jonah, if this is true about a plant, isn’t it even more true for a city full of people? And this is what God says in verses 10 and 11.

Vs. 10. God address Jonah and how little he really should care for the plant.

He didn’t spend hours getting it to grow. He didn’t cause it to grow, he didn’t have time to get attached to it. It was just a day-old weed that happened to grow up beside his shelter.

This lesson ends with God’s questions: Should I not show my grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness to all, even to the Ninevahs of the world? We are not told how Jonah response, because at that point it is not his response that matters - it’s ours.

VS. 11 And this is what God says in verse 11. How different it is when it comes to the Lord and the city of Nineveh (v. 11)! Everything about God’s description of the city is meant to underscore how much it should mean to Jonah. It’s like God is saying: “Nineveh has more than 120,000 people in it! People made in my image! And they are utterly lost, with no idea of what is right and wrong; they are like little children who cannot even tell the difference between their right hand and their left. And even if you do not care about the people, just think about all those animals! So go ahead, put your plant on one side of a scale and all these things on the other side. Which is weightier? Which matters more? If you can feel sorry for this meager and meaningless plant, should I not feel sorry for all these people made in my image? Jonah, do you not get it?! Are not the animals of the city alone worth more pity than your puny plant?”

This reflects the very same compassion that Jesus expresses in

Matthew 9:36 ESV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

No response is recorded. Once again, the Lord’s question hangs in the air unanswered. This is intentional—when a story ends with a question, the only ones who can answer it are the readers. At this point it is not his response that matters - it’s ours.

This lesson ends with God’s questions: Should I not show my grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness to all, even to the Ninevahs of the world? We are not told how Jonah response, because at that point it is not his response that matters - it’s ours.

The question forces us to think about the answer, forces us to fill in the blank. What is our response?

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, pp. 419–420). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

BI: When it comes to growing in God’s grace, none of us is set up for life; we all have need for continual and perpetual growth in the grace of God.

So What?

Jonah forgot Israel’s mission entirely. He has no compassion for the nations; he regards them not as potential recipients of God’s mercy but merely as objects of his judgment. He is not interested in their deliverance; he is interested only in their destruction. He cannot imagine a world in which others receive the same mercy and grace as Israel.

God cares for all the nations! Christians today may well ask themselves, Do we really believe this to be true?

Do we really believe God loves those in Muslim nations? Hindu nations? Buddhist nations? Do we speak of people from these nations as though they really bear God’s image and are in need of his grace? Or do our thoughts and words and deeds betray a different attitude?

Why was Jonah’s attitude so different from the Lord’s?

Why was Jonah’s attitude so different from the Lord’s?

The main part of the answer is that he had forgotten the depth of his own need for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness (cf. comment on 4:2–3). Those who forget their need of mercy are the quickest to withhold it from others. Those who forget their experience of God’s forgiveness are the quickest to refuse it to others. Jesus told a parable about a servant who was forgiven much by a king but then refused to extend that same forgiveness to a fellow servant (). The king was justly furious: “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (vv. 32–33). Jesus’ point was clear:

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, pp. 420–421). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

If you have received such mercy and forgiveness from the King of heaven, you cannot withhold it from anyone else.

Do we really want these things for others?

Do we really want these things for others?

There is an easy way to tell. In Jesus, we have experienced God’s abundant grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.

GOSPEL MOVE: If you have experienced these things, you know the Gospel: Christ died for your sins and rose again.

If we show these same things to everyone we meet, no matter who they are—no matter their morals, race, nationality, social class, gender, political beliefs, etc.—then we have understood well the lesson of this book and the heart of our Saviour. But if we show these things to some people and not to others; if we show these things to those like us but not to those who are different.

Sklar, J. (2018). Jonah. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Daniel–Malachi (Vol. VII, p. 421). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

If we show these things to those we like but not to those we dislike; if we are in any way selective in terms of the people to whom we show God’s grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, then we still do not get it.

We remain disciples of Jonah, not disciples of Jesus. And we are a church that aims to glorify God by being disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ. If I think of myself as a compassionate person, my actions will include the proclamation of the Gospel, that Christ died for my sins and rose again.

Refection

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?

Redmond, Eric. Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

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 had this experience?

Redmond, Eric. Exalting Jesus in Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) . B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.