(Jonah 4) Being Compassionate like our Patient Merciful God

INTRODUCTION:

This morning, I would like to call us to consider the compassion God has for the lost.

If I was to ask the question - Do we have compassion on the lost?

And - I think all of us would say yes.

We would even say we have a burden for the lost.

Yet,

I am struck with the reality that many places in Scripture teach us that God has far more compassion then us.

For example -

There are many places in the Gospels where we see Jesus having compassion on those no one else did.

His love and his mercy extended past sin, past social norms, past hate and past anger.

One such example was the women at the well.

Notice the Surprise of the women that Jesus would even speak to her.

John 4:4–10 ESV

4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

And then again, the surprise of the disciples when they return in v. 27-28.

John 4:27–28 ESV

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,

The reality is often God is more compassionate than we are.

We hold onto hate, anger, and bitterness -

Col 3:8 - put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander,

Heb 12:15 - tells us not to be bitter.

This morning - we will consider a prophet who struggled with how God had compassion on his enemies

{{{{{{{{{Enemies who were brutal, vicious … and very lost. ]]]]]]]]]]]]

Let’s read of Jonah’s struggle in Jonah 4 -

Jonah 4 ESV

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?”

From our passage,

PROPOSITION: We ought to live as compassionate people.

Transitional Statement: And the story of Jonah teaches us how to have the compassion on those who God has compassion on.

I want you truly take a moment - and consider...

Do you struggle with anger?

Are you bitter against someone today?

Do you love the unlovable?

Do you have compassion on the lost?

If the answer is yes, and the reality is, in degrees everyone has to say yes.

>>>>>>>>>>Then let’s consider how we can have compassion on the lost.

Compassion on the lost must begin with

1. Recognizing our bitterness (Jonah 4:1-3)

The first step of counseling often is realizing we have a problem, but for many of us - we are blind to our anger and bitterness.

Jonah was blind to his own anger.

Notice the -

a. The bitterness of Jonah.

We see in Jonah 3 an incredible display of repentance.

The city of Nineveh turned from their evil and violence.

From the least to the greatest.

The King to the cattle.

- And every citizen was crying to God.

- Every person and cattle was fasting and wearing sackcloths on their head.

This town was mourning at the judgement of God and asking for him to not condemn the city.

And God in his great mercy and steadfast love - relented of his judgement.

Jonah 3:10 ESV

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.

This is a marvelous thing - the least likely, most unexpected people to repent - has repented.

We ought to stand here and go - wow look at what God can do!

But is that how Jonah reacted?

Listen to the bitterness of Jonah.

Jonah 4:1–2 ESV

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.

When Jonah ought to be rejoicing at the repentance of the Ninevites.

- Rejoicing that people are coming to the one true God.

- Rejoicing that God is so merciful,

>>>>>the same God who saved Jonah from the death sentence of being swallowed by a fish, at the bottom of the ocean.

And instead,

- He is angry!

AND

- he is disgusted.

And why?

Observe

b. The cause of Jonah’s bitterness.

If you read the book of Jonah, you have been waiting since Chapter 1 wondering why Jonah fled from the presence of God in chapter 1 -

and Jonah’s confession is found in v. 2.

He fled the presence of God - because he knew God would forgive them.

He says,

Jonah 4:2 ESV

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.

It’s almost amazing,

that someone can confess that about God in disgust and hate.

But Jonah shows it is completely possible.

What is so bad about people getting saved?

Well when your heart is full of bitterness and hate and anger - it can be the worst thing in your life.

Now,

it is not to say that Jonah does not have good reason to be bitter and to hateful.

Consider who the Ninevites are -

The Ninevites are the social and cultural icon of the Assyrian nation.

The same Assyrian nation that Hosea and Amos prophesied would conquer, destroy, and exile the N. Kingdom of Israel.

Further, they are known for their incredible brutality

Inscriptions have been found showing the Assyrians

Skinning their enemies alive.

Beheading their enemies.

Poking the Eyes out of their Enemy.

And forcing them to ground the bones of their ancestors.

[https://www.biblearchaeology.org/publications/bibleandspade.aspx]

So for Jonah,

The Ninevites repenting was repulsive. It disgusted him. It displeased him.

You can think through how he must have felt.

Do you know what this people have done?

They don’t deserve mercy.

This is the enemies of God.

And this is the enemies of the Jews.

And as bitter, angry people - we can rationalize why they don’t deserve mercy.

But is mercy about deserving it?

Is grace about deserving it?

Is compassion about earning it?

The reality is that -

The Ninevites deserved judgement and not mercy, but God had compassion.

But neither did Jonah.

Jonah deserved judgement for running from God

but God had compassion on him in the whale.

APPLICATION:

And may I say,

we deserve judgment, but God through Jesus Christ has provided compassion.

Each one of us deserves eternal punishment - and not at the end of our lives,

but this very day.

Everyday God gives unbelievers and believers another day to live is mercy.

And, the fact that through the blood sacrifice of Christ - we as believers will be forever saved from eternal fire - is incredible mercy and compassion.

So we don’t want what we deserve,

we want God’s mercy. It’s far better.

And the corresponding application -

We ought to rejoice when others receive mercy from God.

We ought practice unconditional mercy,

because we received unconditional mercy.

If we are to live with the same compassion as God has;

we must recognize our bitterness, anger, and hate

- and instead choose to love one another with the same compassion that God loves every person.

Undeserved patience and Mercy.

EXHORTATION:

To often,

we as people hold on to offenses -

Someone does something against us - and so from that point on we allow bitterness and distrust to fill that relationship.

We often are quick to give the Gospel to the total stranger, to say that the the stranger needs the Gospel,

but how slow and calculating are to reconcile our own personal relationships with that same Gospel.

May we have compassion on those who hurt us, abuse, and offend us.

May we show mercy and patience to those who don’t deserve it.

And as antidote,

notice -

c. The effects of bitterness.

Jonah 4:3 ESV

3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah’s anger and bitterness - has lead to suicidal thoughts.

Depression and suicide is not always a result of bitterness and anger - but at times it is.

Why are we depressed? Because we are bitter.

Why do we contemplate taking our life? Because we are angry with God.

Why be compassionate?

One great reason is because God has been incredibly compassionate to us.

But the secondary reason,

Bitterness can destroy us.

We ought to count the cost of anger and bitterness.

So the first way to have compassion like God does is to recognize our anger and bitterness

But the second way, is by

2. Transform your Bitterness with God’s Values. (Jonah 4:4-11)

ILLUSTRATION:

Children often learn much through object lessons.

One of the science experiments our VBS did a few years ago - was an object lesson about sin.

They poured Iodine into water - making it an ugly brown.

But they cleansed that water as clear glass when they poured bleach into it.

The experiment was a great object lesson for how Christ justifies us.

Jonah is about to get a real life object lesson - in the form of a plant.

1. God’s Object lesson: The Plant.

Jonah 4:4–8 ESV

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.”

Jonah, is angry and bitter at God and the Ninevites -

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>{Show Slide of a map/pictures of Ancient Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq). }

so he goes out to the east side of the city - and makes make shift shelter called a booth.

Given the word “booth” here, this would probably have been similar structure as the one built during the Feast of Booths.

So imagine this,

he is sitting East of the city,

probably near the river,

under a makeshift shelter.

and pouting

- Angry that the Ninevites repented

- And angry because he knows God is going to forgive them.

So what does God do to help Jonah see through his anger?

He Give him an object lesson.

He appoints a plant - same word and idea of God appointing a fish in Jonah 1:17.

Jonah 1:17 ESV

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

And you can imagine,

- He sitting there allowing his mind to have full vent to his anger and bitterness.

- It is amazing how much worse we can make a situation - when we allow our mind to give full vent to anger and bitterness.

So God allows a plant to grow and shade him.

May be it shaded his booth, maybe it was just outside his shelter,

but God allows this plant to almost miraculously shade him.

But God that night also appointed a worm.

He appointed the worm to strike down the plant.

So it died.

And what was Jonah’s response?

I am sure as a prophet it was a holy wise response - noting that God appointed the plant and therefore in his wisdom and power had the right to take the plant back.

The answer is no, he is sitting there angry at God and angry at the Ninevites.

So,

Look how he again turns to suicidal thoughts in v. 8

Jonah 4:8 ESV

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.”

Here is another antidote to the effects of bitterness, anger, and depression.

Bitterness,

anger,

and depression never isolates itself to one area in your life

- but that anger almost always transfers from the real cause to other areas in our lives.

If you asked Jonah, why was he having suicidal thoughts -

he would probably tell you because the plant that protecting him from the hot sun died.

But was he really wanting to die because of the plant - or his anger at God’s mercy?

The suicidal thoughts over the plant was really secondary symptom of his greater Spiritual problem.

This is perhaps a warning about the danger of bitterness and anger,

and the complexity of our sin when it involves bitterness and anger.

But God did not just raise and kill the plant for nothing,

The entire time Jonah is brooding over the City of Nineveh,

God is working with patience and steadfast love - to help him understand his mercy.

Notice, God’s comparison -

2. God’’s Comparison: Who is more valuable? The plant or people?

Jonah 4:9–11 ESV

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?”

Really,

we can summarize this question by asking,

Who is more valuable?

1. The plant that God raised and killed

OR

2. a City of 120,000 men, with much cattle

Who is more valuable?

And the obvious answer is people.

When we think about the comparison logically,

people are certainly more important than things.

However,

does Jonah’s thoughts and choices match that belief?

It doesn’t,

he is more concerned about the plant than he is the people.

His bitterness and anger has turned him into valuing the plant more than the people.

Observe

The crux of the comparison?

If you can have compassion on a plant, why can’t you have it on 120,000 people?

For Jonah,

His anger has corrupted his understanding and his values.

And God draws him back to what truly matters in life - people.

Not things, not plants, but people.

APPLICATION:

Anger can rob us of the compassion we should have on others.

ILLUSTRATION:

It is amazing how much care we can have about the things of this world.

We spend much time and money on

our houses

our cars

our invested hobbies.

But how little time do we have for people.

Having compassion on the hurting?

Compassion for people enslaved to sin?

Compassion for those who have dug themselves into holes - entirely on their own?

And especially, how little time do we have to have

Compassion on those who have hurt us.

Consider that by Definition - compassion is to love the unlovable - those who are helplessly trapped in their sin.

Isn’t that Jonah’s Major objection -

These are the wicked violent Ninevites who seek to harm God’s people.

Why should they have compassion?

Yet,

as we consider what God values - it can transform our hearts.

God looks out on our town, our nation, other nations - and he see’s millions of people who need his mercy, who need his help.

When we recognize how God values people;

it can help us turn from anger and bitterness - and instead show tremendous compassion on people.

Is there somebody who needs God’s compassion in your life?

Is there somebody you are angry and bitter against?

You might ask yourself,

If I can have compassion and desire for the things of this world (like Jonah had on the plant),

then should I not have compassion on people I am bitter and angry with?

Are you going to be like Jonah,

and brood about how they don’t deserve compassion?

Or are you going to value what God’s values, and have mercy when God has mercy,

by having compassion, mercy, and forgiveness upon people - even people who don’t deserve it?

This object lesson was meant for Jonah,

but God put it in his Holy word to teach us.

May we learn from God’s object lesson,

and transform our bitterness with what God truly values - people.

CONCLUSION:

So let’s consider Jonah, the Ninevites, and God’s compassion.

PROPOSITION: We ought to be compassionate people,

and this text gives us 2 ways to do this.

First,

We must recognize our anger and bitterness.

ILLUSTRATION:

To often we live life -

angry

bitter

pushing away people any time they offended us.

When we feel the passions of anger,

may we pause and recognize the sinful desire of bitterness.

And when we recognize that anger and bitterness,

May we transform it to compassion by valuing what God values - people.

Consider the object lesson in your life.

Do you have compassion on things of this world more than people?

May we transform our bitterness, by valuing the people God values above all else.

Perhaps consider our struggle with bitterness this way

Is our faith big enough to hold God’s mercy?

We might initially say yes,

but as we consider Jonah’s choices.

Do we not lack the same faith?

Do we not have at times the same anger?

Just like Jonah, we can have to little of faith, and to little of compassion for people.

It is not easy to Have mercy like God had on Nineveh, and like Jesus had on us.

It requires faith and dependence,

letting God be the determiner of mercy.

EXHORTATION:

When we consider,

that we are sinners,

with families full of sinners,

living in sinful communities,

and working in sinful workplaces

I guarantee everyone of us has someone we could have more compassion on.

Everyone us at times allows anger to control us more than our Faith in God.

As we conclude the Book of Jonah,

- May we entrust ourselves to the God of heaven,

- who loves patiently, unconditionally, with great mercy

- by having compassion on people.