Jonah 4:1-4

The Character of God

INTRO: Last Sunday in Jonah 3 we saw how Nineveh responded to God’s judgment.... and how God responded to their repentance with kindness. This morning we get to see how Jonah responds God’s kindness.

READ… The grass withers.

One of the most sneaky idols we deal with I think is control. We love being in control. And because it is a soft idol… soft in that it isn’t something tangible but it is more of a character thing, so it isn’t always easy to spot. It also manifests itself in various ways… for instance it could come out in our use and aquitition of money. The more money you have the more control you gain… where the presenting problem may seem like love of money… the sin behind the sin is often contol. We want to have the power. And when we lose it… when our power is stripped… when our control is lost… we lose it.

This is what we see happening here with Jonah. He wants control. He wants power. He wants to control redemption. He wants to be God… not be like God… but actually be him. In his desire to control he comes face to face with the fact that he can’t control anything. He comes face to face with the truth that salvation belongs to the Lord… not to him… Not to the Jewish nation. But God alone.

In this his character is exposed… his idolatry of control is exposed and he is left undone. He comes to the end of himself. And as his idolatry is exposed, ours is too. WE too love control. We too make an idol… which is to say we make a god out of our ability to manage and control. Our desire to control redemption.