Jonah: The Result of Rebellion

Read Jonah 4

Final scene finds Jonah sulking outside of Nineveh

The book of Jonah is strange. Especially the ending. It feels as if it is unfinished.

Jonah hoped for the wrath of god to fall upon Nineveh.

Chapter 3 already told us that it did not happen.

God’s grace displeased the prophet. “I knew you were this way!”

When a believer cannot find joy in the work of god, there is a problem. Is our anger legitimate or not?

God’s purpose and Jonah’s attitude were in opposite places.

Jonah asked God to kill him.

He sat outside the city hoping for Nineveh to be destroyed.

Arabian desert, hot wind, 120 degrees.

Jonah was on his own with this action.

Jonah decided to ad lib. “One act play”

When God hands you His script, He’s not asking you to write in your own lines.

“Plant” - Castor oil plant. A gourd that grows quickly up to 12 feet with large leaves. Easily damaged at stalk.

Jonah was miserable in the heat.

God allowed the plan to die on purpose to teach Jonah.

All Jonah wanted to do was die.

Willful rebellion can cause people to lose their mind over the simplest situations. “Spilled milk”

All the pain Jonah wanted for Nineveh was destroying him from the inside out. Bitterness will do the same for you.

God had a lesson in the dying plant for Jonah.

“If a plant dying brought you such sadness, wouldn’t the destruction of a nation do the same?”

We don’t know how Jonah turned out. Let’s speculate.

What can we learn from the results of rebellion?

When my heart is not aligned with God’s heart, there is nowhere to go but down.

Hoping for the pain of others will hurt me the most.

My favoritism towards people doesn’t influence God.

People matter more than plants.

Rebellion leads to bitterness. Bitterness leads to unfinished stories.