God the Compassionate Evangelist

Introduction

David Brandt began studying disappointment 40 years ago.

Sounds like a depressing job doesn’t it? But his work is extremely enlightening

Especially since Brandt does not live with a biblical worldview

He says the question The plaint "Is that all there is?" was voiced most famously by singer Peggy Lee back in 1969. Disappointment is a staple theme in literature , on stage, and at the movies.

It is, Brandt writes, "about the oldest of human experiences -- the loss of dreams, the failure of expectations."

What is at the heart of despair causing disappointment in 40 years of study is unmet expectation.

What we hoped, dreamt, believed, worked so hard for…is not what we expected.

When asked, Are we doomed to be disappointed?

Yes, Brandt says. It's part of the human condition.

But disappointment can be managed, and it has its benefits -- it "forces us to reevaluate our wants," he writes. "This process encourages maturity."

This final chapter in Jonah is a catalyst as Brandt describes.

This chapter will force us to look in the mirror, confront our own wants, and hold them up to the wants of God.

Lets read Jonah 4 and hold up the mirror the author intended us to look into

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 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

The Jonah in Us All (1-4)

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?”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jon 4:1–4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

If you have an ESV bible you may see a note indicated in the first sentence.

The note show the actual hebrew translation is “It was exceedingly evil to Jonah”...

What God had done in using Jonah’s testimony to save Assyria was not upsetting to Jonah....

In Jonah’s view of God’s economy it was wrong.

He was disappointed and angry at God.

Remember back to the open of the book.

Nineveh was the capital of Israels mortal enemy Assyria.

They were vicious war lords.

God would use them to crush Israel a generation later. They would skin and skewer the captive leaders they conquered and worse to the women and children.

This amazing thing God had done was not amazing to Jonah it was a slap in the face …how could God show His Grace to “THESE PEOPLE”

God must have got it wrong.

Maybe you are shocked at Jonah’s response but to me its a mirror.

He had labored long and hard for the Lord…prophet, and most of all a man with an incredible testimony....Ive done what you have asked as best i can and this is what you do?

“I have done my part and you are not what I needed you to be God”

Any of us ever looked at God and said this?

I know i have this week. Not in a small way…to the depth and in the despair of Jonah I have been there this week.

We are just like Jonah as I myself become resentful at God for the Post he has called me too in life.....and i become resentful at his mission to show compassion to a lost and broken world.

Paul Tripp speaks of this unmet expectation of God in his counseling career and says of one experience where a woman had an alcoholic husband.

She was faithful in the church and in honoring the lord in a brutal marriage.

After years of praying and laboring the husband began to awaken to the gospel.

He got saved. Loved the lord and the lords people.

The church welcomed him in like a prodigal and loved him.

She came to Paul and was so angry saying “is this it? After all of this he is welcomed in after all i have done, nothing happens to him, this is it? this is how easy it is? This is what God does?”

And he asks this of us he says “who would you rather see judged then graced? Who would you rather see punished then forgiven?”

This is Jonah and the mirror he hold up to us today…and it is brutal to wrestle with

Doug Stuart says here:

Jonah hated what God had done. It made him furious. If this is shocking, it is supposed to be so. The narrator carefully tells the story according to his inspired purpose,

Stuart, D. (1987). Hosea–Jonah (Vol. 31, p. 502). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Our plan and expectation…verses God’s and it is brutal at times. Make no mistake.

God is a God of immeasurable Compassion and we can miss His mission to give it to all.

God makes it clear to Israel and us today in Isaiah 55:6-9

6  “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

7  let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So Jonah says : “God if this is how you are going to be i don’t want to be in this drama of yours”

How does he describe God’s character in the grand redemptive drama...

verses 2

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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jon 4:2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Jonah has quoted the prophet Joel before in his composition of this book and he does it again praying God’s character back to him

13 Tear your hearts,

not just your clothes,

and return to the Lord your God.

For he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,

and he relents from sending disaster.

Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Joe 2:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Jonah makes it clear why he had ran away from God’s call if there was doubt from chapter 1.

He was not afraid of Nineveh. He knew God may be compassionate to someone other than Israel.

He wanted God’s sovereignty, grace, mercy, and compassion for himself and his people…and resented the unchanging character of God demonstrated for those Jonah saw as unworthy of grace.

Jonah uses right theology in the mind…to justify his wicked heart.

Doug Stuart says again here:

he was actually expecting God to suppress his own natural inclination to show mercy wherever possible. It was not simply the case that Jonah could not bring himself to appreciate Nineveh. Rather, to a shocking extent, he could not stand God!

Stuart, D. (1987). Hosea–Jonah (Vol. 31, p. 503). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

we are all fully capable and guilty of taking God’s word that is his revelation of Himself to Us and His revelation of His unstoppable plan..we take that word and use it to demand He is who we expect him to be and be about the mission we want him to bless.

We actually take what God has made good and twist it for evil.

If this is not a shock and a mirror I cannot help you.

Paul Tripp again says here:

“Be shocked and be warned. This is the depth of our proneness to wander. This is the depth of our ability to shrink our lives down to the size of our own little lives. That is the depth of our ability to migrate away from the kingdom of God and once again set ourselves up as a king in our own little claustrophobic kingdom of one”

Jonah is

God’s Compassion for Us All (5-11)

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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?”

Now this is literary mastery here.

Like the greatest movie director ever or composer.

For effect he doesn’t end chronologically

Jonah is looking back and zooming in like a movie director. It is the moment after he has finished his 3 days in the town.

he has set up outside of town to hope the people reject his message and God smokes the place.