Jonah: Chapter 4

RECAP

Chapter 1:

Book of Jonah is an upside down story, where the bad people repent and the good prophet runs away.

God called Jonah to Nineveh to warn them of His judgement.

Nineveh is a “city of blood”. It’s a bad place. They are Israel’s enemy. They are a part of Assyria, who will eventually overthrow Israel.

Jonah got up and went the opposite direction. He ran toward Tarshish, a city presented throughout the bible as a pseudo-Eden.

When God causes the storm to turn Jonah around, the sailors who were not followers of Yahweh prayed to God, but Jonah refused to pray. Instead, he tried to die.

Here we have the heathen sailors depicted as praying, making sacrifices and making vows to God, and the intercessor, Jonah, as refusing to go where Yahweh calls him, refusing to pray, and causing others to sin.

Chapter 2:

Jonah finally prays.

After God saves Jonah, he prays and thanks God and vows to do what he was called to do.

God spoke to a fish.

Chapter 3:

Half way through the story of Jonah, it starts over again. God tells Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh.

This time Jonah got up and went where he was called.

God spoke to Jonah with urgency. Get-up-and-go! Go now!

Jonah barely makes it into the city and God’s life changing message spread like wildfire. The evil king responded to God in the way that Jonah should have all along. (Stripped himself of his personal pride and belongings, humbled himself before God, repented immediately.)

Jonah 3:10 NLT

10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

God had showed His mercy toward the Ninevites. Today we are going to look at Jonah’s reaction to God’s mercy toward his enemies. We are going to look at the conversation between God and Jonah. We are also going to look at some of the interesting stuff going on just under the radar in Chapter 4. Just like the rest of the story pointed to other truth’s in scripture, chapter 4 is linked to a whole bunch of really cool stuff. Finally, we will see how this story continues with the upside down theme and is meant to teach us a lesson about ourselves that we aren’t quick to want to learn, but this backwards story points out our own flaws in a way that allows God to lovingly reach out to us in the same way that he reached out to His rebellious prophet, Jonah.

SYMMETRICAL LITERARY DESIGN OF CHAPTER 4

I don’t want to get carried away zooming in so close on the details that we lose track of the message God wants to touch our hearts with, but some of these details are too fascinating not to mention. For example, the literary design of chapter 4 is symmetrical. (A, B, C, D, D’, C’, B’, A’). That pyramid of thought we talked about a few weeks ago. /\

The chapter starts with Jonah’s speech and ends with Yahweh’s. Both of their speeches are 39 words long in Hebrew!

The next segment and second to last segment is Dialogue between Jonah and God.

The third and third from last segment is about Jonah’s shelter and lack of shelter from the sun.

The middle parts are about God providing shelter and then removing it.

Within each of these segments are key words and phrases that tie them together. Like I said, I don’t want to get bogged down in these details, but they are very interesting and I highly encourage you to seek them out.

For today we will examine chapter 4 in 3 different sections of thought. We’ll start with verses 1-4, which are also symmetrical and they have significant links to Genesis and Exodus. These verses begin and end focusing on Jonah’s anger, the center sections contain Jonah’s response to God, first with an appeal to God, then the reason for the appeal, then with Jonah’s request. It’s in these verses that we finally learn why Jonah ran away.

Jonah 4:1–4 NLT

1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” 4 The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

When we first started this story in Chapter 1, Nineveh was referred to as an evil city. There are indirect references to Cain and this being a city of blood. Now, when we get to chapter 4, these references to Cain show up again, but this time when referring to Jonah. The Hebrew language used in describing Jonah’s reaction to God’s mercy is very similar to Cain’s reaction to Abel’s offering. God’s mercy made Cain and Jonah both angry.

Then Jonah complains. “Didn’t I say you would do this?” Did he? If he did, we weren’t told about it. As far as we know he didn’t say anything! And it doesn’t matter if he actually did, the point of this statement is to make us pause and start looking around.

Unfortunately, I know where Jonah is coming from with his argument. Have you ever used Jonah’s line in an argument? “I knew you were going to do that!” Amy is very good at making sure I remember to do things, but for some reason it makes me angry. Just like Jonah. Unlike Jonah, I am smart about it though. Instead of saying, “I knew you cared about me and wanted to help me remember!” and listing off all of the good qualities, I just say “I knew you were going to mother me!” Some of your faces are disagreeing with me though. “Ehh, that’s not smart.” I read a story about an argument one couple was having and it sounded like something that could happen to me…

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.

Jonah’s stand-off with God here actually does remind me a lot of how spouses will sometimes argue. Jonah says, “I knew you were going to do that! I tried to get you to leave me alone! Now go away, I don’t even want to be here!” When we pause here, thinking about Jonah and his attitude, it might make you think of someone else. There is a strong link between what Jonah says to God and what the Israelites said to God in Exodus.

Exodus 14:12 NLT

12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’ ”

Isn’t this what I said would happen! I tried to get you to leave me alone. I tried to go to my happy place. Now, I might as well be dead. The Israelites have escaped into the wilderness and are seeing the armies of Pharaoh getting closer. They are accusing Moses of leading them out into the desert to die. BUT Moses assures them that Yahweh will save them and defeat their enemies, despite all of their whining. Just like Jonah was saved through the waters of the sea, Yahweh would save Moses and the Israelites by passing through the sea. Their is a contrasting difference between the two stories though. Yahweh destroyed their enemies in Exodus, but He is changing and saving His enemies in Jonah.

Exodus 14:13 NLT

13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.

Jonah 4:5 NLT

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.

So the Israelites watched as God destroyed their enemy. Jonah does the exact same thing. He waits and watches to see if God will destroy his enemies. Even though he knows God is merciful, he still waits and watches. Why are YOU angry, Jonah? Why are YOU angry, Cain? Why are YOU angry, Chad? The first part of chapter 4 is begging Jonah to stop and think about what’s going on. It’s also begging me to stop and think about my life. About the things that I think are unfair and things I have let flip upside down in my life. Chapter 4 is begging me to realize I shouldn’t look at my life as unfair or see myself as a victim.

IF WE SEE OURSELVES AS A VICTIM, OUR VIEW OF JUSTICE AND MERCY WILL ALWAYS BE UPSIDE DOWN.

This is why the connection to Moses and the Exodus is important. Jonah’s relationship and service to God is a direct result of Moses’ intercession for the Israelites. When Moses came down from the mountain and the Israelites were celebrating and worshiping the golden calf, God wanted to destroy them and start over, but Moses interceded on their behalf and Yahweh changed his mind. Jonah was sent to do the same thing for Nineveh. But because Jonah saw them as his enemy, he wanted God to destroy them. Jonah ironically criticizes God for the very attributes that have sustained his existence in the family of Israel.

Here is a long quote from a commentary written by Phillip Cary on Jonah… “We must be clear where Jonah gets it wrong. It’s not as if we should never desire justice… It is good news when an oppressor is toppled, the terrorist caught, and the torturer brought to justice. The Lord does indeed “take vengeance on his enemies” (as Nahum says of Nineveh in Nah 1:2), for he is the enemy of all who destroy his world. But the great danger is that instead of simply rejoicing at the vindication of the oppressed, we self-righteously identify ourselves as the oppressed, taking pity on ourselves and not on others. In our imaginations, the Lord becomes a weapon in our campaign to destroy our enemies, an instrument of our own revenge rather than the righteous judge of all the earth… But the biblical theme of God’s “repentance concerning evil” means that the God of Israel is more inclined to save his enemies than destroy them… This has particular consequences for God’s covenant people… It creates a two-sidedness to their calling…to be the vehicle of God’s blessing to all the nations (Genesis 12:1-3)… so that their enemies are not necessarily God’s enemies… The repentance of God is not about God changing his mind, but is the fulfillment of his intention to save the wicked, which brings about a new and surprising relation between him and his enemies—surprising to us, but not to him.” — PHILLIP CARY, JONAH [BRAZOS THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE] , 160-161.

JONAH’S EDEN HUT. HAVING MORE CONCERN FOR HIS OWN EDEN THAN SHARING GOD’S EDEN WITH OTHERS.

In verses 5-8 we have more symmetry. We start with Jonah’s Shelter from the Sun, then God providing a Plant Shelter, then God ruining the Plant Shelter, and finally Jonah having no Shelter from the Sun.

Jonah 4:5–8 NLT

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

The connection to Cain also continues here. Both Cain and Jonah became angry at God’s mercy, God asked them if it was good for them to be angry, then they went East and built a shelter and sat. In Cain’s case, he built a city. The word used for the shelter that Jonah built is “sukkah”. In English, it is translated as a tent or a hut. You may have heard a form of this word and not even known about it. You may have heard of “The Feast of Sukkot”. I am just going to read you the description of this feast from Tim Mackey.

From the 15th to the 21st of the seventh month, the Israelites were to celebrate an extended seven-day Sabbath. The ritual practice is about a self-imposed symbolic “exile” from their homes to dwell in a sukkah. The description is packed with Eden imagery and symbolizes how God provided Israel with “bits of Eden” during their sojourn in the desert… In Deuteronomy 16, the feast of Sukkot was a time for extreme hospitality for outsiders to Israel. This explains why in Zechariah 14, the ingathering of the nations to worship Yahweh in the new Jerusalem takes place during the feast of Sukkot… The ark of the covenant dwelt in a “tent”, also called a “shelter” (sukkah)… In the Psalms, God’s provision of protection is called a shelter… Jerusalem as the seat of David’s kingdom is likened to a shelter in the Prophets. Thus, the new Jerusalem of the messianic age is called a shelter, which God will build after the full restoration from exile… These texts (refering to Isaiah 1:8, 4:2-6 & Amos 9:11-12) make very clear that the renewal of Jerusalem in the messianic age will be an act of God, when he creates the ultimate sukkah for his people to protect them from the heat of the sun, which is likened to threats from Israel’s enemies.

So in essence, Jonah creates a “bit of Eden” for himself during his time in this foreign land, which mirrors a feast that is a time for extreme hospitality for outsiders. He is fulfilling God’s promises of love and mercy and it makes him very angry, then without even realizing it, he continues to fulfill this promise in strange and unintentional ways!

Here is a picture of a sukkah an Israelite may have created in Jonah’s day… and a modern sukkah...

Jonah creates this little Eden Tent. Then God comes in and gives Jonah a little bit more Eden. God grows this leafy plant over Jonah’s head. The Hebrew word here is “qiqayon”. This story is the only place this word appears in scripture. There is much debate over what this plant actually is, but I believe the point of the plant isn’t so much about what it is, but what God does with it. In other words, God provided something, we aren’t sure what it is, but it filled a need and brought happiness and blessing to Jonah. Just like something else in scripture filled a need for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. Manna! Literally called “what is it”.

This is another allusion to this Eden Tent and now God is meeting with Jonah at this tent. Until something else happens. The worm. There are 2 other texts in the Hebrew Bible about worms eating and causing ruin, and both are relevant links in Jonah. One is about the manna. You remember what would happen when they kept more than they needed? By morning it was gross...

Exodus 16:19–20 NLT

19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.

The other reference appears in a section of curses that will come upon the land because of Israel’s disobedience.

Deuteronomy 28:38–39 NLT

38 “You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.

Worms are associated with death and decomposing corpses. In the scripture we referenced, the worms are sent by God to reverse an Eden blessing. This plant that made Jonah happy withers and dies and the wind comes and blows down Jonah’s hut and in this heartbreaking moment where God is trying to get Jonah’s attention he continues with his unrelenting selfishness.

JONAH’S UPSIDE DOWN HEART CAUSES HIM TO HAVE SELF PITY RATHER THAN UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PITY.

Jonah is ready to die again. Then God compares the plant to Nineveh. It creates a parable-like experience for Jonah. Yahweh calls him out on his hypocrisy. God wants Jonah to think about all that He has done for Jonah that Jonah didn’t earn or deserve. Things Jonah couldn’t even do on his own.

Jonah 4:9–11 NLT

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

You didn’t grow the plant, Jonah. You didn’t make it great. Nothing you have has come from your own strength. God mentions the plant, but Jonah knows that God is talking about Israel as a whole. That he is telling Jonah, Israel didn’t deserve my mercy either. Look at this verse from Joshua that uses the same language.

Joshua 24:13 NLT

13 I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.

We don’t deserve God’s love and mercy any more than Jonah or Nineveh. We didn’t do anything to make God love us. But look at all of these people around us who are just as important to God. If we can feel sorry for ourselves, shouldn’t God feel sorry for all of these people? The way chapter 4 ends with an open question forces us to think about it for ourselves. Walter Crouch states it this way in his book about Jonah...

God’s question concludes the book, leaving Jonah’s response in the minds of the reader. This lack of closure at the end of the narrative is a literary device used to involve the reader in the ideological conflict that propels the real plot of the book: Jonah’s sense of justice versus God’s boundless mercy. The final scene blurs the narrative frame, so that the world of the text reaches out and envelops the world of the reader, forcing them to ask whose perspective they will adopt.” — WALTER CROUCH, “TO QUESTION AND END, TO END AND QUESTION: OPENING AND CLOSURE IN THE BOOK OF JONAH,” P. 112.

And when you let it reach out into our world, it gets difficult. The next thing you know you are sitting under a withered tree pondering the same difficult questions as Jonah about God’s mercy.

In the U.K. they have a day that is much like our memorial day. It is called Remembrance Sunday and in 1987 it was on November 8th. That day the IRA, the Irish Republican Army who sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, had planted a bomb in the Reading Rooms behind the monument in a town called Enniskillen. The explosion killed 11 people and injured 64. The blast buried a man named Gordon Wilson and his daughter in the rubble. Gordon would survive the disaster, but his daughter did not. William Ury would later write about Wilson’s experience that day.

In an interview with the BBC, Wilson described with anguish his last conversation with his daughter and his feelings toward her killers: "She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say." To the astonishment of listeners, Wilson went on to add, "But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She's dead. She's in heaven and we shall meet again. I will pray for these men tonight and every night." As historian Jonathan Bardon recounts, "No words in more than twenty-five years of violence in Northern Ireland had such a powerful, emotional impact." -William Ury, The Third Side (1999)

A year later, Gordon held a public event where he invited members of the IRA and the media to have a meeting with him and he begged them to stop the violence. He also announced that he forgave the people who killed his daughter. His faith in Jesus led him to make this commitment to forgive his enemies. Mary McAleese, one of the later presidents of Ireland, said, “[Gordons] words of love and forgiveness shocked us as if we were hearing them for the very first time, as if they had not been uttered first two thousand years ago.” She went on to say, “One out-spoken critic who was a Christian said to me about Gordon Wilson, surely the poor man must have been in shock. As if offering love and forgiveness is a sign of mental weakness instead of spiritual strength.”

To quote Tim Mackey…

You know people name their daughters Grace and we sing songs about grace and whatever. And we think this is beautiful thing. But there actually is this real scandalous side to it when grace, the wideness of God’s mercy begins to include people that we hate. Begin to include people that we despise or has wronged us or that we think don’t deserve it. And then it’s really, really disturbing, this whole grace thing. This is what Jonah 4 is about. -Tim Mackey

So, should God feel sorry for the people of Nineveh? Or is Jonah right and God should wipe them out because of their evil? What about your enemies, should God wipe them out? Or should He pity them and show them mercy? What about you and me and Jonah? Should Yahweh have destroyed us? I don’t know, but one thing I do know is that I am grateful that He didn’t and chose mercy instead. I want to leave you with a poem to ponder written by Thomas John Carlisle about the end of the book of Jonah.

And Jonah stalked

to his shaded seat

and waited for God

to come around

to his way of thinking.

And God is still waiting

for a host of Jonahs

in their comfortable houses

to come around

to his way of loving.

— THOMAS JOHN CARLISLE