Pt. 1, An Object Lesson For A Pouting Preacher

INTRODUCTION

We are going to finish up our look at the life of Jonah today. We have seen him as running for God, running from God, running into God, and running against God…Last week, we looked at the first four verses of chapter four, and today we will look at the remainder of the chapter as we see that when Jonah is at his worst, God is at His best!

When Jonah reaches the depths of rebellion, God reaches the heights of compassion!

Last Sunday morning, we saw that if Jonah can’t get his own way, he would rather die…Jonah spoke his mind and now God has a few things to say to him, by Word and deed.

Let’s look at how the Great Physician restores a sinful servant through an object lesson for a pouting preacher...

I-THE WAITING

Jonah 4:5 KJV 1900

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

Jonah seems to still not be able to accept the divine deliverance of Nineveh. I think maybe he believes the city will go right back into its wickedness. He departs to the east side of town and waits. The east side was the logical place to go if you wanted to view the city because the ground level was higher on the east side than the other sections. The further east one went, the higher the ground would rise. Nineveh was bounded by mountains on the eastern side.

While he sat there waiting, I want you to notice a few things:

I-He sat in Savagery

I say Jonah was savage because nothing would have made him happier than for Nineveh and it’s people to be burned to the ground like Sodom and Gomorra in Genesis 18.

I think this shows use something very important, and we ALL, yes ALL need to understand that beneath the best of us lies the beast in us.

We see this in David’s life - In 1 Samuel 24, we find David oozing with patience and self-control…David has the opportunity to kill the man that’s trying to kill him, but he doesn’t. He responds wisely to Saul. Now in 1 Samuel 25 though, we find a response much different…David is caught off-guard and before he knows it, he’s going to be in a rage! This patient man will be impatient; his humility will be replaced with hate; his virtue will surrender to vengeance and blessing will be beaten by bloodthirstiness.

What about the disciples in Luke 9? They were ready to kill over an insult...

Luke 9:54 KJV 1900

54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

Here’s the thing ya’ll, when we hurt, we don’t care who else we hurt.

We see a savage Jonah here, but are we any different?

II-He sat in Selfishness

Jonah’s powers were used only to provide for his own needs (shelter).

Preoccupation with personal comforts keeps many from becoming Christians...

Luke 14:16–24 KJV 1900

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Preoccupation with personal comforts chokes the witness of God’s Word and keeps us from bearing fruit as Christians...

Luke 8:14 KJV 1900

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

Preoccupation with personal comforts drives us from our duty like Demas...

2 Timothy 4:10 KJV 1900

10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

We can let our neighbors go to hell without lifting one finger, shedding one tear, or offering one earnest prayer!

We get more upset about a scratch on our fender than we do someone dying lost and going to hell!

In the book, The Great Omission, J. Robertson McQuilkin writes: “A world, no matter how lost, will not move me to action while I am mired in self-love. On the other hand, once I am freed to make choices on the basis of compassion for others, the need of lost men and women does indeed become compelling. And what more compelling need is there than billions of people who today face a Christless eternity …? The terrifying lostness that envelopes most in this world, pressing them with inexorable acceleration toward the blackness of hell—if this does not move us to action, what will?”

Do you set in selfishness today?

III-He sat in Solitude

The real root of his problem was he felt that God had left him…You see, everything he believed about God had been turned upside down by the sparing of Nineveh and Jonah felt all alone in the universe.

Corrie ten Boom survived the Nazi horrors by saying, “The devil can never dig a hole so deep that God cannot find you.”

The presence of God can make anything bearable. But when God seems gone, or your beliefs about Him are totally wrong, then that is a hole which no one can stand.

Jonah’s savagery and selfishness were the bitter expressions of his solitude.

So, with all this, we see the waiting…secondly, look at:

II-THE WATCHCARE

Jonah 4:6 KJV 1900

6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

In the darkness of that awful hour, God touched Jonah...

He “prepared” a gourd, a plant, to grow up over his shelter and shade him from the terrible Eastern sun, to deliver him from his grief. Just as God prepared the fish to capture Jonah, now God prepared the plant to comfort Jonah. Even in Jonah’s second rebellion God was still looking out for His pouting prophet.

I want you to notice something here: The plant provided shade for Jonah to deliver him from his misery. Jonah was miserable spiritually; but now we also see that he was miserable physically.

If Jonah had loved the people of Nineveh like God loved them, he would have stayed in the city to help instruct and train the people in the ways of God. If Jonah had stayed in the city, he would have had shelter in the homes of people that he was ministering to and he would not have been in misery from the sun.

We put ourselves into bad situations because of our selfishness and our stinking attitudes. God may have thought to Himself, ‘After all that Jonah’s been through, he still has not learned a thing.’ - I wonder how many times He says that about us?

The word “grief” is the same word translated “wickedness” in Jonah 1:2. - Now that’s something we need to take note of - You could say the grief Jonah was experiencing here was wickedness, and after hearing the preaching this morning, I think we can all agree that it was wickedness, but my goal is for us to look inside our lives and see if there is a Jonah alive in us...

God in His grace is still trying to cool off the hot temper of Jonah and bring him to his senses.

For the first time in the book, Jonah is happy, “exceedingly glad” according to the text.

God provided a place with excellent shade for him to cool and calm down. He gave him a place to give him time to let the Lord rebuke and pierce his heart.

H.A. Ironside wrote, “Because it ministered to his comfort, Jonah was quite glad to have the gourd. This is the first time we see Jonah joyful and it is the last as well. His gladness was as truly inspired by selfishness as was his sorrow.”

Jonah’s selfishness would again resurface. Jonah trusted God’s provision, but didn’t trust God’s vision.

We are much like Jonah in many ways. We often get attached to the gourds in our lives and we let them get in the way of doing God’s will for our lives.

The shade was not for physical enjoyment only, but mainly to correct the evil that was in his life.

It is a case of the goodness of God being used to lead to repentance.

What about this gift that God gave to Jonah? What is a gourd?

Looking at the gourd, we can see reminders of God’s message and desire for Jonah and Jonah’s weaknesses. The Hebrew word here means “nauseous to taste.”

I’m sure Jonah’s attitude made God sick. This plant is believed to be the castor-oil bean plant or vine. It grows rapidly to a height of 15 to 20 feet in hot climate. It has large elephant-like leaves twelve inches in length.

What was the purpose of the plant? God was using this gift to draw Jonah back to Him. The hand of blessing was to bring him to repentance. The plant had a purple-red stem with bright, red fruit. The fruit was poisonous. The oil produced light for lamps and was used in medicine as a laxative, purging the body of poison.

What a picture here of Jonah who was a source of poison in his anger, bitterness, and rebellion. He could also be a source of light, purging the world of spiritual poison and promoting healing.

This plant was very fragile, withering easily when handled or damaged. It would collapse from frost or worms. Jonah’s spiritual condition was very fragile and weak too. He was weakening from the worms of bitterness, prejudice, and rebellion that were eating away at his soul.

Jonah was quite the prophet and he didn’t even know it…you see, in the fullness of time, God has in Jesus Christ brought salvation to the nations, not just Israel.

The compassion of God revealed so powerfully at the end of Jonah is perfectly manifested on the hill of Golgotha. All of this foreshadowing in Jonah comes into sharper focus in what God has done in and through Jesus Christ for his own sheep.

Truly as Jonah states in Jonah 2:9 “...Salvation is of the Lord.”

CONCLUSION

You might be looking at all this with one question in mind? Preacher, how do we keep ourselves in the right spiritual condition? The answer is given in Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” If our affections are in the wrong places, we will experience spiritual shipwreck!

Let us learn from the life of Jonah today! Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other! Do business with God if you need to. Repent and let God use you!

Come back tonight; you don’t want to miss it. We will look at the remainder of this chapter and conclude our look at the Life of Jonah.