Jonah 4:1-10

4:1-4 Jonah’s Displeasure.

Jonah, Jonah, Jonah… Instead of Jonah rejoicing for Nineveh and being in awe of God’s sovereignty, and freedom to bestow blessings on whomever He chooses. He [Jonah] became greatly displeased, and he became angry. Jonah was annoyed because God not only persuaded him to preach to wicked Nineveh in order to deliver them from God’s wrath, but also because God’s compassion gave the appearance of lack of compassion toward Israel His elect people.

2 Kings 14:23-29

2 Kings 14:23–29 NASB95

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. The Lord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for Israel, Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.

This text implies that Israel and the king Jeroboam II did evil insight of God. What God was doing with Jonah (who doesn’t seem to be aware) was showing Nineveh compassion by warning them - and showing Israel they need to repent just like Nineveh. If you can remember from a few weeks ago - Jonah was a type of reflection of Israel. His behavior mimicked that of Israel.

Jonah says Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Although, Jonah did not audibly voice his disgust of the situation to God regarding his divine call to judge Nineveh in chapter 1 when he was in Galilee - there were implications that God was aware of how Jonah felt about it - He knew Jonah’s heart.

Needless to say Jonah attempted to skip out on his opportunity to call against the wickedness of Nineveh - so he proactively fled to Tarshish.

What does the end of verse 2 say about why Jonah fled? He knew that You [God] are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Jonah in chapter 2 appeared to be aware of God’s compassion, while he was in the sea, but here he was also anticipating it to be directed toward Israel. God sends prophets to warn Israel with the hope that they would repent and avoid divine judgement. Here are some cross references of God’s compassion for Israel.

Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:6 NASB95

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;

Here God tells Moses that it is because of His attributes of mercy and compassion that He reestablished the Ten Commandants after Moses found Israel worshipping a golden calf. He did this in order to restore or renew the covenant between Israel and Himself. And Israel avoided total destruction because they renewed their covenant loyalty with God. This should sound familiar to us. Israel seems to be in constant need of correction and covenant renewal.

In addition to this, here in chapter 4 Jonah appears to have forgotten that he experienced first hand God’s compassion thus far. Right? God delivered him from the Sea by way of a fish. And placed Jonah on dry land giving him another opportunity to be obedient to God’s call for him.

Sad to say, but as a result of God’s compassion for Nineveh and their repentance - Jonah wants to die, Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me. Here in verse 3 Take my life literally means - take my soul. Jonah thinks that death is better to me than life. Jonah wasn’t the only prophet to experience these harsh feelings.

1 Kings 19:4

1 Kings 19:4 NASB95

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

Similar to Jonah, Elijah requested to die after becoming afraid of Jezebel. He lost sight of the fact that God just did a miraculous work through him.

Job 7:15

Job 7:15 NASB95

So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.

And like Job who due to his nightmares in verse 14, prefers death over pain just like Jonah would prefer death over life. Job and Jonah appear to have a lack of understanding of God’s sovereignty. And then we read what God says, The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?” Does Jonah have the right to be angry? Nope. Not in the slightest. Can you relate to Jonah? Have you ever been upset because someone received something that you thought you deserved? How did that situation work out for you? The question that God asks Jonah should encourage Jonah to be the judge of his own actions.

Application

How many of us act like Jonah? We see people who we don’t think deserve compassion? It is as if we are the compassion police and set the standard for who deserves kindness and who does not. Like us, Jonah needs an attitude change or rather a heart change. When we pass judgement… That’s right - when we decide who to give compassion to based on their works we are taking on the role of judge.

Matthew 7:1

Matthew 7:1 NASB95

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

And in fact compassion and mercy are unmerited; meaning they are done willingly and not based on works! The truth is we all deserve hell, but it is because of God’s compassion/mercy that He provided a way to restore the relationship between man and Him. What did God do to accomplish this? Jesus! Over the last few weeks we spoke a lot about caring for the lost. As you might remember God cares for them and commands us to as well, and when we don’t we set ourselves up for God to intervene.

4:5-8 God’s Appointments.

What do we do when we don’t get our way or are uncomfortable? We get upset and we lose hope, and if we are like Jonah we try and leave the situation. In response to God’s question Jonah flees again! from Nineveh and makes a shelter just east of the city to shade himself from the sun, so that he could see what would happen in the city. It almost seems like he is anticipating the destruction of the city. While he is waiting God appoints or assigns a plant - a castor oil plant [whose leaves are large]- and it rapidly grew to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. What do you notice God doing again for Jonah? That is right he is delivering him once again. Here is a fun fact the word discomfort ra’ah is used in different ways - in 3:8 it is translated to wicked and describes evil morals. In 3:10 it is translated to calamity and refers to the disaster of judgement that God would bring. The author is deliberately using word play. As Nineveh’s repentance shielded it from eternal calamity, the plant shielded Jonah from the heat. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.

Why do you think Jonah was happy? Because his personal comfort was taken care of. Ironically, Jonah was upset and angered when God was happy to show hopeless Nineveh mercy. Now God appoints a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered, and then God appoints a scorching east wind - Jonah has no plant to escape the 110 degree heat and grieves for the plant.

Joel 1:12

Joel 1:12 NASB95

The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.

This verse describes the withering of God’s provision for Judah that has died off as a result of God’s judgment toward them. It also implies God’s sovereignty over all of creation and Jonah has yet to see it. God has appointed the worm, and the east wind - And yet when He appointed Jonah the first time he wasn’t obedient and even after the second time to call against Nineveh he had an issue with it after the fact. It is because of the dead plant that the heat bears down on Jonah and he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.” Jonah again repeats what he said in verse 3, because of the dead plant Jonah would rather die than live - utterly hopeless.

Application

So… God has permitted certain things to happen in order to encourage Jonah to understand what it feels like to be hopeless which resulted in highlighting God’s compassion. Jonah has been in a few hopeless situations and he has been delivered from them not by his own doing but because of God’s sovereignty and compassion - which in this case was at least two fold - to save and give hope to the lost in Nineveh and use Nineveh’s repentance as encouragement for Israel to repent. A truth to understand is that God is sovereign.

Romans 9:15

Romans 9:15 NASB95

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

What that means for us is that as sinners we deserve judgement - God in essence is just in rendered justice against all sinners. However, in His sovereignty He gives mercy to those He chooses to believe which is not based on merit. We should be thankful that He has chosen us and given us the opportunity to hear the Gospel - which should in turn encourage us to share it.

4:9-11 God’s Reprimand.

Then God asks Jonah Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant ? What is Jonah’s response in verse 9? I can’t believe this response - over a plant! I wonder what God thought when Jonah replied with that answer. It is obvious that Jonah’s self centered desire overruled godly thinking - his reply issued God’s next question. First, God wants Jonah to think. He raises some thought provoking observations - You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. In essence God is explaining that Jonah had a self centered a selfish compassion for a plant because it helped him and him alone - that God appointed for him out of compassion! God asks, Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

What do you think God is implying here?

Application

God pointed out something important here. Did you see it? His question to Jonah implies that through Jonah the city of Nineveh including the children who do not know the difference between their right and left hand came to faith by a prophet that did not even love or care for them. God cared for the lost in Nineveh from the least to the great including the animals! Jonah needed compassion and so do we.

Acts 17:16

Acts 17:16 NASB95

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

Luke 19:41

Luke 19:41 NASB95

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry he wept because he recalled are far removed society was from the Truth. Do you have compassion for the lost that makes you cry for their souls?

Application Questions

1. Why is the Book of Jonah important for you?

2. Why is the Book of Jonah important for the world?

3. How does our selfish desires harm witnessing to others?

4. Does it upset you to know that God is sovereign? Sovereign is the fact that God is free and able to do what he wants.

5. How will you live out compassion for the lost if you don’t care about the lost?