Jonah 4.6-The Lord Provides A Plant To Grow Up Over Jonah To Be Shade For Him Which Makes Him Extremely Delighted
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday December 8, 2010
Jonah: Jonah 4:6-The Lord Provides A Plant To Grow Up Over Jonah To Be Shade For Him Which Makes Him Extremely Delighted
Lesson # 55
Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:10.
This evening, we will begin a study of the seventh and final scene in the book of Jonah by noting Jonah 4:6, which records the Lord providing a plant for Jonah, which grows up over him and functions as shade for the prophet, consequently, this makes him extremely delighted.
Jonah 3:10, “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. 4:1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.’ 4 The Lord said, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry?’ 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ‘Death is better to me than life.’ 9 Then God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘I have good reason to be angry, even to death.’ 10 Then the Lord said, ‘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. 11 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?’” (NASU)
Let’s now look at verse 6 in detail.
Jonah 4:6, “So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.” (NASU)
The expression yhwh ʾělō·hîm (יהוה־אֱלֹהִים), “Lord God” appears 37 times in the Old Testament and only once in the book of Jonah.
This expression in Jonah 4:6 speaks of several concepts.
First of all, it combines the attributes of transcendence and immanence since the former is denoted by the noun ʾělō·hîm, “God” and the latter is denoted by Yahweh, “Lord.”
So it emphasizes with the reader that the transcendent God is intervening in the life of Jonah.
Secondly, the expression emphasizes with the reader that the prophet Jonah is no better or worse than the Ninevites and is being treated according to the Lord’s grace policy just as the Ninevites were.
This is indicated in that the noun ʾělō·hîm, “God” is used in relation to the Gentiles and the Yahweh, “Lord” is used in relation to God’s covenant people Israel.
So in a subtle way this expression speaks of the principle communicated by Paul in Romans 3:29 that God is not only the God of the Jews but also the Gentiles.
“Appointed” is the third person masculine singular piel active imperfect form of the verb mā∙nā(h) (מָנָה) (men-aw), which means “to provide” since the context indicates that the Lord God is making provision for Jonah and meeting his need in the hot Middle Eastern sun.
This verb emphasizes with the reader the Lord’s sovereign control over His creation and His omnipotence over creation.
“A plant” is the masculine singular form of the noun qî∙qāy∙wōn (קִיקָיוֹן) (kee-kaw-yone), which appears only in the book of Jonah occurring fives times (4:6 twice, 7, 9, 10).
Most scholars identify this word with the castor oil plant or ricinus communis, which is indigenous to the Middle East.
It can reach the height of ten to fifteen feet and its stalk is soft and can be easily killed by insects.
Its large palmate leaves would have provided Jonah an excellent shield from the sun.
The plant’s flowers are yellow and pink and are arranged along stalklike protuberances.
The daily maximum temperature in Mesopotamia is approximately 110 degrees, thus this plant was a great relief for the prophet.
Jonah 4:6, “So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.” (NASU)
“And it grew up over Jonah” emphasizes to the reader the purpose of this plant indicating that the little qîqāywōn plant growing up over Jonah was for his benefit.
“To be shade over his head” indicates the purpose for the Lord God providing this the little qîqāywōn plant for Jonah.
“To deliver” is composed of the preposition le (לְ) (lamed), “to” and the hiphil active infinitive construct form of the verb nā∙ṣǎl (נָצַל) (naw-tsal), “deliver.”
This is a result clause indicating that the little qîqāywōn plant grew up over Jonah for his benefit in order to function as a shade for his head “so that” or “so as a result” he would be delivered from his discomfort.
The verb nā∙ṣǎl speaks of not only Jonah’s deliverance from the sun but more importantly, his deliverance from his bad attitude towards the Ninevites.
Specifically, it speaks of Jonah’s deliverance from his bad attitude towards God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites, which is indicated by the dialogue that follows in verses 7-11 where the Lord is teaching Jonah about His grace policy.
“Discomfort” is the feminine singular form of the noun rā∙ʿā(h) (רָעָה), which means “evil” and is used with reference to not only Jonah’s suffering from the extreme heat of the sun but also his suffering from possessing an evil attitude towards God’s grace policy with respect to the Ninevites.
“Was extremely happy” is composed of the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb śā∙mǎḥ (שָׂמַח) (saw-makh) and the feminine singular form of the noun śim∙ḥā(h) (שִׂמְחָה) (sim-khaw), “happy” and the feminine singular form of the adjective gā∙ḏôl (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “extremely.”
The verb śā∙mǎḥ means “to delight in” and is used of Jonah being delighted by the shade provided by the qîqāywōn plant.
The noun śim∙ḥā(h) means “delight” referring to the attitude of joyful happiness experienced by Jonah as a result of the shade provided by the plant.
The word is modified by the adjective gā∙ḏôl which means “extremely” and speaks of the intensity of Jonah’s happiness.
The noun also functions as a cognate accusative, which emphasizes the intensity of Jonah’s joy because of the shade provided by the plant.
Jonah 4:6, “Next, the Lord God provided a little qîqāywōn plant. Indeed, it grew up over Jonah for his benefit in order to function as shade for his head so as to deliver him, for his benefit from his evil. Consequently, Jonah was extremely delighted because of this little plant.” (My translation)
In this verse, we have the Lord responding to Jonah’s anger with grace and love.
The Lord does not speak to Jonah but rather responds to the prophet’s silent angry protest with silent gracious, compassionate and loving action.
The Lord uses the plant as a visual aid to teach Jonah about grace.
Undoubtedly, Jonah recognized that God was being merciful to him and giving him a gift that he did not deserve.
He enjoyed God being gracious to him but not others and specifically, not his enemies.
Jonah is excited about the great miracle of the plant but not about the greater miracle, namely that of the Ninevites getting saved by believing in the Lord and repenting from their infamous evil way of living.
This verse records Jonah being happy for the first time.
His extreme delight because of the shade the plant provided him stands in stark contrast to his being infuriated by the Lord’s decision to relent and spare the Ninevites.
This should have caused him extreme joy since human beings are of more value than a plant.
He is very happy when the Lord delivered him from drowning even though he was insubordinate yet he is infuriated when the Lord spares the Ninevites.
This demonstrates to the reader just how self-centered Jonah is which is an indication that he is living according to the desires of his sin nature and is deceived by Satan’s cosmic system.
Jonah 4:6 also teaches that the Lord not only was attempting to deliver Jonah from the scorching Middle Eastern sun but more importantly, He was attempting to deliver the prophet from his evil attitude towards His grace policy with regards to the Ninevites.
This is indicated by the dialogue that follows in verses 7-11 where the Lord is teaching Jonah about His grace policy.
So the Lord provided this plant since the prophet’s make shift shelter, which he built from brush or leaves was flimsy at best and thus he needed something better.
Secondly and more importantly, the Lord wanted to use this plant as an object lesson to teach Jonah about His grace policy.
He wants the prophet to see the Ninevites and all men from His perspective (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).