Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Jonah is being taught by God concerning his anger toward the Ninevites and the Lord’s will.

The book ends with a question that is instructive for us.

Text: Jonah 4:1-11

As we begin this final lesson on the book of Jonah, I would like to read this thoughtful introduction given by John Phillips concerning this last scene where Jonah leaves the city of Nineveh and then is taught by God through His Word and His sovereignty.

John Philips - “Sick of the sight of sackcloth, the sullen prophet turned his back on Nineveh and went to the east side of the city.

There he made a shack in which to wait for events to unfold.

He thought perhaps the desired judgement might yet fall.”

“It has been said that the grace of God is manifested not only in His compassion for repenting sinners but also in His patience with repining [complaining discontented] saints.”

- John Butler

This of course is the scene we see unfold.

God has mercy and compassion on Jonah and sets out to do to Him as He does with us; God teaches us His ways.

When we come to the Word of God, we are being instructed about our all-wise God.

He is revealing to us His ways and who He is.

He is also revealing to us the truth about ourselves.

The Bible tells us that God prepared a gourd, a worm, and a vehement east wind.

All of these were to teach and instruct Jonah.

Jonah rejoiced for the gourd.

This reminds us of those things in our lives that God does that we judge as being a blessing.

But as we look at the rest of the ‘prepared things,’ all of them in truth are a blessing.

This was not immediately evident to Jonah at the time.

God’s work in our lives according to Romans 8:28-29 is to bring about good in our lives.

That good is to conform us to the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is this matter of ‘godliness’…god-likeness.

How is it that we are to be like God?

The answer is found as we look to the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Hebrews 12:2)

He is —the express image of the invisible God (Hebrews 1:3).

He is the only begotten Son of God (John 1:18), God in the flesh (John 1:14).

God has given to us the perfect example of godliness.

C. Jonah’s Instruction v4-11

1.

The Questions v4, 9

2. The Object Lessons v5,6-10

3. The Conclusion v10,11

We looked at the questions God asked Jonah and these questions are scattered in the midst of these object lessons.

The first question was asked before Jonah had left the city.

It is found in verse number 4. The Lord asks Jonah, “Doest thou well to be angry?”

Then we read of this first object lesson.

God commands and appoints a gourd to shade Jonah on the east side of the city.

v6“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.”

God wants us to know specifically that purpose of this gourd was to deliver Jonah from his grief.

This is what you and I need to hang on to.

These very words are precious for us.

You find yourself in a spot where you are saying, “I just do not understand why all of this is going on in my life.”

But God tells us in His Word that His actions have a purpose behind them as it concerns us.

We see Jonah’s reaction to this blessing.

In verse 6, Jonah was “exceeding glad of the gourd.”

We answered the question last week as to why Jonah was happy for the gourd.

We discussed why he was exeeding glad.

And we discovered that Jonah was concerned with his own comfort.

He was blessed by God but did not thank the God who sent the blessing.

He was ready to benefit from the shade God provided, but He was not ready to give glory to the God that gave the shade.

We might do well to ask ourselves this question this morning,

What makes you rejoice with great joy?

The answer to this question will reveal to us where our affections really are.

Jonah’s affections were skewed.

We notice that his affections were self-centered.

We are told in the Word of God where our affections are to be.

The Bible tells us in the book of Colossians chapter 3 that our affections are to be on the things of God.

Colossians 3:1-2 “If ye then be risen with Christ [if you are a Christian], seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

We see that we are to “seek” and we are to “set.”

We are to actively engage in spiritual work.

We are seek those things which are above...to purpose by an act of will.

We are to set our affections on things above... to have our minds and thoughts be concerned with Christ and His things.

Our affections are to be on Christ.

Our affections are to be on heavenly things, the things above.

This will help us in dealing with the difficulties of life.

How are we to deal with this life, when great difficulties come?

How are we to learn what God is teaching us in this life?

At this point in our passage Jonah is not grasping what God is teaching him.

I certainly do not want to float through this life never learning what God has for me to learn.

I want us to turn just for a moment to I Samuel 30.

Read I Samuel 30:1-8

Here we read of David returning to the Philistine city of Ziklag.

This city was where David at the time lived while sojourning in the country of Philistia.

This was prior to David’s reception as the rightful King of Israel.

David was in exile in this place.

He was given a city from the Philistine king Achish.

(I Samuel 27:6)

David and His men had gone to Jezreel but had been sent back by King Achish to Ziklag.

When they arrived back at Ziklag they discovered while they were away that the Amalekites had come and taken the city, burned it with fire and taken people of the city captive.

The Bible says in verse 4, “Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”

Everything was taken away.

This was terrible.

This was a desperate situation.

The Bible goes on and tells us in verse 6, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: ....”

David had no earthly thing to delight in at this point.

His current home had been burned.

The homes of these mighty men with him were burned with fire.

His family had been taken away.

All the people that were with him experienced great distress and loss.

And if all of that was not enough, His mighty men were ready to stone Him.

I want you to notice is this small phrase at the end of verse 6, for it reveals to us where ultimately David’s affections resided.

Of course David loved his family, of course David loved his home, of course David loved his mighty men… but when all of that was taken away the Bible says,

“but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”

We could say it this way, despite the circumstances that were presented to David, despite His experience at this moment; this great loss, despite the fact that all seemed to be doomed; David purposed to look to the LORD and the things above.

His affections were not misplaced.

He set his affections on the LORD and He actively sought the LORD.

Going back to our text we see that Jonah’s affections were on the wrong things.

His concern was not for the things above or for Christ which sitteth on the throne, but rather his own comfort.