Jonah: Chapter 4
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Introduction & Review
Introduction & Review
We’ve come a long way in this sermon series:
Chapter 1: Jonah’s command, fleeing, consequence — Comparing Pagan Sailors to Jonah
Chapter 2: Jonah’s Prayer and Submission — “Salvation Belongs to the Lord!”
Chapter 3: Jonah’s “Obedience” — 5 Word Message — Comparing Ninevites to Jonah (repentance)
For the kid’s version of the story, this is where we usually end…but there’s one more chapter..and it’s an important one. (Ties everything together)
Chapter 4 focuses on the aftermath…Jonah’s response to Nineveh’s repentance and God’s forgiveness…not what we might expect, but we should be careful about casting too many stones here either.
When we see how things begin, I certainly can’t cast any stones...
Jonah’s Anger
Jonah’s Anger
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Key Word = ANGER…Jonah is displeased and angry that God has changed course and relented in judging Nineveh.
While I may not fully agree with Jonah’s anger here (more on that in a moment)…I certainly understand it.
I have a personal history with ANGER…PERSONAL EXAMPLES
Here’s the thing with anger:
Always stems from the idea that we’re right and someone else is wrong. Sometimes that’s true and our anger is justified, but often it’s not (or it’s out of proportion to the issue).
And that’s certainly the case here…Jonah believes HE IS RIGHT and GOD IS WRONG…and he makes that very clear in the next section...
Jonah’s Response to God
Jonah’s Response to God
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Short Version = I KNEW IT!!!
Jonah knew what God would do and he wasn’t happy about it
May have even had some justification because of the history of Nineveh and Israel…fear of what they may do now, or getting off Scott free! Not fair!
And it’s interesting how Jonah describes God here…he actually quotes God’s own description of Himself...”I knew you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster...” (all of which Jonah took full advantage of in Chapter 2 btw).
Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)
The Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty...”
This is a description that God gives Himself (note that Jonah leaves out the “who will by no means clear the guilty” (maybe because he thought that’s exactly what God was doing? Clearing the guilty Ninevites??))
And this description God gives Himself is brought up again and again in Scripture…one more...
Joel 2:13 (ESV)
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Almost word for word what Jonah says…and it’s accurate…SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM??
Jonah doesn’t WANT this to be true for his enemies…and he isn’t messing around, he’s literally dead serious…look at the end again...
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah declares he’d rather be dead than to live under these conditions…a world where God forgives the injustice of Jonah’s/Israel’s enemies. The irony is that Jonah is RIGHT about his description of God—and that’s what he doesn’t like!
And it’s easy for us to fall into this same hole…this same self-righteous and selfish attitude…
Pastor and author Tim Keller says it better than I can (in his book about Jonah and this section in particular)...
"When Christian believers care more for their own interests and security than for the good and salvation of other races and ethnicities, they are sinning like Jonah. If they value the economic and military flourishing of their country over the good of the human race and furtherance of God’s work in the world, they are sinning like Jonah. Their identity is more rooted in their race and nationality than in being saved sinners and children of God.”
Of course, God doesn’t let Jonah off the hook (because He’s too gracious and merciful)…instead, he asks Jonah a question...
Jonah’s Action
Jonah’s Action
And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
God essentially asks Jonah if his anger is justified
And instead of answering God....Jonah takes another, more passive route...
Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
Jonah throws himself an old-fashioned pity party (again, something I can relate to).
Hoping to see if God DOES follow through (was he going to wait for 40 days??)
Assuming Nineveh’s repentance wasn’t genuine (like his own)???
And now, God intervenes to teach Jonah a valuable OBJECT LESSON since words don’t seem to be getting through to him (that’s not to say he’ll learn the lesson, but we can certainly can)...
God’s Object Lesson
God’s Object Lesson
Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
It was likely very HOT in the area Jonah set himself up to wait (100 degrees?).
So on day 1, God provides a plant to give Jonah shade (nothing he asked for, nothing he did to cause it to happen…it’s God’s gracious gift)
Jonah’s Emotion = EXCEEDINGLY GLAD! (Things are finally looking up for me!)
But, on day 2, God sends a worm to destroy the plant and sends a scorching east wind and the sun to beat down on Jonah…now God’s Judgment
Jonah’s emotion now = SAD AND ANGRY (Why me, why is God against me?) — again, to the point of death (SO DRAMATIC!!!)
And again, God asks Jonah a question…one that will sound familiar...
But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
The Question: Jonah, is your anger over the plant justified??
Jonah’s answer---YOU BET IT IS!!! Enough to DIE!!!
In this object lesson, God has turned the tables upside down on Jonah...
Jonah was happy with God’s free and gracious gift that he didn’t earn or even ask for (because it was God’s grace to HIM)
But then he turns angry when God takes it away as He had every right to do…angry at God’s Justice (because it was focused on HIM)
The inverse of how Jonah felt about Nineveh
Angry at God’s Mercy and Grace
Happy about God’s Justice
I wish this wasn’t true, but I think we all have this attitude. We want God’s grace for ourselves and His justice for others.
There is a lot of TENSION between God’s Grace and His Justice…they don’t always seem to go hand-in-hand…they certainly didn’t to Jonah and they often don’t for US! Because we’re SELFISH and think we know better than God (just like Jonah)!
Thankfully…this isn’t really about what Jonah thinks or feels (or what we think or feel).
It’s about WHAT GOD THINKS AND FEELS...And God’s grace is for EVERYONE!
So God closes with one final question for Jonah (and for us)...
And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
If God is everything Jonah declares (and God declares) SHOULDN’T He care about the people of Nineveh…AND the cattle (again with the cattle!)
He created them, and they are LOST…if God doesn’t pity and care for them, who WILL??
Note that the book never answers this question. We don’t know Jonah’s answer (but we could guess).
And this is on purpose…intended to make US answer this question. To look at ourselves and wonder how we would answer this question.
What do WE do with this TENSION of God’s Grace (which we want for ourselves but not for our enemies) and His Justice (which we want for our enemies but not for ourselves)??
The answer, for us is...we turn to Jesus…the perfect Jonah! One more Tim Keller quote...
“Jesus is the prophet Jonah should have been. Yet, of course, He is infinitely more than that. Jesus did not merely weep for us; He died for us. Jonah went outside the city, hoping to witness its condemnation, but Jesus went outside the city to die on a cross to accomplish its salvation.”
Jesus Resolves the Tension Between God’s Grace and God’s Justice!
Jesus Resolves the Tension Between God’s Grace and God’s Justice!
First, God’s Grace in Jesus...
Romans 5:15–17 (NLT)
But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
And then, God’s Justice in Jesus...
Romans 3:22–26 (NLT)
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Despite Jonah’s many flaws…He said two things that were true then and are still true today...
Jonah 2:9 (ESV)
“Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
It still does…through Jesus Christ and ONLY Jesus Christ...
Acts 4:11–12 (ESV)
“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The second thing Jonah said that is still true...
Jonah 4:2 (ESV)
“I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”
This is our God…gracious and merciful—through Jesus Christ
Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love —through Jesus Christ
And relenting from disaster — though Jesus Christ!
What Do We Do With What We’ve Learned from Jonah?
What Do We Do With What We’ve Learned from Jonah?
Three things...
RECEIVE God’s Grace and Justice Through Jesus Christ (NOW)
SALVATION: This is where we START, but it doesn’t end here...
LIVE in God’s Grace and Justice Through Jesus Christ (EVERY DAY)
SANCTIFICATION: We need God’s grace and justice through Jesus EVERY SINGLE DAY!! We never stop needing it!
SHARE God’s Grace and Justice Through Jesus Christ (ALL PEOPLE)
THE GOSPEL, OUR COMMAND: This isn’t just about YOU…it’s not just FOR you…it’s for ALL PEOPLE, and...
We’ve been given a command just like Jonah was given…will you act like Jonah or like Jesus…??
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
It all depends on you and me...
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Are you bringing the Good News? Or is God starting a conversation with a whale…?
