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The Book of Jonah
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Jonah 4 • Fighting God • Grace Church • Fellowship Bible Studies • June 29, 2014
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1
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t
this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to
Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding
in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is
better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter,
sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided
a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort,
and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm,
which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east
wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It
would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be
angry about the plant?” • “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the
Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it
grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great
city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who
cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Jonah 4 NIV
In class one morning, Faith heard her teacher say something she believed to be very wrong.
As this little girl was listening to a lesson on whales, her teacher, Miss Self, said it was
physically impossible for a whale to swallow a person. She said that even though whales are
very large mammals, their throats are very small, so they couldn’t swallow a human being.
The diminutive, yet gutsy child raised her hand and asked, “Did you know that Jonah was
swallowed by a whale?”
The teacher said, “A whale cannot swallow a human; it is impossible. Besides, the story of
Jonah is just a bedtime story. It’s not true, Faith. It’s not true!”
Faith replied, “The Bible says every word of God is true, Miss Self.”
Her instructor retorted, “That’s your opinion, Faith. It’s not based on science.”
Faith said, “Well, when I get to Heaven, I’m going to ask Jonah.”
Miss Self shook her head and asked, “Faith, what if Jonah went to Hell?”
“Then you ask him,” Faith replied.
Speaking the truth, Faith was. Maybe not with as much gentleness and love as some would
wish, but speaking the truth she was. And she was standing firm in the faith, making an
apologetic defense of this inspired story that would warm the heart of any Bible teacher.
Faith stood firm, but remember, the word used in Jonah 1:17 was fish – not whale. It could
have been a whale, but the Hebrew word Dag means fish. Personally, I think God sent a
Jewfish, and it could swallow a man easily. The Assyrians worshiped Dagon, the fish god,
who God upset before, and if any of the Ninevites had seen or heard that the fish spit out
Jonah, their minds might have thought that Dagon delivered Jonah to their shores.
So far, we’ve seen that Jonah was sent, but sped away; swallowed, then spit out. After God
dealt with him, he obeyed God and delivered God’s message of doom to the Ninevites.
! In Jonah 01, we focused on spending time alone with God in His word. I called it
Mountain Time. Most people refer to it as Quiet Time.
! We focused on prayer – communication with God – in Jonah 02.
! In Jonah 03, we talked about evangelism – sharing the Good News or the Gospel of
Jesus Christ with an unsaved world. And we looked at an obedience that comes not
from trying to keep the 10 commandments, but an obedience that comes from faith.
When we take in a steady diet of God’s word, His influence begins to dominate our thinking
and our behavior. As we speak with Him, He communicates His love to us – and His will for
us – and our faith grows. During this growth process, our obedience to the faith increases,
and our ability to share the Good News of Jesus Christ is developed. In concert with Him,
we can permeate our community and be the salt of the earth and light of the world. If you are
a Christian, God is working within you to make you like Christ, and He has a mission for
your life. Hopefully, you won’t have to hit rock bottom, as Jonah did, but if you do, know
that God never gives up on His children, no matter how we struggle with His sovereignty or
how His plan unfolds. We’ll see that today, but before we begin chapter four, look at the last
verse of chapter three, which will help set the stage for our lesson today:
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion
and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah 3:10 NIV
The Ninevites repented – turned from their evil ways to believe God – and God had
compassion on them. He did not destroy their city, their possessions, their livestock, and,
most importantly to the Ninevites, their lives.
Now this would be a great place to end the Book of Jonah. If Hollywood could have written
this script, the movie would end with the Ninevites carrying Jonah on their shoulders up the
steps to the courthouse in Nineveh. The streets would be teeming with thousands of cheering
people. At the top, Jonah, doing his best Rocky impersonation, would be jumping up and
down with his arms raised. The music would play, the credits would roll, and the story
would be complete, for good triumphed over evil.
The screenplay would be perfect. They’d have a reluctant hero, a chosen servant of God –
Jonah – who runs from God. Then God, the Sovereign King of the universe, sends a storm
that the techs at Industrial Light and Magic would love to create on screen. Jonah gets
thrown overboard, and as he’s sinking, a large fish shows up at just the right time to swallow
him. And while Jonah is inside the fish, God works on his heart. Three days and nights later,
the fish spits Jonah out onto dry land. Then Jonah heads for Nineveh and delivers God’s
message. The entire city repents, God holds back His wrath, and everyone is happy. People
would be crying. It would be Billy Graham’s favorite movie!
But God, in His wisdom, does not end the Book of Jonah at this point. The lesson is not over
for Jonah, and it’s not over for us…
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Romans 15:4 NKJV For whatever things were written _________ were written for our
____________, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have ______.
This was recorded for us, written for our learning that we could have hope, that confident
expectation that God is always working for our good to bring us to His desired end.
Although we think about our own good most often, God is working for the good of others, as
well. So let’s look at Jonah four, verse one, and discover what God had in mind for Jonah,
the Ninevites, and us.
Jonah 4:1 NIV
1
But to Jonah this seemed very ________, and he became ________.
Jonah, whose attitude was typical of the people of Israel, had no desire to see the Assyrians
saved. They were the proven enemy of his people – God’s people!
He fled to avoid preaching a tasteful message to a distasteful people.
But God intervened and spared Jonah. Grateful for his deliverance, Jonah delivers the
message and the entire city repents. Yet Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
Maybe he was hoping the Ninevites would reject the message. Maybe he was hoping for the
worst…for them…
We’re a lot like Jonah, aren’t we? There are people we don’t like – people that rub us the
wrong way. We don’t like the government, which is run by people. We don’t like the people
government helps. We don’t like illegal aliens, foreign terrorists, left wing loons, right wing
fanatics, bankers, Wall Street analysts, insurance companies, lawyers, used car salesmen,
unions or telemarketers. We don’t like strange looking people from weird countries like
India or Pakistan, or people who live on 7th street or Longboat Key. In short, if people are
different than us, we tend to dislike them.
When we learn that God wants us – actually commands us – to share the Good News with all
people, we scream inside, “Oh God, please don’t send me to Africa. They carry spears down
there, and the skeeters are bigger than elephants.” Though standing still, we run – never
thinking that He may just want to send us across the street. We seem to shy from sharing the
Gospel because we don’t like people to dislike what we love. We fear people rejecting not
only our message, but us, as well.
Jonah may have worried about being a laughingstock among his fellow Israelites. After all,
he had a reputation to uphold, and he might not have wanted his fellow countrymen to hold
him in contempt for being a prophet who went to the Gentiles - people the Israelites disliked.
That might have gone through his mind, but in the next verse he gives another reason for
neglecting his duty, and it’s a startling revelation that allows us to peer deep into his own
heart and ours, too.
Jonah 4:2 NIV 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I ______, Lord, when I was still at
______? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a
gracious and compassionate ____, slow to ________ and abounding in ______, a God who
___________ from sending calamity.
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Jonah, from experience and God’s word passed down word of mouth, knew that God was a
powerful God who could display anger. But he also knew God was gracious and
compassionate, and that’s why he fled and why he’s mad at this moment.
From his own narrow heart, he wanted God to whack ‘em – and whack ‘em hard. He didn’t
want the Ninevites, who had hurt his people – God’s people – in the past, to get off Scot
free. Scot is Scandinavian word that means tax or payment. Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites
to miss the payment they deserved, or get off Scot Free, for the evil they had done to Israel.
He wanted God to put a tax, a hurt on the Ninevites. Though Jonah’s name means dove, he
was really a hawk. And the reason he gives God for playing the quick escape artist is in
these words:
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,
a God who relents from sending calamity.
As I thought about those words, I began to wonder how else Jonah might have known that. I
mentioned word of mouth. Jonah probably heard stories from his elders about God’s grace
and compassion and love. However, Jonah, a prophet, was probably familiar with the psalms
of King David, who wrote this:
Psalm 103:8-14 NIV 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to _______,
abounding in ______. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; [He
didn’t stay in harbor long after Jonah set sail, did He?] 10 he does not treat us as our sins
___________ or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above
the earth, so great is his love for those who ______ him; 12 as ____ as the east is from the
west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his
____________, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how
we are formed, he remembers that we are ______.
We come to know about God, and we come to know God through His word. Here, again,
we’re back to Jonah 01 and time alone with God in His word.
Jonah knew that God was capable of bringing calamity. He knew about Noah and the flood,
Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues against Egypt, and how God dealt with Jericho. Some
people don’t believe that God brings calamity, but in Lamentations 3, Jeremiah, the weeping
prophet who actually lived after Jonah, wrote this concerning God’s chastening of Israel:
Lamentations 3:38-46 NIV 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that ______
calamities and ______ things come? 39 Why should any living man complain when punished
for his ______? 40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us _________ to the
LORD. 41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: 42 "We have
sinned and rebelled and you have ____ forgiven. 43 "You have covered yourself with anger
and pursued us; you have slain without pity. 44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so
that no __________ can get through.
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Lamentations 3:45-46 NIV 45 You have made us ______ and refuse among the nations.
46 "All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. 47 We have suffered
_________ and pitfalls, ruin and __________________."
Jonah knew that God could bring calamity or good things. He wanted calamity for the
Ninevites! And the word calamity means misfortune, adversity, hurt, disaster, and evil. This
desire to see God hurt the Ninevites was going through Jonah’s mind as he did what? From
the first verb in verse two? As “He __________,” which takes us back to chapter two, where
we focused on communication with God, or prayer. He lays bare his heart as he tries to
justify his actions.
We can be honest with God in prayer, too. We can tell Him how we really feel about
something as we reflect on our problems, for He’s heard it all. And it’s not like God didn’t
know why Jonah ran. Our Sovereign God knows everything! He is graciously allowing
Jonah to speak his mind and his heart. It’s really for Jonah’s good, not for God’s. So, too,
God allows us speak our hearts in prayer to Him. That, too, is for our good - not His. Now as
Jonah continues his prayer, he says this in verse three:
Jonah 4:3 NIV
to ______.”
3
Now, Lord, take away my ______, for it is _________ for me to ____ than
Jonah is thinking selfishly. It’s still all about Jonah and what he wants. When he realized
God was indeed going to show mercy to these people, he prayed to die rather than have to
witness such a thing! To the Sovereign King of the universe, Jonah is shouting:
I want my MAYPO!
We’re the same, but Paul reminds us graciously in Philippians:
Philippians 2:3-4 NCV 3 When you do things, do not let ________________ or ________
be your guide. Instead, be _________ and give more honor to others than to yourselves. 4 Do
not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of _________.
Jonah still wants to run the show – to be in control, to be the Prince of the Precinct of
Nineveh, but the Potentate of the Planet doesn’t give Jonah what he wants. What God does
do to help Jonah see things differently is reply by asking Jonah a question:
Jonah 4:4 NIV
4
… “Is it ________ for you to be ________?”
The Lord asks Jonah a penetrating question. The Lord does not give Jonah a list of reasons
on why he should be thrilled with what just happened – hundreds of thousands of people
turning away from evil because they believed God. The Lord asks Jonah a question to make
Jonah think about what is really going on – not just outside in Nineveh, but inside Jonah’s
heart.
! The Lord is giving Jonah time to think about what He – the Lord – has said.
! The Lord is giving Jonah time to think about His word.
! The Lord is giving Jonah time to meditate on His word.
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Now, Christian meditation is not to be confused with meditation used in Yoga (Hey Boo
Boo) and Transcendental Meditation. In those, people do things to control breathing, to
maintain right bodily posture or to constantly repeat a word or phrase for several minutes to
still the mind and relax the body.
You know I had a relative in West Virginia that used a still in a mine to relax his body.
Hindus and Buddhists seek God within themselves, but their practices have little or nothing
to do with Christian meditation. Christian meditation begins with the proper understanding
of the nature of God. We begin by reflecting upon God’s word as found in God’s book. Here
is what a few well-known Christians have said about meditation:
Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and
applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and
purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in
the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion
with God. Its purpose is to clear one’s mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let his
truth make its full and proper impact on one’s mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to
oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself,
reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s
power and grace. Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God’s greatness and
glory and the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
J.I. Packer • Knowing God (p. 23)
You cannot find even one Christian on this earth who has developed into strength of
wisdom and witness in the Lord who has attained it by any other means than study and
meditation in the Word of God.
Donald Grey Barnhouse • Romans Vol. 1a, Man’s Ruin, pp. 136-138
King David wrote this:
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV 1 Blessed is the one who does not ______ in step with the _________ or
________ in the way that sinners take or ____ in the company of mockers, 2 but whose
___________ is in the ____ of the Lord, and who ______________ on his law day and
night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its ________ in
season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do ___________.
Meditation is something God instructed Joshua, who took over for Moses, to do, as well.
Joshua spent much time as a youth in the tabernacle of the Lord. In modern terms, you could
say that he was in the habit of hanging around with God’s people – the church. God, who
promised to never forsake Joshua, commanded him to be strong and courageous and to:
Joshua 1:8 NIV Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; ____________ on it day
and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be
prosperous and successful.
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As we meditate on God’s word, God changes us from within, and we begin to see things the
right way – God’s way – and we begin to act accordingly. Now that change in thinking
doesn’t always take place instantly. God is very patient and allows us to exhaust a lot of
alternatives before we see that His ways are the best ways. As I meditated on the phrase,
always on your lips from verse 8, I thought about the discipline of Scripture Memorization.
By memorizing and reviewing God’s word, Scripture can always be on our lips.
Meditation and memorization of God’s word go hand in hand.
And knowing God and His word builds us up in the faith. Paul wrote this for all believers:
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT 13 Be on guard. Stand ______ in the faith. Be courageous. Be
strong. 14 And do everything with ______.
The NLV says: Keep on acting like _____ and be strong. Everything you do should be done
in ______.
God was angry over Assyrian wickedness, but the God of love showed mercy. Maybe that’s why
God is asking Jonah if he has the right to be angry, for when we’re angry, it’s hard to love.
When we get angry, it might be a good idea to ask ourselves the same question God asked
Jonah. At least, we could ask, “Why am I angry?” or “What am I angry about?” When we
figure out what we’re really angry about, it usually boils down to one simple fact. Life is not
going the way we think it should. Life is not proceeding according to our divine plan. We
are not in control of the situation, and often that leads to fear and anger.
After we fret and stew with no results, we try to get God on board, over to our way of
thinking. We fool ourselves and think we can convince Him to help us get what we want in
our way. This battle continues until we finally turn to God and begin to think about things
from His perspective. God was very patient with Jonah, and He is very patient with us. He
gives us a lot of time to think. So it was with Jonah. After God questions his right to be angry,
Jonah says nothing. But God keeps working on Jonah’s heart, as He does on our hearts. That’s
a promise that Paul said this about:
Philippians 1:6 CEB I’m ______ about this: the one who ___________ a good work in you
will stay with you to ____________ the ____ by the day of Christ Jesus.
After all God has done to work on Jonah’s mind set, Jonah still harbors anger. Convincing
him that relenting on punishment for Nineveh is the right thing to do is a big job, and it
takes a lot of time. So, it’s a great thing we have a bigger God who transcends time and
never gives up on changing His people. As Jonah rants internally, he had gone:
Jonah 4:5 NIV 5 … out and ____ down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a
___________, sat in its shade and waited to ____ what would happen to the city.
There are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to
his love and tenderness.
Arthur W. Pink • The Wrath of God
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Upon questioning, Jonah doesn’t even answer the Lord. He just takes his beach chair, flips
and flops (in his mind), and heads east of the city to sit in the seat of the scornful. There he
builds a shelter hoping to have a good seat for the Grand Finale – fire and brimstone. He
didn’t believe the Ninevites could change for long, so he was still hoping for God’s wrath.
Sometimes, as Christians, we build ourselves a comfortable shelter in which we can sit back
and wait for the Lord to return and deliver judgment to the world, instead of doing all we can
to share the gospel with those in our own communities. We get comfortable in the shelters
we’ve built – both physical and spiritual – and we don’t want anyone, especially God, to
nudge us outside of our safety zone, our safe haven – our harbor. And though we say that
God is in control, we still like to take the reins and run things our way.
I still duke it out with God on some days, but God is patient and kind with me. He always
brings me back to His word and verses that I have memorized on the Sovereignty of God. If
you, perhaps, get angry with God and/or your lot in life, try meditating on and memorizing
verses that help solidify God’s sovereignty and His care for you as His child. There are
many such verses throughout the Bible. For example, Job said to God:
Job 42:1-2 NLT 2 “I know that you can do _____________, and no ____ can stop you.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that
_____________ my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I–and
I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too ______________ for me.
Psalm 115:3 ERV Our ____ is in heaven, and he does whatever he ________.
I’ve personalized the verse this way:
My God is in heaven, and he does whatever he wants. Psalm 115:3 LV
Isaiah 46:9-11 NIV 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is
no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the ____ from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My ___________ will stand, and I will ___
all that I _________.’ 11 From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to
fulfill my purpose. What I have ______, that will I bring about; what I have ___________,
that will I ___.
God does as He pleases, and His pleasure is to conform us to the image of His Son. And that
conformation is a confirmation of His Sovereign grace, mercy and love. We are His children,
and there is no problem that we have in this life that’s too hard for Him to help us through:
Jeremiah 32:27 NKJV/LV Behold, I am the LORD, the God of ____ flesh. Is there anything
too ______ (or wonderful) for Me?
! If you spend time in God’s word daily (Jonah 01), you can find other verses, as well.
! Talk to God in prayer about them (Jonah 02).
! As you do, you’ll grow and display obedience to the faith and become comfortable
sharing the Good News with others (Jonah 03).
! As you meditate on and memorize His word, His sovereignty will comfort you.
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Jonah 4:6 NIV 6 Then the Lord God ____________ a leafy plant and ______ it grow up over
Jonah to ______ shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very ________
about the plant.
The Lord God provided. He is always caring for us, for our needs. He has always provided
for His people. He does not change. When Abraham said to Isaac, “God Himself will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering,” the Hebrew is Jehovah-jireh, meaning the Lord
our Provider. King David said, as we can, “The Lord is my Shepherd (Jehovah-rohi). I shall
not want.” Paul said, “… my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory
by Christ Jesus
Isn’t it interesting that an entire city turned to God, yet Jonah is happy about a little vine?
Isn’t it funny what makes us happy? And isn’t it true that those things which make us most
happy are gifts from God? Sunsets on Siesta Key, fresh snow on the mountain, a loving
touch from your wife, a kind word from your husband, a grandchild from your children, a
soul that turns to Christ. His blessings are wonderful.
When you are reading or studying Scripture, it’s interesting to look at the noun/verb
combinations in a verse or passage. Then it’s good to ask yourself questions about the text.
For example, let’s examine Jonah 4:6 NIV:
Noun
God
God
Vine
Vine
Verb
Provided
Made (it grow)
To give (Jonah shade)
To ease (Jonah’s discomfort)
Jonah
Was (happy)
Questions to Ask/Thoughts to Ponder
Who provided the plant?
Who made the plant grow?
Why did God provide the plant?
God seeks while Jonah seethes
Who was Jonah thinking about?
Who was God thinking about?
There are many other things to meditate upon, but, as you’ve read, God did much for Jonah.
He comforted him and eased his discomfort in order for Jonah to be able to think about what
was going on – in order to change Jonah’s heart. But, it wasn’t all that easy for Jonah.
Jonah 4:7 NIV 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a ______, which chewed the plant
so that it ____________.
God provided a vine and some time for Jonah to think comfortably. Now God provides a
worm to chew the vine. He brings a little more adversity into Jonah’s life. What the Lord has
given, He now takes away. He does this, in part, to make Jonah think about all that is going
on here, to help him understand that God made the people of Nineveh as well as the vine.
And that He – God – is Sovereign over all. He can do with His creation as He pleases. His
decisions are final, and we must come to terms with that. Isaiah wrote this:
Isaiah 30:20-21 NIV 20 Although the Lord gives you the ________ of adversity and the
________ of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own ______ you
will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ______ will hear a voice
behind you, saying, "This is the way; ______ in it."
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Jonah had a ringside seat, and he would see a lesson in sovereign grace with his own eyes.
He might even hear the joy of the people of Nineveh on Day 41 ring in his ears. In all God
does for us, He always has something for us to learn. He is training us each step of the way –
nudging us out of our comfort zones. And it’s all to conform us to the image of Christ.
When the worm chewed the vine, it cut through tiny pipes, called xylem, which carry
nutrients dissolved in water from the soil up the stem and to the leaves. The sun powers that
process. Without nutrients, the plant can’t grow; without water, the plant withers. Without
the sun, it cannot produce food for life.
Jesus, the Son, said this:
John 15:5 NIV “I am the ______; you are the ____________. If you _________ in me and I
in you, you will ______ much fruit; apart from me you can do ___________.”
The Son powers us through this life. In Him, the Bread of Life, we grow and bear fruit.
Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We need the help of the Sovereign King! Stay in His
Word and meditate upon it daily. Then, as you go through life, with much adversity and
affliction, the Spirit will bring God’s truth to mind. From you will flow rivers of living water
for others to see that though life is hard, life is good in Christ!
Jonah 4:8 NIV 8 When the sun rose, God provided a ______________ east wind, and the
sun blazed on Jonah’s ______ so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be
_________ for me to die than to ______.”
Since we live in Florida, we can identify with the need for shade on a hot, humid summer
day. We can feel the scorching heat of the sun on our heads, and we feel great drops of sweat
running down our cheeks. So, we wear a hat, apply sunscreen, and still seek shade whenever
we’re uncomfortable. To avoid heat stroke, we keep hydrated.
Christians can feel scorched by life at times, for life can get tough. When nobody pays
attention to us, we have a pity party. And sometimes we think the world would be better off
without us. Jonah was thinking the world would be better off without the Ninevites. For sure,
the Israelites would be better off without them, but God had other plans.
God had been merciful to Jonah throughout his journey, and God was continuing to bring
things Jonah’s way so that Jonah could think about all God had done for him. If Jonah could
see the mercy of God in action and realize that God had chosen him to bring mercy to the
Gentiles in Nineveh, then maybe Jonah might get up from his chair and gratefully shout,
I love you Bedford Falls. Maybe God wanted to put enough thermal pressure (the blazing
sun) on Jonah to move him back to the city where he could rejoice with those who had turned to
God and teach them God’s ways. But Jonah remains angry, so God asks the same penetrating
question, but this one is more specific than the first, for He asks in regard to the plant:
Jonah 4:9 NIV 9 … “Is it right for you to be ________ about the ________?”
“___ ___,” he said. “And I’m ___ angry I wish I were ______.”
Jonah still doesn’t get it, and he acts as other saints of God have acted.
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It’s not abnormal for older people or saints of God to be angry or depressed and want to die.
! Moses asked God to kill him because the Israelites were such a burden to him as they
journeyed through the wilderness.
! Elijah prayed that he might die when Jezebel threatened to kill him.
! Job wondered and cried out, “Why did I not die at birth?”
Life is hard, and when it’s not going the way we think it should, we get angry and depressed.
When Jonah realized God was indeed going to show mercy to Nineveh, he prayed to die
rather than live and witness such a thing. Jonah accepted grace from God when he was in the
belly of the fish, but Jonah would not accept the grace of God being given to people he did
not like. Jonah was married to his anger and a root of bitterness was springing up. Jonah still
wanted his Maypo!
If you understand that discipline is corrective training over a period of time, then, in a way,
you can see that God is disciplining Jonah. Although Jonah has taken up a front row seat in
hopes of seeing the wrath of God fall on a people he did not like, God is having him watch
as His mercy is displayed.
God withholds punishment from the Ninevites, who deserve it. That’s mercy!
And we, too, should rejoice when we see God’s mercy and grace poured out on other people,
for we were once those “other people.” As Christians, there will be times when we don’t
like what God is doing because He is so patient with the world and the evil that abounds all
around. So we become angry and hope and pray for Christ’s return. We’re not wishing to
die. We’re just hoping the bad guys do. We only see what’s happening in the world from our
puny perspective. Jonah does not see what’s happening from God’s perspective, so God
continues to work on him:
Jonah 4:10 NIV 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this ________,
though you did not ______ it or make it ______. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
Jonah had no part in the vine’s birth, growth, or death. And God mentions that to help Jonah
remember that his God – our God – is the creator of all life. God made the sand, the vine, the
worm, and man. As the Creator, He has the right to do with His creation as He pleases.
! He has the right to do with nations, as He pleases. He brings down one and sets up
another.
! He has the right to do with individuals, as He pleases. From the same lump of clay, He
makes one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.
God – the Sovereign King – has power over life. God made the vine grow rapidly, to
comfort Jonah. Yet, just as rapidly, God cut it down and used a lowly worm to do the job. If
Jonah had to plant and care for the vine, he could have some credit, but God did it all,
showing Jonah that:
Jonah was in control of nothing but his own attitude!
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Jonah had been very happy about the vine, but now he cannot bear to see:
! the happiness of a people spared by God,
! nor the pleasure of God in sparing the Ninevites.
For God said:
Ezekiel 18:32 NIV … I take no ____________ in the ________ of anyone, declares the
Sovereign Lord. _________ and live!
As ISIS moves from Syria into Iraq, the Islamic terrorists of today seem just as wicked as the
Assyrians were in their day. They have taken Mosul, which is a large city in Iraq, and it
wasn’t peaceful. When the lost city of Nineveh was rediscovered, it was found buried
beneath a pair of mounds across the river from Mosul. These mounds are known by their
local names, Nabi Yunus and Kouyunjik. Nabi Yunus happens to be Arabic for “the
Prophet Jonah.”
As Jonah had no concern for the ancient Assyrians, most Americans have no concern for the
Islamic terrorists of today. After 9•11, I would have turned terrorist hotbeds in the Middle
East into glowing piles of fused glass and incinerated the sand people. I wasn’t concerned
for the eternal well being of any Muslim. Neither were most Americans. We wanted
vengeance in 2001. We were more interested in the destruction of any and all who were
responsible. Few had any thought for the innocent. That’s the same way Jonah thought, so
God continues the lesson in Jonah’s one room, little schoolhouse in the desert:
Jonah 4:11 NIV 11 And should __ not have ___________ for the great city of Nineveh, in
which there are ______ than a hundred and twenty thousand _________ who cannot tell
their right hand from their left—and also many ___________?”
God is teaching Jonah about His great love for all people and animals. A question God
doesn’t ask Jonah outright, but one I think God has set up Jonah to think about, is this:
Should I only be concerned about you, Jonah?
As Jonah was concerned about the vine, one he did not plant, water, or prune, God is
concerned about the people and animals of Nineveh. However, He created them. God
provided food and water for them, and He is concerned about their every need.
Some biblical scholars believe that those who cannot tell their right hand from their left
refers to children, making Nineveh a city of over 300 thousand people. Some believe there
were over 600,000 living in Nineveh. Either way, it was a big city, both geographically and
demographically. And God is concerned about all of them – young and old, rich and poor.
Sarasota County has around four hundred thousand people living within its borders. I don’t
know how many don’t know their right hand from their left. Neither do I know how many
cattle roam our pastures. But one thing I do know: God has put His love in our hearts to
touch those in our community – young and old, rich and poor; till death do us part.
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You may have shared the Gospel with your family or neighbors countless times. Their response
may have caused you to think it is hopeless. It is not! If we become disillusioned from all the
rejections, we can become care•less. However, God is care•full, and that’s not a typo. He cares
for those in Sarasota who don’t care for Him, as He did for the Ninevites, and He has
commanded us to take a message of hope to those who are doomed.
It is estimated that only 12% of the people in Sarasota County attend church. Although church
attendance does not make anyone a Christian, it shows how many people are not even interested
in worshiping God. What we can learn from this and from ancient Nineveh is that…
The most unpromising mission fields often become the most responsive.
The Ryrie Study Bible
So I pray for us at Grace what Paul wrote to Philemon:
Philemon 1:6 NIRV I pray that you will be _________ in sharing what you ___________.
Then you will completely understand every good thing we have ___ Christ.
When we understand all that God has done for us, we should desire that for others, as well.
God is probably not going to put you inside a big fish. But He did put His Spirit inside you.
Spend time with God in His word daily and become filled with His Spirit. Meditate on His
word and memorize it! Talk to Him in prayer daily. Align yourself with His will. Get to know
our Majestic, Matchless Monarch. Learn the Gospel and how to present it simply. Share your
faith with others. Recognize the Sovereign King of the universe and worship Him only.
May you recognize how merciful God has been to you, for you were freed from the penalty
of sin – death (impending doom)! You got off Scot Free, but only by the mercy of God who
sent His Son to pour out His life’s blood for you. As brothers and sisters in Christ:
We escaped the justice of God because of the mercy of God!
We received the blessings of God because of the grace of God!
And because of grace, we were made plumb – righteous (right) with God in Christ. May we
have a true concern for those God has placed in our path. May we travel the roads of
Sarasota with the grace of God in our hearts, sharing His message of love in Christ, and
exhibiting obedience that comes from faith. It may seem like Mission Impossible, for there
is much to be done, but remember the words of Jesus, our Sovereign Messiah. When asked,
“Who then can be saved?” He replied with these words:
Memory Verse
The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Luke 18:27 NKJV
The lesson – the film – is not over. There is much to learn, and God is still concerned about
many people. Share His concern! When it’s over, I’ll see you in the courts of heaven with
arms raised high in victory — a victory won by Jesus for you and me and all the elect.
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