Jonah 4:1-4 Series

So last week we saw that the people and king of Nineveh had repented from their rebellion against God. God had given them an option to either repent and not be destroyed or continue in their rebellion against Him and perish.

Malachi 3:6 ~ “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

We see the same thing in Malachi as in Jonah. God had given the people an option thus He relented from destroying them and instead gave them grace. It is an option that has been around since the beginning of creation and will be around as we had seen when we read through Revelation.

God doesn't work any differently today, He is still unchanging in how He deals with nations and individuals alike.

Are we as an individuals living in a state of repentance or are we still living in a state of rebellion? Rebellion or sin is anything that goes against what scripture says or in some way does not fulfill something we are called to do.

How about as a nation? Are we as a nation growing in Christianity and repenting and fulfilling our calling?

If the answer to either of these or both of these is no why not? We are in many ways responsible for both.

So Jonah was forced to go to Nineveh by God and reluctantly did what God had commanded of him, and Nineveh repented.

Jonah 4:1 ~ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

Jonah was mad, he was mad that those he had hated repented and were given mercy and grace by God. This story could fit as easily today as it did then. Not much has changed it seems.

I can't count the times people were angry because I had repented and was saved. They wanted nothing less than for me than to fail. They hated that God had given me grace and purpose and called me to the work of the ministry.

Understand I am talking about Christians and I'm not talking about just when I was saved, it still happens fairly often to this day.

We should be rejoicing at God's work in the life of those He has saved no matter who they are. If they were in some way an enemy, once God saved them they then became our brother or sister in Christ. We then love them and nurture them in their journey as a new believer as best as possible.

So why was Jonah so angry? We know Nineveh was a wicked country but did Jonah have a bitter heart? Was it jealousy? I'm sure it was some of both.

2 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.

Jonah is not only angry about the people of Nineveh but in some ways he is angry at God. This again is what Jonah is angry at God for “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”, isn't that the most sad and ridiculous thing for a professing believer to be angry about?

The very things that saved Jonah made him angry when God saved others. What this shows is Jonah's misunderstanding of who he is as a sinner in need of being saved.

Jonah thinks that in some way he was deserving of his salvation and others are not. Jonah is as undeserving as any there ever was or would ever be, and it is no different for us.

Once we think that we are deserving or more righteous than someone else we have then diminished grace, and we have mad it like trash.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Anger, jealousy, a misunderstanding of God and a misunderstanding of God's ways.

In some ways Jonah may be right though, that it would be better for him to just die. But it isn't because of God or Nineveh, it is because of himself. There is a complete disconnect in biblical reality in Jonah at this point.

If you want to know why it is so important to me how I teach and my trying to be as thorough as possible it is just this reason. Christians are stuck in their first grade understanding of God and scripture when most should have a masters degree.

If you can make it through elementary school, high school and for many even college but you don't see the value of the same effort in understanding scripture there is something wrong with your priorities.