ANGRY AT GOD
Jonah 4:1-11
INTRODUCTION
I would direct your attention this morning to the OT Book of Jonah as we consider the life of a man who was ANGRY AT GOD.
It may seem odd to you for us to be dealing with the topic of being angry with God on the Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend—after all, we just celebrated a Holiday specifically devoted to expressing our gratitude towards God…But the truth of the matter is that throughout our nation, and even, I suspect within our own congregation, the ability of some to give Thanks this week was hindered because they were ANGRY AT GOD.
That may be difficult to admit, but if we’re honest about it, we would all have to admit that at one time or another we were angry with God.
• Upset with…Displeased with…Disappointed in.
• A time in our life when we felt that God had let us down.
The story of Jonah is one of the most familiar of the Bible.
Jonah is called by God to preach to the people of Ninevah, the capital city of Assyria...Ninevites are wicked, immoral, evil people...Within the next 50-70 years, the Assyrians will attack and conquer Jonah's people in Israel...Jonah has no desire to preach to Ninevah—He’s afraid of them; He hates them...So Jonah, in rebellion, gets on a ship heading as far away from Ninevah as he can get.
While on the ship, a storm comes up...the sailors learn that the storm is a result of Jonah's fleeing of the Lord...Jonah is cast overboard, and is swallowed by a "great fish"...Jonah prays to God, and after 3 days, he is spit up on the shore...Jonah goes to Ninevah...Preaches (40 days and Ninevah will be overthrown)...The people immediately repent...This is one of the most dramatic stories of conversion in the Bible…And God relents of his plans to destroy Ninevah.
And that is where we pick Jonah up in JONAH 4:1-11
As we study the story of Jonah, a man who was angry at God, I want us to notice 5 attributes that contribute to the anger that Jonah was feeling towards God.
I. IRRITATION
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee 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. (Jonah 4:1-2)
Notice—before he became angry he was greatly displeased…This was an anger that built over time…It started with the intense irritation that Jonah had towards God…The more he thought about it, the more displeased he got until he was extremely angry with God…In fact, the word anger in the Hebrew language means “to become hot”…Kind of like the English idiom “hot headed” to describe someone who is very angry…But it’s an anger that builds up over time.
So, Jonah's anger arises from his irritation with God...And he is irritated with God because God does not destroy the people of Ninevah.
Jonah: "I knew it, I just knew it. I knew if they heard the Word of God and repented that you wouldn't destroy them."
THE MESSAGE: 2He yelled at GOD, "GOD! I knew it--when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!
JONAH UNDERSTOOD THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF GOD:
1. God is Gracious--he gives us what we do not deserve.
2. God is Merciful--He doesn't give us what we do deserve.
3. God is Slow to Anger--longsuffering...patient.
4. God is Kind--NIV: Abounding in love...loyal to keep His commitments.
5. God does not delight in harming others—relents from sending calamity
Keep in mind, Jonah knows these things about God not just because he learned in Prophets’ School that God has these qualities, but he knows them first-hand…These are the exact characteristics God manifested towards him when he was rebellious and disobedient in running from God.
Here is a God-called prophet of Israel, who has gone through Ninevah preaching about Jehovah--he has not been harmed, the people have responded and repented in a magnificent manner--and he is irritated that God is acting like God.
• God is faithful to His character.
Jonah is like the workers in the Parable of the Laborers, Matthew 20.
Early in the morning, boss hires workers for 1 penny for day's labor...Again at 9, 12, 3, boss hires more workers for a penny...an hour before the end of the work day, he hires additional laborers for a penny. At day's end, he pays the workers:
MATT. 20:8-15
Why were workers angry?...Boss did just what he said he would do…They were angry because he did not do what they expected him to do: v. 10 ...they expected to receive more.
We often grow irritated with God when He doesn’t respond the way we think He should to our situation…I thought He’d heal me…I thought He’d provide me a job by now…I thought the relationship with our child would be restored.
And the more we think about the disappointment, the more irritated with God we become until we are fully anger—like stoking the embers of a fire.
God may not respond as we think He should, but mark my words folks—He will always be faithful to respond as He said He would.
II. INTROSPECTIVE
By introspective, I mean he becomes totally focused upon himself and his situation:
2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee 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, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:2-3)
He can't think of anything or anyone other than himself and his circumstances.
Here is an entire city that is in the midst of revival—Jonah 3:6-9
• The most wicked, vile, despicable people on earth repenting of their sins and seeking to get right with God…But as Jonah watches all of this, all he can think of is that he didn't get his way. And he wants to die…He never wanted them to repent…He would have gained greater joy from seeing them burn than seeing them repent.
It's very easy to become so introspective that we can only think of how events and circumstances affect us… Our inability to see the big picture causes us to become angry at God.
This leads to Jonah’s isolation.
III. ISOLATION
4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" 5 Jonah went 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. (Jonah 4:4-5)
A. Isolation From God
God: Is it right for you to be angry?...Do you have any reason to be angry?...Is your anger justified?
Jonah doesn't even respond...He retreats into isolation.
• Gives God the cold shoulder.
• That’s how I know when Kim is really upset with me.
Jonah ceases preaching...He becomes a spectator... He loses touch with God.
How often this is our response when we are angry with God: We stop reading our Bible, stop praying, stop attending church.
B. Isolation From God's People
In the city of Ninevah, people are getting right with God: repentance... prayer... worship... abandoning evil practices and habits.
Jonah now has something in common with this people: a relationship with God…But at the very time the Ninevites are getting closer to God, Jonah is falling away from God.
Think of how Jonah could have been an encouragement to them:
• He could assure them of God's forgiveness.
• He could have shared his experience of rebellion and forgiveness--
confirming that Jehovah is a God of Second Chances.
But he doesn't...instead he isolates himself from them.
Isn't it ironic--like Jonah, we separate ourselves from God and His people at the very time that we need them the most. We get angry with God when the events of life go against us…And just when we need God and the strength, support and encouragement of His people the most, We withdraw and isolate ourselves.
And that leads to a deeper sense of resentment and rage.
IV. INSENSITIVITY (6, 9-11)
6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. (v. 6)
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (vv. 9-11)
Only once in these 4 chapters is there any reference to Jonah being "happy"…Not when God called Him to preach to Ninevah...Not when he was saved from a stormy sea and preserved in a fish's belly...Not when he was spit up on dry land...Not when the people of Ninevah repented.
But when God caused a vine to grow and provide shade and relief from the scorching sun, Jonah becomes glad, literally: "Rejoiced with great joy".
Sad picture: A God-called prophet who complains and gripes because wicked people turn to the true and living God, but he rejoices over a vine that provides shade for his head.
Before we judge Jonah too harshly, perhaps we should look into a mirror:
• Are we more concerned with our homes, jobs, finances, etc., than we are with God's work?
• What would cause you greater joy: knowing that someone came to know Christ as their Savior today OR finding out that you made a hundred dollar bill in the parking lot?
V. INGRATITUDE
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine 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." (Jonah 4:7-8)
Jonah, still isolated from God, offers no thanks or even acknowledges that God provided the gourd…But, when the plant withers and the winds begin to blow, and the sun beats down upon Jonah's head, he wanted to die.
• wanted = Hebrew word means "To request".
He wouldn't acknowledge God as the giver of the vine...But he complains to God when it is taken away.
Ever done that? Failed to give God thanks for people/things in your life? But if they are taken away, you blame God and get angry with him?
CONCLUSION
As the Book of Jonah closes, we find the prophet depressed, despondent and yes, still angry.
Whoa!...That's not suppose to happen….Aren't these stories suppose to conclude with a "And they lived happily ever after"?
Well, if that was how God wanted to end the story of Jonah, He would have stopped in the 3rd chapter: Jonah 3:10
But God includes chapter 4, and it doesn't end as we might expect.
In fact, did you notice that the Book of Jonah concludes with a question mark?
• Only two books in entire Bible end with question mark. (Nahum)
That's not a very comforting thought is it?...We serve the God of periods and exclamation marks--not question marks.
I can't tell you why God chose to end the book as he does…I can't tell you that Jonah repents and makes everything right with God, because we just don't know that.
But I know this...When you are angry with God, He stands just as willing and ready to forgive you and receive you as He did Jonah.
But in your life, too, there is a question mark.
• Will you repent...Will you find fellowship with God again?
• Or will your anger, and bitterness and resentment deepen?
It's up to you.
