Today we conclude a four part series entitled Jonah: The Stubborn Evangelist. Jonah is also a man on the run from his responsibility – to share the message of God’s mercy to others. And this is what Jonah is really about – first experiencing God’s mercy and then extending God’s mercy. And it’s just this reason why Jonah shows his stubbornness. For he hates his enemies and does not want to show God’s mercy to them.
Nowhere does Jonah’s hatred for his enemies become clearer than in today’s passage. For at the very mention of the city of Nineveh, Jonah revolts from God and runs from God. And all throughout this short story is one where Jonah is in flight; it’s also one where God is in pursuit. And in the end, it’s God’s pursuit that eventually extinguishes Jonah’s rebellion. For four chapters we witness Jonah’s futile flight as well as God’s persistent pursuit.
The Story of Jonah: Catching Up from the Last Three Weeks
When we last saw Jonah, he had walked off the beach and into the great city of Nineveh. His story began by the word of the Lord coming to Jonah where God says, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:2) Many of you remember the general outline of what happened. Jonah did not go east to Nineveh on the Tigris River. He got on a boat in Joppa bound for Tarshish (probably in Spain) – the opposite direction. God hurls a storm against the ship. When the prayers of the crew prove useless, they awaken Jonah and tell him to pray. Then they cast lots to see whose guilt brought the storm, and the lot fell to Jonah. When they asked who he was, he said, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9). When the crew asked what might still the storm, Jonah said, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you…” (Jonah 1:12). The crew threw him overboard, and the storm ceased. And Jonah sinks in the water to be swallowed by a big fish. Jonah sends a big fish not to punish Jonah to turn him around. After he is turned around, he walks into the city of Nineveh was a short and terse message: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4b)!
Today’s Scripture
Today, after seeing a stunning response we watch a prophet pout.
“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
5 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. 6 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. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 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.” 9 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.” 10 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. 11 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” (Jonah 4:1-11)?
The book comes full circle. In the beginning it was simply a story of two personalities: God and Jonah. Now, at the end, we focus again on God and Jonah. Of all people, how could Jonah forget God’s mercy so quickly? The book of Jonah 's message is first experiencing God’s mercy and then extending God’s mercy. My desire is to stir inside you a strong motivation to extend God’s mercy and kindness to others. Unlike God, Jonah mercy was limited to a few people.
1. A Furious Follower
“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry” (Jonah 4:1). Jonah is burning with rage. Where you should read a song of praise to God from His prophet you instead hear Jonah’s fury. Where missionaries and pastors would be elated, Jonah was furious. According to verse one, Jonah isn’t just mad, he is violently angry. Leaving the city of Nineveh, he wanted to see fire and brimstone coming from sky in his rearview mirror. Instead, he finds that God has delayed His judgment on the city. Because God failed to judge Nineveh, Jonah now stands in judgment of God.
In Jonah’s anger, he does three things: 1) Jonah Quits Notice that Jonah does not stay in the city to help those who have turned from their sin. Instead of staying around and teaching, Jonah finds a secluded spot outside of town.
2) Jonah Watches “He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city” (Jonah 4:5b). He should be in Nineveh not under a shade tree. Jonah was not called to be a spectator.
3) Jonah Turns Against 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. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:2-4). Note carefully the selfishness of Jonah’s prayer and the words “I” or “mine” appear nine times in the original language. Jonah tells God what he dreaded before he headed to the port of Joppa and now it came to pass. Watch carefully as Jonah turned God’s words against God.
Jonah is quoting Exodus 34:6-7 in Jonah 4:2. The Bible’s words there are: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Exodus 34:6-7a).
Jonah wished for Nineveh to be destroyed. Instead, Jonah watches as his enemies experience God’s mercy and “steadfast love and faithfulness.” He presents this as a matter of “my word” against God’s words and he thinks his own word is better. Jonah tells God, “I told you so.” Why was Jonah so angry?
Three Reasons Why Jonah Was Angry
1.1 Jonah was a Flag-waving Patriot.
Do you remember back in chapter one when the men of the ship questioned Jonah? It was right after they had cast lots to identify whose “god” was responsible for the great storm? When they questioned Jonah, the very first thing out of his mouth was “I am a Hebrew…” (Jonah 1:9a). The very first thing Jonah says about himself is his nationality. Jonah’s overzealous patriotism had partly caused his anger.
1.2 Jonah’s Anger was with Nineveh itself
Nineveh was the future destroyer of Israel and Jonah was motivated to stop them. Only one generation after this story, the Assyrians, of which Nineveh was a major city, conquered Jonah’s homeland of Northern Israel. Yet, even in Jonah’s day, he could foresee Assyria’s imperialism and predict the future demise of his own nation. Perhaps the stigma of being a part of the resurgence of Nineveh where God spared one of Israel’s enemies was too much for Jonah. Jonah didn’t think it was right for God to extend His mercy to Israel’s enemies. In short, he didn’t think they deserved God’s mercy. Yet, Jonah had forgotten that just how undeserving Israel was.
1.3 Nineveh Repented and Israel Had Not.
His people had not repented in 150 years but Nineveh repented overnight.
Today, the center of God’s working in the world is shifting. We need to always rejoice when we see people turn to God. Whatever the reason for Jonah’s anger, his anger over the plant highlights an unspoken truth about all of us: God is not obligated to provide for my comfort. Jonah’s fury reveals Jonah’s assumption: Running from God leads to depression. And God knows how to make us miserable.
2. Three Questions
God loves to ask questions. But He doesn’t ask to gain knowledge. God asks questions in order that we can better see how he fails to extend God’s mercy to others. God is fond of questions through the pages of the Bible. God asked Adam, “Where are you?” God asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” God asked Isaiah, “Who shall I send?” Jesus asked Judas, “Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” You’ll find God ask three questions to Jonah and us. These three questions are designed for Jonah to see how he places his own comfort over the needs of others.
Question #1: “And the Lord said, ‘Do you do well to be angry’” (Jonah 4:4)?
It was as if God were saying, “We are looking at the identical situation. Yet, we see it differently. I am pleased with it. And you are angry. Which of us has the proper perspective?” What pleased God displeased Jonah. Jonah literally hated what God had done. God asks Jonah in effect, “Are you sure you are right about this?”
Question #2: But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant” (Jonah 4:9a)?
God’s second question is predicated upon an object lesson that He had prepared for Jonah. As Jonah goes off to sulk, God causes a fast-growing vine to appear. This provides Jonah a rough shelter from the sun to harbor his anger. The book of Jonah says that God prepared four items for Jonah: God prepare a fish, a vine, a worm, and a hot east wind. Yet, no sooner than the shade appeared than God destroyed it. Now, Jonah sits, sulks, and stews in the sun. “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” (Jonah 4:6).
For the first time in the story Jonah is happy. He wasn’t happy about preaching to Nineveh. He wasn’t happy about being woken from his sleep by the ship’s captain in the depths of the ship. He wasn’t happy about the storm. He wasn’t happy about the great fish. Jonah is Mr. Grumpy Pants. In fact, this is the only time Jonah is over-the-top delighted with anything in the story. God was finally doing something for Jonah. But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant” (Jonah 4:9a)? After Jonah finally obeyed God, Jonah thinks, “God owes me.” Jonah had done what God wanted but God had not done what Jonah wanted.
Question #3
It’s on the heels of this second question that we discover God’s third question and the book’s conclusion:
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. 11 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” (Jonah 4:10-11)?
God says, “You’re mad about a vine but you’re angry about 120,000 people?” Maybe you would see the irony of Jonah’s anger better if you saw it in contrast to another prophet’s: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Luke 13:34)! Jonah grieves when a city is spared; Jesus grieves when a city is judged. Are you more like Jonah or Jesus? Of all people, how could Jonah so quickly forget about God’s mercy?
The book comes full circle. In the beginning it was simply a story of two personalities: God and Jonah. Now, at the end, we focus again on God and Jonah. And you know the difference between Jonah and God? Or for that matter, God and me? While Jonah runs from his enemies, God runs to His enemies.
The book leaves us with a cliffhanger. But this unusual ending leaves a marked impression on us. We are not told how Jonah responded. By omitting this, it highlights the importance of how we respond. How Jonah responds doesn’t matter; how you respond does matter.
Are you eager that others enjoy God’s mercy? My desire is to stir inside you a strong motivation to extend God’s mercy and kindness to others.
In essence, don’t be like Jonah. Remember what Jonah is really about – first experiencing God’s mercy and then extending God’s mercy.
