JONAH’S NIGHT OF SELF-IMPOSED MISERY
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. 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 4:10-11
Introduction
One of the first stories we learn as children is the story of Jonah and the Big Fish. But the story about Jonah that we remember is seldom the whole story.
Jonah is one of the minor prophets, only 48 verses long.
-It is not a book about a fish (only mentioned 4 times).
-It is not a book about a city (mentioned 9 times).
-It is not a book about a prophet.
-It is a book about God (mentioned 23 times).
1. Jonah Can Be Summarized in Good and Bad Ideas!
Good Idea: Be A Person God Can Call Upon (1:1-2) Most of what we know about Jonah is not good. God saw something in him that caused him to ask Jonah to take on this missionary task.
Bad Idea: Try running away from God (1:3). We are three verses into this story and we already see the character of Jonah.
Good Idea: Take a Nap When you’re Tired (1:4). Jonah was exhausted from running away from God. He must have been tired because he slept through a violent storm.
Bad Idea: Volunteer to be thrown overboard (1:7-17). Some suggest he understood this to be a suicidal request. Instead of death, he was swallowed by a giant fish.
Good Idea: When in Belly of Fish, Repent! (2:1-9) People often make decisions to follow God in tough times.
Bad Idea: Get Vomited up on a beach (2:10) No need to explain. Everything came out ok.
Good Idea: Preach Condemnation like you believe it (3:1-4). Jonah preached condemnation and wrath of God with enough energy that they heard and repented. Even their cows were in sack cloth!
Bad Idea: Complain when people repent (3:5-4:3) - Jonah was unhappy that they escaped God’s wrath. God sent a vine to give him shade (4:4-8). This is the only moment in the book when Jonah seems happy. God sent a worm to eat up the vine. Jonah doubled down on his right to complain (4:9-11).
God rebuked Jonah and the story ends without resolution. There are many sad things about this unhappy story. Jonah missed out on several excellent opportunities because of his attitude.
- A NIGHT OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES -
1. The opportunity to take joy in God’s Love for All (1-5)
Verse 2 - Steadfast love, when extended to Jonah, filled him with thanksgiving. Within the Fish he prayed. Jonah 2:8-9 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
But when God’s love is extended to the Ninevites, it filled him with anger. This was more than just an unhappiness to Jonah. The ESV footnote says, "it was exceedingly evil to Jonah". Strange, the pagans are in harmony with God but Jonah is not.
Does Jonah’s response in these verses change the way you have understood his actions in the first three chapters of the book? If so, how?
Jonah was bitter and angry because he knew the nature of God, but still wanted Him to be
different. What kind of God do you suppose Jonah wanted? Jonah hates how God has been
true to his own word. He sits in judgment of God himself. Do you think people today are ever disappointed by God’s grace? Can you think of a situation in which they might want the same God Jonah desired?
God refers to Ninevah as a ‘great city’ - a place where there were thousands of people he cared about. How we depend on the compassionate heart of God! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
2. The opportunity to Appreciate turning an Entire City to God (3:6-10)
This is the third time Jonah has said he wanted to die! Do you think he is truly suicidal, or would
you use another word to describe Jonah? What word did God use? ??In the Dead Sea Scrolls "edition" of Jonah there is a pause here for the reader. We are meant to gasp and linger in silence over the implications of Jonah’s actions!
The wickedness of this city cannot be overstated! Ninevah was the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were infamous for their cruelty in war. The only sin mentioned about them was violence (3:8). Inscriptions have been found in which Assyrian kings boast of their cruelty. Jonah hated them.
What do you think is the point of this curious little episode with the vine? Why would God first
provide for Jonah’s needs, and then take his treasured vine away? What do you think the Lord is trying to teach Jonah?
We can make a difference when we share the compassion of God with a broken and hurting
world! We have to guard against hating people we dislike or who are not like us - Jonah had no care for them … but God wanted to turn them around. The Gospel is Good News that God will turn aside his wrath, forgive us, and save us if we believe Him!
3. The opportunity to Prove What God Could Do With One Unworthy Person
If God could turn Ninevah around with a prejudiced, self-centered, reluctant prophet like Jonah,
then what can he do through us? Jonah still does not grasp the depth of his own rebellion against the Lord nor his need for grace because of it. While Jonah was in the fish there was not a word of repentance, and now Jonah still has no words of repentance. It is hard to repent when we are convinced of our own rightness.
Apostle Paul called himself the “chief of sinners” and then said that this was to demonstrate that God could use us even when we are unworthy.
We have opportunity not because we are worthy but because God is at work. We might think God couldn’t use us because of our past or our bad ideas … But He Can!
Every great thing that has ever been accomplished through the efforts of humans in the
Kingdom have been accomplished through imperfect people who had lots of bad ideas in their lives. The only exception was Jesus!
Had Jonah embraced this relationship we would be reading a different story today.
4. The Opportunity To Understand His Own Heart and Life (4:10-11)
What did Jonah learn about himself from this episode? His desperate opposition to God’s will?
His utter lack of dependability. His supreme lack of sympathy toward other human souls. His hot temper and violent words? Jonah is concerned about the plant perishing, but not the 120,000 people. When God looked at Ninevah, what do you think He saw that Jonah didn’t?
The verb rendered "pity" or "feel sorry for" quite literally means "to have tears in the eyes" or "the eye flows on account of." It is a graphic picture of Israel's God weeping over his creation while the heart of his Own are far ... very far ... from him.
Such imagery reminds us of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Lk 19.41-44; Mt 23.37; etc).
But this is no revelation to Jonah, he knows that God is too loving, too forgiving, too ready to forgive even the likes of Nineveh.
Why do you suppose Jonah ends without answering God’s questions? The question is left unanswered so that the readers of the book may answer it for themselves.
Background Note: Israel was defeated by Assyria and carried off into captivity about 50 years after the brief ministry of Jonah. If the petulant prophet had cared enough about these Ninevites to more completely instruct them in God’s will, would history have been different?
We always need to examine ourselves and be aware of areas where we need to grow.
Conclusion
Jonah made a lot of bad decisions and experienced the tragedy of missed opportunities. There really isn’t anything to admire about him - the lessons of his life spring from the negative aspects. We can fall into those same mistakes as well.
One of Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel in Rome is called: ‘The Prophets and Apostles’. He sought to capture all the faces of the OT prophets and the NT apostles. Art critics
suggest that out of all the faces the artist painted none had a more radiant face than Jonah.
Michelangelo was convinced that Jonah did ultimately repent and become a communicator of
grace to his own nation through his book and through his preaching as a prophet of God.
After Jonah comes Micah; then Nahum is the next book after that. The entire book of Nahum is a prophecy against the cruelty and wickedness of the people of Ninevah.
Two Times in the New Testament Jesus Talks about Jonah: Matthew 12:38-41 & Matthew 16:1-4.
The questions that remain for us are:
-Are we running away from God's will for our lives?
-Have we adopted a view of the world that matches God's?
-Have we demonstrated a penitent spirit before the Lord?
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