INTRODUCTION I like Charles Swindoll’s outline of the Book of Jonah. He says in chapter 1 Jonah is running away from God; in chapter 2 Jonah is running to God; in chapter 3 Jonah is running with God; and, in chapter 4 Jonah is running against God. I have preached a message on each of the first three chapters and today we come to chapter 4. Here Jonah is running against God. This chapter has to do with bad attitudes. Jonah has copped a bad attitude against God. When there is a bad attitude, bad actions are not far behind. Jonah began with a bad attitude. He ran from God’s call to preach to the Ninevites. God chased him down and brought him to his senses with the whale incident. Jonah repented but as we will see his repentant heart didn’t last long.
That’s what I want to preach about today: “When your attitude goes against God.”
There was once a daughter who complained to her father that her life was miserable and she didn’t know if she would make it. She was tired of the struggle of life. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots and placed them each on high fire. When the pots began to boil, he placed in one potatoes, in another eggs and in the third coffee beans. He let them boil without saying a word to his daughter. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and put them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out of the pot and put them in a bowl. He ladled the coffee out and poured it into a cup.
The father turned to his daughter and asked her what she saw. “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer, he said, and touch the potatoes.” She did and noticed they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After peeling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs, and the coffee beans had each faced the same adversity – boiling water. However, each reacted differently.
The potato went in strong and hard, but in boiling water it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside became hard.
However, the coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity comes knocking on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?” What happens around us is not nearly as important as what happens inside of us. For Jonah the battle was raging inside of him. We will look at (1) The cause of Jonah’s bad attitude, and, (2) The course of his bad attitude. We will see his displeasure and then his decline.
I. JONAH’S DISPLEASURE
Jonah began with a bad attitude in chapter one and we will see that he finishes with a bad attitude here in chapter 4. I want us to see what caused his bad attitude. It wasn’t just that he hated the people of Ninevah and wanted God to destroy them. He had deeper problems.
A. Jonah did Not Know the Mind of God
Jonah was a prophet and should have known the mind if God if anybody did. Prophets were considered by the people as God’s spokesmen to the people. They were supposed to have special insight to the mind of God.
Jonah should have known great texts of the Old Testament such as:
Exodus 34:6-7a
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, …”
This is the great mind of God, TO REDEEM, TO SAVE, TO RESTORE. Jonah surely knew such passages as this but he didn’t know the soul of the scriptures, the mind behind it.
Turn to Philippians 2:5-11,14-16. The Mind of God is the Mind of Christ.
B. Jonah Did Not Feel the Heart of God
“Pity” in verses 10,11.
Jonah said he knew God’s mercy and grace in verse 2.
Jonah had experienced God’s mercy and grace in chapter 2. He stated, “You have brought my life up from the pit, O Lord, my God.” (2:6)
But, Jonah was full of anger (4:1). He was full of criticism, complaints, conceit, callousness and wanted his own convenience and comfort (5).
C. Jonah Did Not Accept the Will of God
Jonah would rather die than accept God’s will (3,9).
Jonah could have been a great hero for God. What Paul was in the New Testament, Jonah could have been in the Old Testament. But, since God’s will did not match Jonah’s wants, Jonah was angry.
First, we see Jonah’s displeasure. Now we look at his decline.
II. JONAH’S DECLINE
Here we see the course of a bad attitude against God.
A. Jonah Quarrels with God (1-4)
B. Jonah Quits on God (5)
C. Jonah is Quietened by God (6-11)
God always has the last word. This is the end of Jonah. He is finished. It didn’t have to be this way. Others had quarreled with God (Moses, Job). Job is a good contrast. His wife told him curse God and die. But Listen to what Job said in the midst of his adversity:
Job 1:21
21 And he said:
"Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD."
Listen to what God does for Job in the last chapter;
Job 42:10
10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. NKJV
And the very last verse in the book of Job reads, “So Job died, old and full of days.” (Job 42:17)
CLOSING
Why is Scripture recorded for us to read? For us to learn from it.
1. God Gives us Challenging Experiences
2. God Asks us Challenging Questions (4)
Illus.- Mike Mashburn was dying with A.L.S. (Lou Gerig’s disease) when he asked if he could enroll in our witness training program. He died before the 13 week course was over but what a joy it was to see him witness for Jesus and to see some people come to Christ because of his willingness to share Christ! He was motivated by the thought of not wanting to go home to heaven empty-handed.
3. God Teaches us Challenging Lessons
Life Action Crusade is set to begin in 3 Sundays. In my article in today’s bulletin, I have asked two questions: Will we rise to the occasion? Do we really want revival? There are plenty of ways to get involved (see article).
Do we know the Mind of God? Do we feel the Heart of God? Will we accept the Will of God?
Everything has to do with attitude. Illus.- There were two shoe salesmen who went to India many years ago to see if there might be a market for shoes. One wrote back, “It’s no use, no one wears shoes here.” The other wired back, “Send as many shoes as possible; everybody here needs a pair!”
