Jonah 4:1-11 A Prophet's Anger: Anger at the Word

Introduction: Jonah 4….Jonah 3 Ninevah repents, “who knows” (behind the curtain: God relents). Jonah 1-3 could be a wrap. But the lesson the invitation for reflection is in chapter 4 as Jonah reveals his heart and God’s sovereign mercy.Remember tis about God: God shows mercy to sin. In his grace he offers a substitute. The wages of sin is death, but Christ Jesus bore that penalty on himself, purchasing patience, forbearance, and forgiveness for all who trust in God’s forgiveness.What Jonah shows is that for many of us we like the mercy and pity of God for ourselves but not for others. We approve of God’s smiling providences, but we are angered by his frowning providence.READ: Jonah 3:9-4:11Prayer of IlluminationOutline#1 What Didn’t Happen…#2 Praying while Angry – vv. 1-3 The Mercy of God ought to produce forgiveness#3 Hoping for Judgment vv.4-11God’s Sovereign AppointmentJonah’s Fragile HeartOur Hearts: The call for self-reflectionJonah’s message is not wishy washy, each time the Lord calls him to preach AGAINST Ninevah, it is because they are truly a wicked people. I said last week, Jonah KNEW God was merciful, but the message was one that said “This is what justice deserves,” overturning the word is to “flip-over your city” which 99% of the time means destroy….” But It can mean….to cause to repent. Philip Cary makes this point of Chapter 3By leading us to anticipate the terror of what the LORD might do, the narrative shows us the glory of what he does do. Were it not for this sequence we might think that the reason the LORD has mercy is because he is not the kind of God who would ever take vengeance on the wicked. Such a god would be an indulgent fantasy, giving us a picture of mercy without justice—which is to say, a concept of mercy that is not really mercy at all but only a failure to uphold what is right and to vindicate the oppressed. To undermine that fantasy, the word of God undertakes the strange project of telling a story about unchanging divine mercy. – Phillip CaryA story of what God decided NOT to do? That is, NOT Give Ninevah what it deserved for its sins. Just as wicked in many ways as Canaan, which was judged, as the nations at the end of the age are judged when Christ returns are…But in Jonah chapter 3, God accepts repentance. He relents.And Jonah is Angry.What the lord has NOT done in our life is perhaps the trickiest to tell our children. The mercies of God, telling of the kinds of judgments NOT or only partially experienced. The evils we did NOT reap because we are under mercy and not judgment.I would encourage you to reflect deeply on this.Like Ninevah What didn’t happen because God showed mercy on you, calling you to himself, forgiving your sins, giving you a new heart, and placing you in a community.Note I didn’t say “what didn’t happen because “you were the perfect Christian with no sin…”But what didn’t happen because there is great forgiveness and great love in Christ to pursue us when we are wayward sheep.Think of While Ninevah is NOT destroyed: how many people turned from their evil ways? How many slave master blows didn’t land on backs? How many were not murdered, stolen from, or abused because of this revival?The same is true for us. In your heart bless the Lord for the dozens of times the Lord either kept you back from a path with sorrow in it OR in his mercy chased you down that path, brought you back, and restored you. Tell of the mercies of God. God’s justice NOT falling on you.Transition: And if that is true of you, what of Jonah?#2 Praying while Angry – vv. 1-3 The Mercy of God ought to produce forgiveness[1] 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.”First, this IS A Prayer: I was in my country, and said how I felt, I fled to tarshish, I did go to Ninevah, but in my heart I don’t want a people such as this to listen to the word of God.Jonah is STILL PRAYING, that is commendable. There are many psalms with anger… Questions…but David usually resolves the psalms with the PROMISES of God and the Character of God. “Lord, you have promised to be my God. God, you are good, your steadfast Love endures forever. Praise the Lord.”The psalmist is usually applying God’s character and promises to his difficult circumstance.But Jonah angry? Because of the character of God.God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.Oh man, I knew God was “a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.What should we do when the goodness of God IRKS us?Or in other accounts, what should we do when the Justice of God angers us exceedingly. When God’s choices and plans make us angry.God showed Jonah mercy in sending the plant for shade. (YES, a smiling providence; a free parking space God is on my side), God sends the worm, He removes mercy (God hates me, God is unjust, unfair) – How dare you remove the mercy of the plant on me!Mercy for me but not for thee, says JonahWe need some more context of the city Jonah is camping out at for why he is EXCEEDINGLY ANGRY: We need to feel Jonah’s struggle to see the Assyrians receiving mercy.Persians, Romans, Baylonians, and Assyrians. Ninevah is an Assyrian city. So, a tour of four empires.Best: Persians — Generally Humaneparticularly under Cyrus the Great and Darius, is widely viewed as the least barbaric of the major Near Eastern empires.Persians were an empire of order, law, and toleration, not terror. (relatively).Romans: The Romans were extremely violent, but with a different flavor from Assyrians: Their brutality served law, order, and deterrence, not theatrical cruelty.Typical Roman Atrocities: Crucifixion (the iconic Roman method); Mass enslavement after conquest;Sacking cities (e.g., Carthage, Jerusalem in AD 70); Colosseum games (state-sponsored killing as entertainment); Decimation of rebellious legions. Law and order keeping not religious or sadistic.Romans were brutal in a legal and militaristic manner, not celebratory terror like Assyria.Babylonians: Typical Babylonian Practices: Siege warfare (Jerusalem, Tyre); Exile as population control (e.g., Judean exile); Destruction of cities and temples (including Solomon’s Temple); Harsh reprisals against rebellion They could be ruthless, but: They do not record torture as public spectacle. Their inscriptions emphasize building projects, not cruelty.Summary: Babylonians were violent conquerors, but comparatively bureaucratic, not terror-theatrical.Assyrians, Ninevah’s is part of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrian Empire is the ancient world’s most explicitly brutal imperial regime in terms of recorded atrocities.Why we know this: Their own royal inscriptions boast of cruelty as a tool of psychological warfare.Mass deportations of conquered peoples; Flaying alive enemies and displaying skins on city walls; Impalement of rebels; Beheading pyramids; Burning cities completely; Blinding captives (sometimes whole populations); Cutting off limbs, noses, ears; Parading defeated kings with hooks through the jawOne Assyrian inscription from Ashurbanipal:“I tore out their tongues and smashed them… I cut off their limbs.”This is typical of their royal annals’ self-presentation.The Assyrians were unique in celebrating their atrocities in official propaganda.A truly atrocious people, individual atrocious Ninevites, the king who put on sackcloth had condoned atrocities.And Jonah sits there, and they are not getting punished for it.God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.And Jonah says, Oh man, I knew this would happen. In the major and minor prophets, the message of condemnation always offers the hope repentance and turning to God, the redeemer of Israel, and through Abraham the nations would be blessed by a redeemer. And Jonah is angry.The repentant Guard (Corrie Ten Boom).Corrie Ten Boom – Background in concentration camps, where her sister died.Corrie Ten Boom, sister Betsie – Ravensbruck.Two years after the war, Corrie spoke at a church in Munich, to a defeated Germany, bringing with her, the gospel, the message that God does indeed forgive us our sins in Christ Jesus.Yet, Corrie was unexpectedly struck by a familiar face that stared back at her from within the crowd; a man that she recognized as a particularly cruel guard from Ravensbruck.After Corrie’s speech had ended, the man approached Corrie. His words to her were as follows: “You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk. I was a guard there,” he said. “But since that time, I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well.” He extended his hand toward her and asked, “Will you forgive me?” Corrie stared at the outstretched hand.Listen to the account that she would later give regarding that experience: “And as I stood there – I whose sins had again and again been forgiven – and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place – could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there – hand held out – but to me it seemed like hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do, for I had to do it – I knew that. The message that God forgives had a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us.‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses’ (Matthew 6:15). I knew it not only as a commandment of God but as a daily experience…And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion – I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘Jesus, help me!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’ And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced town my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart.’”Who, if they came to know Jesus, truly, with repentance, a changed heart, the old man is dead only a new creation remains, who would you struggle to call brother or sister in Christ?That is who we ought to ask the Lord to save. TO pray for their salvation…Not sit and wait for the city to be burned with fire from heaven.And in doing so, ask the Lord to come to your own heart to fix the wounds, heal the holes, and bear the pain, the sin, and the loss there.Christians may pray imprecatory psalms, right the psalms that curse, “for the sake of the righteous, the wicked be Judged.”Believers always know there is a duel and the greater prayer there that the wicked would repent and turn to Christ before they fall into judgment. Before they do any more harm to the righteous.But which do we hope for?Jim McCarthy says, “Sometimes, it seems impossible to pray for some people. Maybe you have such a person in your life? Whose name you can’t even utter? The very thought of whom causes a dark cloud to overcast your heart? In such cases the first step of obedience is to beg God to grant you a heart of forgiveness and a desire to pray for them. He who said, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44), is faithful.”Caveat: This of course, does not mean we must physically put ourselves in danger or under the power of a wicked person in a false since of piety.But desire for the salvation of our enemies starts in the heart?Look with me in verses 5-11#3 Hoping for JudgmentGod’s Sovereign AppointmentJonah’s Fragile HeartOur Hearts: The call for self-reflection[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.”God shows pity to Jonah with the Plant. God creates. God comforts. Jonah for a time is alright with the Lord’s providence. The Lord’s dominion over his creatures and all their actions.What are God’s works of providence? Answer: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving, and governing all his creatures, and all their actionsGod initiated: the word, the storm: God appointed creatures: fish, plant, worm, storm.Deism vs. Providence. (overseeing, decreeing, sustaining, governing,Jonah is a-ok with some of the lord’s special providences but not with others.John Mackay says, This dry, hot wind which withers green growth, and causes considerable physical distress, is a well-known phenomenon in the area - but it is under God’s control and serves his purpose. Jonah at once feels the effect of the plant’s death, and begins to suffer from sunstroke. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live… If the provision of the plant had eased Jonah’s lot and his bad temper somewhat, the situation was now reversed. He was back into his old mood again, and wishing he were dead.In a twist of IRONY, JONAH “challenges God’s right to destroy” – John Mackay, 68.A plant….He is waiting for a city to be destroyed…And he challenges God’s right to send the worm to destroy a plant. Jonah’s heart is Fragile.Jonah’s Heart is fragile…A little bit of physical comfort… Exceeding JoyHeat and distress…Jonah Wishes he was dead. (Ninevah didn’t get to hear the narrator at the end of chp 3. – They are still just hoping to be spared. They probably don’t realize yet they’ve been spared. There city with 120,000 people and their livestock has a nuclear bomb hanging over them.And Jonah is worrying about shade, comfort, he is feeling pitiful, angry, rage, and then comfort, then pitiful again.He is tired and away from his home country. He is watching and waiting for a the city to be destroyed and he is not getting his felt vindication.Look in v. 9-11 God asks a question…GOD Draws out Jonah’s Heart with a comparison.DO you do well to be angry for the plant?“Yes, Jonah says”Jim McCarthy puts his finger on Jonah’s problem: what Jonah pitied, prized, and loved most of all was himself. This plant only made him glad because of what it did for him.Yes, I do well to be angry. Does Jonah believe this yes?God says, : You “labored” for the Ninevites, they are human beings…Do you pity how ignorant they are of the darkness of their lostness?No, because the Ninevites don’t make Jonah happy.John Mackay, “He felt he was being victimized by what had happened to him. Jonah was sure he was right in what he considered should have happened to Nineveh. Not only was God wrong in what he had done to the city, but also in what he had done to the prophet.” (68).Remember, Strong emotions of pity, and exceeding gladness do not make your course of action correctEvents that feel like “god opening doors” do not validate your emotions or moral state of heart. Jonah could’ve said “Look at the plant, the shade, the nice cool weather, God approves….”Jonah should’ve rejoiced at the Character of God, the Mercy of God, and searched the word of God to see, yes, God will bless the gentile nations, and perhaps this is a foretaste of how a descendant of Abraham, would one day place many believing gentile communities throughout the world.Transition: God reminds Jonah of the Imago dei, the value and dignity of mankind – God’s creation, and that it is good, and that We (v.11) were created to steward the animals.You are so angry at Assyrians, do you remember that you were made to at least care for and pity the animals?If you don’t pity your fellow man because you hate them, do you perhaps pity the cattle?God is reminding Jonah of 3 thingsFirst, We were made in his image to love and live in fellowship with God “They do not know their righthand from their left. Pity them.Second, we were made for fellowship with one another. Rejoice there will be a better life in a god-fearing city than a godless city.Third, we were made to guard, to keep, to tend and steward the creatures. Rejoice in the life spared.What is the book is all about? God is a merciful and a gracious God.Our Hearts: Are you watching people around you to see a merciful and gracious God at work to save sinners? Or are you watching people around you to see if you approve of how God in his providence is treating you and them, who do not know there right hand from there left? Have Pity. Because if you are in Christ Jesus, he pitied you.Man of sorrows what a namefor the Son of God, who cameruined sinners to reclaim:Hallelujah, what a Savior!Guilty, helpless, lost were we;blameless Lamb of God was he,sacrificed to set us free:Hallelujah, what a Savior!PrayerBenediction. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com