Jonah Is Angry with God
Lesson Text: Jonah 4:1-11
Related Scriptures: Exodus 34:4-8; I Kings 19:4-8; Matthew 18:21-35; Luke 15:25-30
TIME: about 780 B.C. PLACE: Nineveh and vicinity
GOLDEN TEXT—“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 103:8).
Introduction
How much do we allow our emotions to govern our actions? Part of spiritual growth is learning to control our emotions and to live according to the teachings of God’s Word.
God understands our emotional swings and helps us with them. When we look at some of the main characters in the Bible, we see plenty of emotional issues. Moses never seemed to get his temper under control. Spiritual giants like Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah experienced severe depression over what they faced. In each case, God communicated that He was using them for His purpose. They were simply to carry on in faith. Sometimes that is very difficult to do.
If the story of Jonah had ended at the conclusion of chapter 3, we would find a satisfying climax to Jonah’s ministry. His emotions took control of him, however; the rest of that story is found in this last chapter.
LESSON OUTLINE
SURPRISING REACTION—Jonah 4:1-3
NECESSARY INTROSPECTION—Jonah 4:4-9
CONVICTING ARGUMENT—Jonah 4:10-11
Exposition: Verse by Verse
SURPRISING REACTION
JONAH 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
Great displeasure (Jonah 4:1). {The inclusion of chapter 4 in the narrative is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. A mere human author would probably have stopped at the climactic repentance of Nineveh and left us feeling satisfied about the entire incident.}Q1The people had repented, and God had shown great mercy to them because of it. Under normal conditions, the results would be cause for rejoicing.
Any time there is a genuine revival in the hearts of people, we should be grateful for His Spirit’s moving.
{Jonah did not respond in the way we would have expected.
Instead, he reacted with extreme anger over the results of his ministry.}Q2
It is doubtful that any modern accounts exist of preachers or evangelists becoming angry with such results. ????????
Jonah was not just angry; he was exceedingly angry. The Hebrew suggests he was aggressively disrespectful in his response to God’s work.
Another way of saying that Jonah was displeased is that the situation seemed evil to him.
When a person regards the good that God does as evil, he is in trouble spiritually. Using a different picture, we can say that Jonah was “bent out of shape.”
Instead of wondering how God could use him further, Jonah retreated into a “poor me” mentality. This is difficult to comprehend in light of what he had already been through with God. He had tried to run from God, been disciplined for it, and then given a second chance.
The only way we can possibly understand this reaction is by realizing the power and deception of our emotions and the danger of living by them alone, instead of by faith. We hope Jonah eventually realized what he was doing.
Accusing prayer (Jonah 4:2-3). If we had been in Jonah’s place, we might have said something like this: “I knew it! I just knew it! I knew something like this was going to happen! Lord, You let me down!” We have seen all along that Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh and warn the people that God was about to judge them.
Jonah’s Motives
They were some of Israel’s strongest and most vicious enemies, and he did not want them to have an opportunity to get right with his God.
In his view, they needed to come under the destructive hand of God for the sake of Israel.
So he ran the other direction.
When Jonah did obey, we need not imagine that he ran and skipped his way to Nineveh with a sense of excitement. Clearly, it was a grudging obedience, one that was in line with his subsequent reaction.
It is one thing to obey God with a genuine, heartfelt enthusiasm for His will.
It is quite another to obey merely out of a sense of duty and without full commitmenta of the heart.
We can sometimes fall into this latter category in the way we forgive people.
We can begrudgingly say we forgive someone without truly forgiving them from the heart when God wants us to restore the relationship eagerly.
Jonah repeated to God what he had thought to himself prior to running toward Tarshish. His attitude at the present was no better than it had been then. He now expressed his disgust over the qualities of God that enabled Him to act as He did.
Is this dangerous way to feel about God?
{Jonah explained that he knew God is gracious, merciful, and slow to anger; He possesses great kindness and often relents from threatened punishment. All of these characteristics are accurate, of course, but Jonah did not like that they came into play in this particular situation.}Q3
{As a result, he requested that God let him die instead of continuing to live.}Q4 The only thing we can give Jonah credit for is knowing that he could freely express his feelings to God.
Sadly, many believers attempt to hide such feelings instead of talking to God about them.
He is not only capable of understanding but also of listening to us express ourselves.
Then we need to listen to what He says to us in response.
We find countless examples in the Psalms and throughout the entire Bible of the fact that God welcomes our honest, frustrated prayers. We should not hide our feelings from God but bring them to Him honestly.
NECESSARY INTROSPECTION
4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
God’s first question (Jonah 4:4-5). Of course, when we express our feelings to God, we should not be surprised when He responds.
He might bring another person across our path with a particular message for us.
He might speak to us through a sermon or a Bible study.
He might create a situation that becomes uncomfortable but instructive.
If we sincerely want to hear from God when we are in distress, we should be open and watchful for what He might do in response. If we want to grow spiritually, He will gladly help us.
God had a question for Jonah that was intended to make him think about his reactions.
In this incident, when God turned from His anger, Jonah turned to anger.
When God had compassion, Jonah had none.
“How sad the contrast between God’s feeling upon the repentance of Nineveh toward Him and Jonah’s feeling upon the repentance of God toward Nineveh. How strange that one who was himself so recently forgiven for his willful rebellion against God should feel this way!” (Douglas, ed., New Commentary on the Whole Bible, Tyndale).
{Nothing indicates that Jonah gave a response to God beyond what we have recorded here. In his anger, he left the city and went to the east where he made a shelter for shade. Then he sat down under it for one purpose: to see what would happen to Nineveh. So far, there was no softening of his heart. He harbored a continuing desire to see God destroy the city rather than spare it.}Q5
Much later, Paul wrote that God desires for “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:4). Peter wrote that He “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:9). Believers need to remember God’s attitude and be willing to serve Him in helping reach the lost. When we have the privilege of leading someone to Christ, we should rejoice!
Jonah’s fleeting gratitude (Jonah 4:6-7). God remains a gracious and merciful God even when we stray from His ways. He will take steps to get our attention and bring us back into the relationship He desires, and there is a restoration of joy for those who respond the right way. God demonstrated His care for Jonah by preparing a plant to grow up over him and provide extra shade from the eastern sun. We know this was a needed provision because Jonah was experiencing misery.
Up until now, God had not chastised Jonah beyond simply asking him about his attitude. {Now He made a special provision for him to make him more comfortable, and for the first time, we read that Jonah was grateful about something. In his physical comfort, he was happy, but in God’s other dealings, he was having trouble. For the moment, at least, Jonah was positive. That did not last long, however; God was not through teaching him. The next morning, God sent a worm to destroy the plant.}Q6
A double minded Man
One minute he’s preaching God’s Word, but the next minute he’s disobeying it and fleeing his post of duty.
While inside the great fish, he prayed to be delivered, but now he asks the Lord to kill him. He called the city to repentance,
but he wouldn’t repent himself! He was more concerned about creature comforts than he was about winning the lost.
The Ninevites, the vine, the worm, and the wind have all obeyed God, but Jonah still refuses to obey, and he has the most to gain.
We repeatedly see how God works His way into Jonah’s life and his situation.
In His sovereignty, He had already provided a storm at sea,
a special fish, and a plant to give some comfort.
Now He prepared a worm, which immediately became the cause of another severe drop in Jonah’s attitude.
The plant withered away as quickly as it had grown up.
Is it possible that God still provides ups and downs in the lives of His children in order to get their attention and give them instruction? Why would we imagine otherwise?
Perhaps we should ask ourselves what brings us happiness or unhappiness. Jonah is an example of what James called “a double minded man” who “is unstable in all his ways” (1:8). How stable are we in our understanding of God, His will, and His ways? Of course, we will never be able to fully comprehend God and all His ways. We can, however, grow in faith to the point that we can trust Him no matter what He allows in our lives. Then we can have joy even during the hardest of trials.
God’s second question (Jonah 4:8-9). It was a great trial for Jonah, and God continued to pour it on. {The plant had come and gone, denying him the shade he had so appreciated. To add to the discomfort, God then sent an east wind to blow against him.}Q7 It was a “vehement” wind, meaning a hot, blistering one that caused uncomfortable conditions. It may have been the eastern sirocco, which is a very oppressive, hot, and dusty wind. This was no relaxing, cooling breeze.
Now the sun beat directly down on Jonah’s head while the extremely hot wind blew against him. He was soon on the verge of passing out. We cannot help wondering why he stayed there instead of going back into the city and finding some relief. Perhaps he could not walk the distance in the rough conditions, or perhaps he despised the Ninevites so much that he refused to have anything at all to do with them or their city. He would rather die. This was one hard-nosed and hard-hearted prophet!
Jonah had previously wanted to die because God withheld the judgment from Nineveh. Now he wanted to die because of his personal circumstances. Sometimes it takes time for God’s children to respond as they should. Sometimes they continue to move further away from Him instead of toward Him until He takes even more drastic actions to get their attention. God loves His children and will not give up on them. How grateful we should be that He is so merciful, gracious, kind, and loving!
{God spoke again: “Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” (vs. 9). Jonah had ignored His first question by simply walking away from the city and fixing himself a shelter. This time he answered, however, and it was a defiant and angry answer.}Q8 In Jonah’s mind, God was treating him unfairly, so his anger was completely justified! The God who had shown mercy to the Ninevites was now being harsh with His prophet! What was fair and right about that? Jonah was so angry that he was blind to the faultiness of his own attitude.
CONVICTING ARGUMENT
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
God had one more question for Jonah, and it was a very penetrating one. Before He asked, though, He pointed out that Jonah had felt pity for the plant God had provided to give him shade. It was a plant that Jonah had no part in planting or growing. He had neither given nor sustained the life of that plant. All he had cared about was the benefit he gained from it, so his pity was from self-interest rather than love for the plant. The plant had lasted only one night, growing up and perishing quickly.
God was drawing a comparison as He asked His question. He asked whether He should not have pity on a great city full of people. Those were people He had created and was sustaining. They had been rebelling against Him, but they were people with eternal souls. {Jonah had pity for a bit of plant life but begrudged the Lord for having pity on living people who were part of His eternal plan. God was calling on Jonah to recognize this contrast and to care for sinful people the way He did.}Q9
The reference to 120,000 people who were unable to discern between their right and left hands may allude to little children. This would mean the population could have been six hundred thousand or more. It could also mean that “the 120,000 were adults, who were as undisciplined or undiscerning as children” (Walvoord and Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Cook). Did Jonah expect God to ignore such a large number of people, especially if they only had the moral sensitivity of children? As Assyrians, they had never known God’s goodness and truth.
{Why does this book end so suddenly and strangely? The intended effect may be that we as readers are jarred into thinking about our own attitude toward other people, particularly our personal enemies and those we dislike. We should have godly love for everyone without prejudice, the way God loves His enemies.}Q10 —Keith E. Eggert
Union Gospel Press, Union Gospel Press. Bible Expositor and Illuminator (pp. 317-325). Union Gospel Press. Kindle Edition.
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