Running Against God
Jonah 4
“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God…” vs. 2
The Great Agnostic
There was a traveling preacher back in the early 1800’s named Rev. John Ingersoll. He was pretty famous and would fill in the pulpit for some pretty famous preachers like Charles G. Finney. In other words he was a guest preacher for pastors when they were out of town. Much like Mike Laughlin does for me. Some of his views were pretty radical and this took its toll on his family causing them to move frequently; mostly in a very negative way. He had a son born in 1833 named Robert. Robert Ingersoll became pretty well known. He was a Civil War Veteran, a political leader, and an orator. Because of the experience with his father, he became an agnostic.
Agnostic – One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. One who is skeptical about the existence of God.
Atheist – a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings
Many of Robert Ingersoll’s speeches advocated freethought and humanism, and often poked fun at religious belief. When Robert was delivering his lectures against Christ and the Bible, he usually attracted large crowds. One night after an inflammatory speech in which he severely attacked man’s faith in God, he dramatically took out his watch and said, “I’ll give God a chance to prove that He exists and is almighty. I challenge Him to strike me dead within 5 minutes!” First there was silence, then people became uneasy. Some left the hall, unable to take the nervous strain of the occasion, and one woman fainted. At the end of the allotted time, the agnostic exclaimed pompously, “See! There is no God. I am still very much alive!” After the lecture a young man said to a Christian lady, “Well, Ingersoll certainly proved something tonight!” Her reply was memorable. “Yes he did,” she said. “He proved God isn’t taking orders from atheists tonight.”
It might sound crazy, but do you (I) think we can control God? Give him orders? Challenge him? You might be quick to say “no” but how many times do we pray, “God, if you just do this I will do that.” Deep inside we know God is bigger than that but we still do it sometimes. Today we are going to finish our series on Jonah and his interaction with God after he has preached to Nineveh and they have relented and turned back to God. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.
Read Passage – Jonah 4
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plantand made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 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. 11 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?”
A Pastor’s Dream
Jonah experiences an interesting phenomenon here. He preaches God’s word to the people of Nineveh and they turn from their wicked ways and repent. They turn back to God.
Ill. Most pastors would love to have this happen. Can you imagine; you preach, they hear, and they repent and start following God! WOW! We pastors get frustrated when we do everything we feel we are called to do and the results just don’t seem to be there. The church doesn’t grow, people don’t seem to change at all, and the church doesn’t seem to be moving forward. Can you imagine what would happen if everything went the way pastors thought it would? Wow! A pastor’s dream come true.
The text tells us over 120,000 people turn to God and start following him. This is huge. It’s like all of Antioch and then some become Christians. Can you imagine the excitement, the notoriety, the phenomenon that would take place; the change in the city, the crime rate, etc. and how full the churches would be that next Sunday. This is big stuff. If God used me that way, I have to think I would be thrilled.
Jonah’s Anger and It’s Cause/Effects
So, how do you think Jonah responded? Verse 1:
“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.” vs. 1
Yep, everything goes just as God was hoping and that got Jonah really upset; more than upset, down right angry. He is ticked. He thought this might happen and now that it has, he is fit to be tied. And his anger displays itself in 3 cause and effects.
–Self-pity He is wallowing in self-pity and self-absorption. He could care less about the Ninevites and their salvation. He only cares about what he wants, what he thinks should happen and why he is not getting his way.
–Arrogance He is also steaming with arrogance. He thinks he knows best what should happen to them and he is basically saying he knows better than God.
–Hatred And he is brewing with hatred. Now these are the Ninevites and they are the Israelites enemy but his hatred is so great that he just wants to see them all destroyed and basically rot in hell.
Jonah’s negative attitude leads him to sulk and mope away to a nearby hill and sit and watch the city of Nineveh from a distance. He is pouting and moping and really acting childish. Think about it this way. He walked through Nineveh for three days with this hatred preaching and watching these people turn to God. He knew God and His ways and as he is preaching and they are turning, he is watching these “enemies of his” received God’s forgiveness and love and there is nothing he can do about it and he probably hates this all the more and it just increases his feelings of hatred and self-pit.
The Plant
Jonah’s story takes on a new twist in verse 6. Even though Jonah is angry with God, God isn’t done with him. Verse 6:
“Then the Lord God provided a leafy plantand made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant.” vs. 6
Jonah is angry, tired, and still somewhat curious as to how God is going to ultimately deal with the Ninevites so he heads east of the city. Scholars assume that it was probably up on a hill where he had a good vantage point to see the city but that is an assumption, we are not told that in the text. It does make a lot of sense though.. He maybe even hoped that somehow God was still going to destroy it and he had a great view to watch that take place. But it didn’t. So…God notices Jonah sitting out in the heat of the day and provides a plant for him to have some shade from the heat. Even in his pain and rebellion god provides for him. He has built a little shelter, probably something like a lean-to. It’s not sufficient to protect him so God causes a plant to grow, and grow quickly. We a not told exactly what kind of plant it is; some versions of the Bible call it a gourd. If you have ever grown a squash or pumpkin plant this can make some sense because their leaves are big and broad even though they are not know to grow up in one day.
Note: if God can control the giant fish can’t he control a plant as well. Another evidence of God being in control of nature.
So in the midst of his putting and anger God is providing some comfort, peace and ease of his pain. God was not only calling the Ninevites to himself, he was calling Jonah too. God provides peace in the turmoil. But the peace is temporary as the next morning a worm eats the roots of the plant and kills it and the wind kicks up and blows the pant over. And again, Jonah becomes angry. Angry to point of wanting to die. A bit strange but death seems better to Jonah than seeing God work in people’s lives, even his own.
How can I Not Miss Out or 3 Questions To Check Our Focus/Attitude
This really leads us to the question; How Can I Not Miss Out on What God Is Doing or the way it’s listed in your outline, what questions can I ask to check my focus and attitude? Jonah 4 is full of questions and those question are important for us to ask to ourselves so that we are in line with our hearts and our attitudes when it comes to what God is doing.
- Am I Just Going Through The Motions?
The first question is; Am I Just Going Through the Motions? Let’s look again at verse 2:
“He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.” vs. 2
The whole time Jonah was preaching to the Ninevites, his anger and hatred are building. I am going out on a limb here but I don’t think that is what most people want to see in their pastor or ministry leader. Jonah was giving the word, he was saying what God told him but he didn’t believe it himself. He was just going through the motions. He was speaking God’s Word but that word was not resonating in his heart.
Ex. Before you are too hard on Jonah, think about your own life. Are you just going through the motions? You’re at work but your heart isn’t really in it. You’re with your family but you aren’t really giving them all you’ve got. You call yourself a Christian but your life through-out the week looks anything but what a Christian is supposed to be. You come to church but only because you think you are supposed to or to appease someone else.
The only way to get past this is to have a different perspective. To find the joy and the passion for the things you are involved with. Work hard at your job and enjoy the work because God uses that too. You can be a “real” Christian and people will see that. You job is actually ministry. Being the best parent or spouse is being real and it speaks volumes to your family and friends about you love for God. Let me add a verse that helps with this; Proverbs 23:26:
“My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.” Proverbs 23:26
When you are being all that God has called you to be, in your job, in your home, in your hobiees, etc. you find the new perspective of delight or joy. When God has control, we find the delight in life that God intends for us.
Ill. Jonah was not “delighted” that the Nivevites turned to God. He was just going through the motions. He could have had real joy by seeing how God was working in bringin some bad people to a good God.
- Do I Recognize God’s Provision?
The second question; Do I recognize God’s provision? Do I acknowledge all the things that God has given to me and done for me? Verse 9:
“But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” vs. 9
An important part of this story is that God provided the plant for Jonah. Many times we think if we are not acting right, if we are not being “good”, that God will not be there for us. I think that is a world view but not an accurate view. God provides for Jonah even though he is moping, angry, upset, and really not acting very well. God provided quite a few things for Jonah. He provided his skills, like public speaking, his persuasiveness, etc. In his misery God provides a plant to bring him peace and comfort. But Jonah doesn’t recognize these, he is so busy with his hatred and self-pity that he misses God’s provision.
It’s harsh, but we can do the same. We are so caught up in not having our way, not getting what we think is right or just, not having things go our way, that what we do have and what God has provided, we either miss it or we fail to acknowledge what we do have. Jonah is preoccupied with his hatred and self-pity and it clouds his vision; it clouds him from seeing that God is still working with him too. When our vision gets clouded like that, we place too much importance on the wrong things and in our study today Jonah does that by placing his joy on a plant. Timothy says in 6:17:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1Timothy 6:17
We all know that the things we have we can loose at any moment.
Ex. We can have the nicest of cars and in one quick moment that car can be totaled. i.e. hit and destroyed and we might not even be in it or near it.
Really Jonah is acting very childish. Children have to learn that things are things. Notice how important something is to a child one minute and the next it could be completely out of their mind. Buy a child a candy bar and it’s only good until you pass the ice cream shop.
Looking at things as being from God means we appreciate them and are grateful to God for what he has provided. I think it’s interesting to see how people treat wealth. We see some rich people who are generous and some who are not. Many times we even think that the rich should share their things with us but we don’t share what we have with others. When we recognize our things as being from God, we can then use them for his glory.
- Do I See The Big Picture?
The third question to ask ourselves is; Do I see the big picture? Verse 11:
“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?” vs. 11
It’s important to note from verse 11 the insight that God gives u on His perspective of things. God’s concern is people. And he even throws in that he is concerned with animals too. Jonah does not have the big picture here. What’s his focus? It’s very narrow; himself and a plant. That’s it. The warning that we take away from this is that when we catch ourselves focusing on ourselves, and we focus on the marginal things, many of which we have no control over, we find ourselves looking at a small narrow picture. God’s view is much bigger. His view is the 120,000 lost people of Nineveh. His concern is for their lost-ness. How far are we willing to go for those who are lost? How far is God willing to go and can we look at them through his eyes? We can miss out on God’s plan when we have a narrow focus. Listen to a verse that comes from the prophet Hosea in 14:9:
“The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Hosea 14:9
We have a choice. Do I want to be in line with God and his plan? Those are the right ways, the righteous ways, and there is stability in those ways. The other choice is to go our own way and that way is the rebellious way and unstable, we stumble in them.
Ex. Driving. Do you know how to keep your car centered in a lane? Your focus is up ahead of you with a big picture of where you are going. The best way to get in an accident is to look at only your car and only right in front of you.
It’s About Relationship
Because, with God, it’s all about relationship. He wants to be in relationship with you. With each and every person. That’s his concern, that’s his focus, that is his desire. You. Me. Each of us. The book of Jonah ends with a question. Let me end with a question and a challenge today: Are you missing out? Are you feeling like Jonah and full or self-pity, or anger or hatred? Which of these do you identify with and need to change your perspective? Are you missing out by just going through the motions, or not acknowledging God’s provision, or missing the big picture?
