Jonah 4:1-4
4 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. 4 And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry? This is the word of the Lord- Amen
Jonah 4:1-4 4 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. 4 And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry? This is the word of the Lord- Amen
Tracking Jonah s Journey and Temperament God summons Jonah to go to Nineveh to call them out of their wickedness and make them aware of their impending doom. Jonah flees God hurls a storm into the sea in which Jonah s boat was on Jonah pleas for the crew to throw him into the sea Crew acknowledges God and hurls Jonah into the sea
Tracking Jonah s Journey and Temperament Jonah gets swallowed up by a large fish Jonah prays The fish spits Jonah up Jonah ministers to Ninevites Ninevites repent God shows grace
The Book of Jonah is a Literary Gem! Once again we see the theme of parallels Chapters 1 & 3- Jonah s interaction with man The word of the Lord came to Jonah Chapters 2 & 4- Jonah s interaction with God And he prayed to the Lord
This prayer from Jonah takes on an entirely different tone than his previous one!
We now see Jonah reveal his reasoning for fleeing the mission God put before him.
His prejudice against Nineveh and the knowledge of God s character caused conflict for Jonah.!
O prejudice, prejudice, prejudice, how many hast thou destroyed! Men who might have been wise have remained fools because they thought they were wise. Many judge what the gospel ought to be, but do not actually enquire as to what it is. They do not come to the Bible to obtain their views of religion, but they open that Book to find texts to suit the opinions which they bring to it. They are not open to the honest force of truth, and therefore are not saved by it.! - Charles Spurgeon
The Jonah in me!
It is convenient how quickly Jonah has forgotten about the grace that was shown to him by God
Challenge from God to Jonah:! Do you do well to be angry?!
Parable of the Prodigal Son! Luke 15:11-32
Younger brother = Nineveh!
Father = God!
Older Brother = Jonah!
Just as older brother s complaint wasn t against the younger brother- Jonahs complaint wasn t against Nineveh!
Jonah and the older brother s complaints were against the Father!
What can God s challenge to Jonah teach us?!
We all have a little bit of Jonah in us! Just as the Father welcomed the prodigal son home with open arms and showed the Ninevites immense grace, God has done the same for us through the sacrifice of His son.
Encouragement.!
Despite Jonah s prejudices and anger, God still used him to bring salvation to over 120,000 Ninevites and a boat full of sailors!
Even in the midst of our brokenness and prejudices, God can and will use us to bring glory to His kingdom!
We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. The only profitable relationship to others and especially to our weaker brethren is one of love, and that means the will to hold fellowship with them. God himself did not despise humanity, but became man for men s sake.!! - Dietrich Bonhoeffer!
What can we do with this knowledge?!
Communion with the Father- time in prayer, scripture, devotionals When we encounter another, we encounter the image of God -Mark Sayers Join God and rejoice with arms open when the Nineties put on sackcloths, when the sailors pray out to God and when the prodigal son returns