“JONAH’S PROBLEM IN THE MIDST
OF A GREAT GOD”
JONAH 4
INTRODUCTION
Jonah’s protest in the midst of a great storm
Jonah’s prayer in the midst of a great fish
Jonah’s preaching in the midst of a great city
Jonah’s problem in the midst of a great God
Recap the story of Jonah
God’s conversation about my future
Jon Courson commentary
If you want to find out what motivates someone ask these three questions:
1. What do you cry about?
2. What do you sing about?
3. What do you dream about?
In chapter four we really begin to see Jonah’s true colors. He is not singing, not dreaming, but crying and we are about to see what he is crying about.
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he
became angry. 2So he prayed to the Lord,
and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this
what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to
Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger
and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3“Therefore
now, O Lord, please take my life from
me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Ironic that Jonah just
experienced one of the worlds greatest revivals and he is bummed. Goes to show that when your eyes are
bad, your whole body is full of darkness.
When our perspective is off, so is our joy. We can have it all and be miserable.
Jonah was angry that
history’s most violent people were experiencing history’s largest revival.
Jonah did not want them blessed
but blasted
To receive God’s fury
not God’s forgiveness
Forgiveness is the deepest need of man and the highest
achievement of God.
God is not waiting to
drop the hammer but to extend his hand
Perhaps not only could
Jonah not bear to witness Nineveh receiving God’s love, but could not bear his
marred reputation as well
4Then the Lord
said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
In other words, “Are you
mad because I have done good?’
5So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east
side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the
shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
Instead of discipling
the over 600,000 new converts from Nineveh, Jonah at on the sidelines (or the
hillside to be exact), and disengaged himself from their lives.
Falling
away in Nahum
Perhaps Jonah did not
even believe their conversion was genuine
Have
we seen someone go forward and said to ourselves, “I know that guy! He can’t change. This won’t last.”
This is a recipe for
depression. Remove yourself from
helping others.
“A
man wrapped up n himself makes a very small package”
Ten steps to overcoming
depression:
1. Do something good for someone else
2. Repeat step one nine more times
6And the Lord
God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for
his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the
plant.
Just as God had prepared
a fish before to teach Jonah a lesson, now He prepares a plant.
Shaded form the
scorching Assyrian sun
Represents the grace of
God because Jonah did nothing to deserve it
God is saying I am being
gracious to you like I am to the Ninevites
We
all need God’s grace
Undeserved
Unmerited
Unearned
favor
Joke: Head hog of the trough
7But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a
worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8And it
happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the
sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for
himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
God removed His grace
form Jonah so he could see what it was like. To show him how it felt so he would have compassion for the
Ninevites
Do
we remember what it is like to be apart from God?
Do
we have compassion for the lost in the world?
Santa Ana like winds
Job 1:21
Yesterday I was
comforting you, but today I am developing you
Why does God allow our
blessings to vanish? Because He
knows we have a tendency to get too attached to the things of this world, and
too comfortable in this life.
Example: the wealthy woman on the Titanic than grabbed three
oranges
ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT GOD IS PREPARING US FOR ETERNITY!!!
John 14:1-2
Jesus
is preparing a place for us
The
Holy Spirit is preparing us for that place
God is more concerned
with our character than our comfort
1 Thessalonians 5:18
God sent a…
Whale
to deliver him
Worm
to develop him
Wind
to reveal him
9Then God
said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said,
“It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” 10But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the
plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a
night and perished in a night. 11“And should I not pity Nineveh,
that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much
livestock?”
Jonah did not even have compassion for the children of Nineveh
The story ends without conclusion because the jury is still out on the condition of all of our hearts!
The problem
Selfishness
Unforgiveness
Comparing Jonah to Jeremiah
1. Both hesitated when called into the ministry
Jonah thought Nineveh was unworthy
Jeremiah thought he was unworthy
2. Both were sent into a city
Jonah to Nineveh
Jeremiah to Jerusalem
3. Both were separated from family and friends
Jonah by geographical distance
Jeremiah by the friends that forsook him and brothers that dealt treacherously with him
4. Both were manhandled
Jonah by the sailors that threw him overboard
Jeremiah by the priests and prophets of Jerusalem who cast him into dungeons on five separate occasions
5. Both cast into a pit
Jonah sinking into the belly of a great fish
Jeremiah sinking into the mud and mire of an dungeon well
6. Both preached to the lost
Jonah for 40 days
Jeremiah for 40 years
7. Both witnessed peoples response to the message
Jonah witnessed over 600,000 turn to God
Jeremiah witnessed 0 turn to God
8. Both sat on a hillside at the end of their ministries
Jonah was whining about his lack of comfort
Jeremiah was weeping about their lack of conversion
Do we weep for people or whine for plants?
What do we cry about?
