Jonah, Part 4

The final chapter of Jonah begins after the surprising revival in the great city of Nineveh. Jonah is as angry with God as he has been at any point in the story. After all that Jonah has been through, seen, and done, he seems not to have learned much at all. It turns out that there were some pretty significant disconnects between what Jonah knew about God and what Jonah wanted from God.

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Jonah 3:10
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

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Jonah 4:1-11
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 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. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 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. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day, God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 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.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” It is!! “And I am so angry I wish I were dead.” 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. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and so many animals?”

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Exodus 34:6
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

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Disconnect #1
Knowing about God’s character and love for people doesn’t automatically produce His character and love in you.

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Matthew 15:8-9
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

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Disconnect #2
It’s hard to love people when you think you are better than them.

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Colossians 1:21
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

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Disconnect #3
We are not saved from people, we are saved for people.

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Tim Keller, The Prodigal Prophet
There are many people who have no idea what they should be living for, or the meaning of their lives, nor have they any guide to tell right from wrong. God looks down at people in that kind of spiritual fog, that spiritual stupidity, and he doesn’t say, “You idiots.” When we look at people who have brought trouble into their lives by their own foolishness, we say things like “Serves them right” or we mock them on social media: “What kind of imbecile says something like this?” When we see people of the other political party defeated, we just gloat. This is all a way of detaching ourselves from them. We distance ourselves from them partly out of pride and partly because we don’t want their unhappiness to be ours. God doesn’t do that. Real compassion, the voluntary attachment of our heart to others, means the sadness of their condition makes us sad; it affects us. That is deeply uncomfortable, but it is the character of compassion.

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Matthew 9:36-38
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

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