May He Increase

Posted By Joe on August 3, 2009

Running Away From God

• Running Away From God – Part I
• Running Away From God – Part II
• Running Away From God – Part III
• Running Away From God – Part IV

Last week, we left off with the revival that occurred in Nineveh after Jonah's preaching.

We speculated that the people of the great city listened to what "the dove" had to say because his skin was bleached white and he probably had either lost part or all of his hair. He must have looked like a specter.

God was pleased with the people of Nineveh and he relented in His righteous judgment over the city. Today we will see what Jonah thinks of the work he had just completed. The answer may surprise you.

Angry and Cynical

But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, "Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity." --Jonah 4:1-2.

Can you believe this guy? He's angry that God is merciful! He even goes so far as to say: "See! I told You, God, that You were a merciful, loving God!"

It's passages like this that prove to me that the Bible was not written by man. Think about that. In man's view, he would have wiped out Nineveh because they deserved it. But God's ways are not man's ways (Isaiah 55:8).  And for that, the people of Nineveh (and I) are grateful.

"Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." --Jonah 4:3.

Jonah's thinking is so whacked that he would prefer to die than have God spare the Ninevites!

The Lord said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?" --Jonah 4:4.

I love God's response to Jonah's whining. Just a simple, poignant question.

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. --Jonah 4:5.

Apparently, Jonah didn't answer God's question. He was still so upset at God's mercy that he found himself a little place to sit and watch the destruction of the inhabitants of the city. It was like pulling up an easy chair with a bag of popcorn waiting for the movie to start!

So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. --Jonah 4:6.

Finally, after everything we've read about Jonah, he's finally described as being "extremely happy." Why? He thinks that God just gave him box seats with air conditioning for the start of the spectacle that would be Nineveh's destruction! He's . . . happy!

But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life." --Jonah 4:7-8.

Jonah has to be one of the most dramatic personalities in the Bible, when it comes to vanity and whining. He wants to see a people utterly destroyed, but he's happy that God gave him a plant to keep him out of the sun. Then when the plant dies--and he's a man of God--he says that "death is better to [him] than life."

How often in our Christian walk are we just like him? How often am I like him?

Now for the climax to our lesson. God, the loving school-master, is now going to teach Jonah (and us) a very important lesson.

Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death." Then the Lord said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" --Jonah 4:10-11.

God explains to Jonah that he had more compassion for a plant that he had nothing to do with, than he does 120,000 human beings. More than that, God is asking Jonah if he's so callous that he would want to see 120,000 children ("persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand") die.

God is pointing out to him: "Jonah, I love the Ninevites."

Friend, God loves you. If you don't know Him or have a relationship with Him, it doesn't matter how bad (or good) you think you are. God created you and He loves you. He wants you back.

To the Christian: if you see Jonah-like traits within your heart (and I have them, too) then we need to ask forgiveness for that and pray that God will give us a more tender heart for the lost.

May He Increase!

Categories: Christian Living, Isaiah, Jonah
Tags: anger, forgiveness, grace, Jonah, love, mercy