Jonah

Chapter outline

(1) - Jonah's anger, prayer of protest and God's response: (4:1-4).

(2) - The Prophet, the Worm and the Gourd: (4:5-9).

(3) - God's final response: (4:10-11).

If Jonah had been any other prophet in the history of Israel, he would have been overjoyed with the Lord's blessing on his ministry. The repentance and salvation of many thousands of people in Nineveh would have been a wonderful thing to witness. But not for Jonah. So here is a prophet of God who is not satisfied with the results of his ministry. Thousands of converts didn't mean a thing to him because he hated the Ninevites! He despised them so much that he actually got angry with God for saving these people.

Many of us have been angry with God at one time or another. It is blasphemous, but it is true. Believers get angry with God, and immediately blame God for their troubles. In doing so they may say, "Why did God let this happen to me? It's all God's fault." Or, "Why has God allowed this situation to occur?" Or, "Why has God forsaken me?" Jonah was loaded with this "God's doesn't treat me right" attitude.

Throughout the history of Israel her prophets consistently failed to turn their nation back to God. They were rejected and even killed by their own people. In Acts, Stephen, the first martyr of the church said in Acts 7:52,"Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?"

But instead of having joy at the repentance and salvation of so many thousands of people, Jonah was very angry with God.

And he prayed unto the Lord -This is only the second time Jonah has prayed. If you remember, the captain of the ship commanded Jonah to pray to his God for deliverance from the storm they were in (Jonah 1:6). But there is no record of Jonah praying at that time.

After he was swallowed by the great fish, he prayed. In chapter two he actually prayed because of his affliction and the suffering he was experiencing. He prayed for deliverance. His prayer was a prayer of faith, thanksgiving and victory. It was a prayer which demonstrated the grace of God and the power of the faith-rest life of a believer. For, no matter how low a believer goes, God will always hear, even at the bottom of the sea, or in sheol, the dwelling place of the dead.

But in chapter 4, Jonah now prays to God and explains why he is angry at the salvation of thousands of Ninevites. Notice this prayer:"And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, was this not my saying, when I was yet in my country?" In other words, "Isn't this what I said would happen while I was still back in my country of Israel?"

For I knew -Jonah now reveals his knowledge to God. In fact, he knew and understood God so well, that he actually condemns himself by what he is about to say. By what he knew of God, it condemns his bigotry, racism and his self-centered arrogance. Jonah now gives four things that he knows about God.

That thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of this evil -

(1) - Thou art a gracious God, and merciful - Mercy is grace in action. To respond in a gracious manner when you are wronged rather than to strike back is to show mercy. Grace or mercy may not be deserved, but so what? Neither did we deserve anything from God. So, knowing very well what God was like, he said,"Thou art gracious, and merciful."

(2) -Slow to anger -This means to be "longsuffering, or to have great patience."

(3) -And of great kindness -This refers to "gentleness and goodness expressed in love and understanding."

(4) -And repentest Thee of this evil -This refers to God changing his mind concerning the destruction of Nineveh.

Jonah was not a new believer; he was a man who knew God. Jonah was a man who understood the Word of God. Jonah knew the Lord well, and he understood the grace of God because he has experienced it. But even though Jonah appreciated God's grace for himself, he could not bear to see others benefit from this same mercy and grace, especially the Ninevites.

It appears that Jonah felt betrayed by God. God told him to tell the people of Nineveh that their city would be destroyed in 40 days. That was his message to them. But when they repented and accepted God's salvation, God chose not to destroy the city. It appears that Jonah thought that the people of Nineveh would brand him a liar and false prophet. So therefore, he thought he would be better off dead rather than to face the Nineveites after his prophecy of desctruction was not fulfilled. Again we see the self-centeredness of Jonah. He considered his reputation as being more important than the deliverance of an entire city and the eternal salvation of literally thousands of people. He also considered his own feeling and reputation as being more important than the perfect will of God.

I am sure that all of us are ready to condemn this attitude of Jonah and condemn his narrow-mindedness. But let us not be too hasty in our condemnation, for in so doing, we might condemn ourslves. We call Jonah a "bigot," but what about "sectarianism" among us, as Christians. After all, "sectarianism" is nothing but bigotry. We may think that our own church and our own method of conducting church services is the right way of doing things. That is all fine and good, but there are many who are involved in tape groups who actually refuse to fellowship with other believers of slightly different methods of conducting church services. I wonder how many times we have been condemned by other Christians because we don't conduct the "traditional" church service of singing a number of songs, of passing the offering plate, of allowing members to give personal testimonies, of having an organized visitation program, or sponsoring youth programs and special events to bring in more people?

But, on the other hand, how many times have some of us condemned other churches for their method of conducting services? I can remember when I was a young taper I was very critical of almost every pastor and church that did not operate like Berachah Church. Sometimes I can't believe how critical I used to be. But as I continued to learn the Word and grow in grace I have become a lot more tolerant and flexible and understanding in my thinking. The real turning point came in my studying and teaching of Romans chapter 14, the chapter regarding the weak and the strong believer. The chapter that dealt with the flexibility and the toleration of the strong believer who understood the Word and was relaxed toward the weak believer, who was a spiritual baby, or who was growing more slowly because of a lack of good consistent teaching in his geographical area. Bigotry is just as pronounced today in the Christian realm as it was in the days of Jonah. But today it is more subtle. So we had all better stop and think and reflect for a moment before we condemn Jonah too quickly.

The Lord is actually saying, "Jonah, are you being benefited by your anger?" Or "Jonah, is your anger doing you any good?" Or it could be translated, "Jonah, do you have the right to be angy with me?" Even the Lord's question is a matter of grace. God is still speaking to his prophet who is again out of fellowship. The prophet who whines, "I wish I were dead!" A prophet who is filled with self-pity.

Why did God ask this question? Why did God say, "Do you have the right to be angry?" Or "Are you benefited in being angry?" He asked it for several reasons:

(1) - In the first place God had given Jonah eternal salvation. This was grace.

(2) - God had delivered Jonah from the storm, and the belly of the great fish, and from sheol itself. That was grace.

(3) - God had provided Jonah with a place of service so his spiritual gift of prophet could function. That was grace.

Therefore, God was saying, "Jonah, do you realize that you have eternal life?"
"Do you realize that I credited to your account the perfect righteousness of God?"
"Do you realize that I have blessed you exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ever ask or think?"
"Do you realize that you are alive today because of my grace?"
"Do you realize that you have had a tremendous testimony?"
"Do you realize that you are the only one in the history of mankind to be swallowed by a great fish and then be vomited out on dry ground?"
"My grace has been extended to you without measure. You are on dry land, you are alive, you are here and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you have proclaimed the gospel with the result that thousands of people have believed on the Lord."

But it appears that Jonah misunderstood this gracious question. Hoping that God was just delaying His judgment and that He would destroy the city after all, Jonah decided that he had better get out of the city before God made it an ash-heap.

The word"booth"refers to some temporary shelter. The words"till he might see,"is potential, indicating that Jonah had a hunch that God would still destroy the city. Therefore, he provided for himself a box seat for this glorious event and he was going to wait and see what he always wanted see, the destruction of Nineveh.

And the Lord prepared a gourd -Evidently Jonah's little make shift shack didn't work, so the Lord "Caused a large plant to grow over him." It appears that Jonah's little shelter wasn't constructed very well and it exposed him to the desert heat. Jonah could have been a victim of sunstroke, or overexposure to the sun. But he wouldn't leave and go to a shady area, because he wanted to see the destruction of Nineveh. And being very similar to a "bull dog," he is a very stubborn and vindictive person. He was going to sit there until God destroyed Nineveh.

Do you know why the make shift shack collapsed and God didn't keep Jonah in it? Because Jonah built it himself through his own work, but God wanted to prepare the shelter for His prophet Himelf. Again we see grace in operation. But what God prepared was a large plant. This plant actually represents the Mosaic Law.

The Hebrew word for"gourd"is QIYQAYOWN (kee-kaw-yone). It means "a gourd, a plant." It also has the connotation of being nauseous. The root of this word is QAYAH (kaw-yaw) which means "to vomit." The Hebrew word is very similar to the Graeco-Egyptian word KIKI designating the "castor oil" plant. This is sometimes called "Palma Christi," that is, Christ's palm. This plant attains a height from eight to ten feet, sometimes growing very rapidly. If this was the plant that shaded Jonah, its rapid growth was still miraculous.

But whatever this plant was it was large enough to provide a soothing shade over Jonah, for it says at the end of vs 6,"So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd."This is the first time in the entire book that we see Jonah happy. It is strange what it takes to made some people happy.

The first thing we need to understand is that God did not prepare this plant to make Jonah happy, but to teach him a lesson. The gourd by analogy actually represents the Mosaic Law. God was going to rebuke Jonah's self-centeredness because no sooner had Jonah settled down comfortably under the shade of the large plant than God prepared a worm to destroy it. At a time when the Jews were very comfortable with their religious system under the Mosaic Law, God prepared"a worm,"the sinless Son of God to die on the cross to nullify that law and set up the law of the Spirit, grace and truth.

God prepared a worm -Just as God had"prepared"a great fish or great sea creature to swallow Jonah (Jonah 1:17), and as He"prepared"a gourd (a plant to shade Jonah), so God also"prepared"a worm. This was a special worm. Its job was to eat the special plant that was shading Jonah.

The Hebrew word for"worm" is TOWLA (to-law), meaning "a crimson grub, a scarlet worm." This is a "red" worm which was crushed to provide a precious deep red dye that was used to color the veils or curtains of the tabernacle, as well as the clothing of the high priest. We have studied in the past that the "red" color of the tabernacle represented the "blood" of Christ.

In Psalm 22 the psalmist David writes propetically concerning the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It opens with the prophecy of the very words that Jesus would use on the cross. Psalm 22:1-8,"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In Thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. To Thee they cried out, and were delivered; in Thee they trusted, and were not disappointed. BUT I AM A WORM(the Hebrew word for "worm" is the same one that is used in Jonah 4:7, TOWLA),and not a man, a reproach to men, and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, Commit yourself to the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, because he delights in him."

As the worm destroyed the gourd, so the work of Jesus Christ destroyed the Mosaic Law from having any authority over us. The work of Jesus Christ is death to all efforts to be saved or be spiritual by the works of the law.

VS 8 -

Notice the mood swings in Jonah: one moment he is "exceeding glad,"and the next moment "he wants to die."