Jonah 4

Jonah sulks (v. 1-11)—It appears that Jonah was more patriotic than he was spiritual. He was angry that the Lord spared the city. This is a bit amazing to me, a man who has preached for almost 40 years now. How I would love to go to a city, preach to it, and have the whole town repent! But that wasn’t Jonah. He was “displeased” and “angry” (v. 1), and complained to God about it: “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” (v. 2). Jonah wanted Nineveh to be destroyed, not saved. It’s very possible that, since he was a contemporary of Hosea and Amos, he knew of their message, i.e., that Assyria was going to be God’s tool in punishing wicked Israel. Well, if Assyria wasn’t around due to God’s destruction of it, then that empire couldn’t very well attack Israel, could it? If God will wipe China off the map, then the United States won’t have to worry about that country doing something ill to us in the future. But that isn’t the way God works.

Jonah asked the Lord to take his life, he was so miserable (v. 3). The Lord responded, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (v. 4). No, of course not, he should have rejoiced at the salvation of souls. Jonah then “went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city” (v. 5), perhaps hoping the Lord would destroy it anyway, or more than likely, just to sulk. It was very hot and “the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah” (v. 6). The plant provided shade and “Jonah was very grateful for the plant” (v. 6). But the next morning, the Lord sent a worm to devour the plant, and then “a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint” (v. 8). Thus, once again, he wishes death to come (v. 8).

The chapter ends with the Lord rebuking Jonah. The prophet was more concerned about his own comfort than the salvation of many people: "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. 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?" (vs. 10-11). And the book ends there.

Jonah obviously doesn’t come out well in this story. He appears selfish and, again, more patriotic than spiritual. He had no concern for well over 100,000 souls who needed the grace of God. It is a reminder to us that God loves all people (John 3:16), and we should, too. As Americans, we have a lot of bitterness towards Islam today and many of the Muslim people because of the terrorism some of them have practiced in recent years. But the Lord still loves those people, and if given a chance, we should do all we can to convert them to the truth of Jesus Christ. That is a powerful lesson from this great book.

And one final note: while Jonah’s actions here are distasteful to us, this is not the only time the Lord used him. II Kings 14:25 reads “He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.” Notice, Jonah is called “His servant,” which, I believe, indicates the true nature of the prophet. He simply did not want his people destroyed by Assyria. That’s not a valid reason for not doing as God commanded, but let’s not judge him totally by what is written in the book of Jonah.