Jonah 4:1-5 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
The story of Jonah is so incredible that some look at it as a fairy tale. Jonah was a respected man, a real person. The content of Jonah is discouraging, and one could wonder why there was a book written about this. Chapter 3 ends with the repentance of the people of Nineveh after Jonah's prophecy that the city would be destroyed in 40 days. You would think that chapter 4 would begin on a high note, but it did not. Verse one says this angered Jonah exceedingly. Why? The people repented and God was not going to send the judgment. Why didn't Jonah rejoice? The people of Nineveh were very wicked; they had tortured the people of Israel. Jonah knew of this wickedness. He was sent to preach judgment. Now he's mad at the people for their sin and mad at God for forgiving them.
God had spared Jonah's own life by not letting him die in the ship or in the belly of the whale. This should have been fresh in Jonah's mind; this should have prompted Jonah to see the preciousness of the lives of the people of Nineveh. Much to his surprise the people repented. Jonah wanted them to die. He was ungrateful for his own forgiveness and felt they did not deserve any mercy. In response Jonah told God he wanted to die. He turned his back on the people and went to a place outside the city to see what would become of the city.
What does this action mean? Why did Jonah do this? His righteous indignation (pride) got in his way. He wanted to call the shots. He planned to see what would become of the city in 40 days; he wanted to see them fail so he could say I told you so, God. Jonah's attitude was wrong. The people were in need of guidance yet Jonah walked out on them leaving them to make it on their own. God had not left Jonah on his own. He prepared things to help him learn his lessons– the whale for instance. We'll see other things later.
Do we not see ourselves here sometimes? Have you ever witnessed the salvation of someone and said to yourself I wonder how long that will last? How often we turn our backs on those who need our guidance leaving them in a position to fail.
We'll pick up on the study next week. Here are some things to think and study about. Why did God want to make Jonah's wait more comfortable? Why a gourd? Why did Jonah delight in the gourd? Why did Jonah grieve over the gourd? Why the worm? Why the east wind?
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 