4. Jonah, the Regretful Prophet(Jonah 4:1-11)
This sermon was preached on 27/12/2009
In this chapter we have a dialogue between a despondent prophet and a determined God. I use the word ‘determined’ because this book clearly shows that the Lord will not leave a task unfinished, be that task a pagan city in need of forgiveness or a moody prophet in need of restoration.
It is also worth reminding ourselves that, in all likelihood, this account was written by Jonah himself, so we can say that he was an honest reporter. As Hugh Martin observed, ‘Let us not forget, therefore, that he has with much simplicity and frankness owned all his sin in this matter.’ This leads to the obvious question: how do we describe ourselves when we are part of a story we are telling? Do we exaggerate our good contribution and play down our sinful involvement?
Jonah informs us of his response to the repentance of Nineveh. He was more than angry – he regarded their repentance as an absolute disaster. Perhaps he had not expected them to repent, and had assumed that his predicted judgement would be fulfilled in just over a month’s time. Instead they had repented, and Jonah was disappointed, to say the least.
Yet it is important to note what angry Jonah did – he prayed (4:2). This at least is an improvement on his initial response to God’s command to go to Nineveh with his message. On that first occasion, he did not pray. Now, he does pray, which is a reminder to us that when things happen we do not understand, we should pray to God about it.
1. Jonah’s wonderful description of God (4:2)
Although in a bad mood Jonah gives one of the most beautiful descriptions of God that is to be found in the entire Bible when he says that God is ‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster’. We are familiar with the five points of Calvinism. Here is another set of five points, except they are five points about God and if we grasp each individually and all of them collectively, we will understand who God is and why he does what he does. Let us consider these details because they are the key to understanding the way that God acts.
First, God is gracious. This is his goodness towards the undeserving. Israel had not deserved any of the great blessings that God had given to them. Jonah had forgotten that the only way a person can have a relationship with God is by grace and not merit. We are familiar with the acrostic G(od’s) R(iches) A(t) C(hrist’s) E(xpense).
Second, God is merciful. This is his forgiveness of the guilty. All have sinned against him, including Jonah’s own people. If he had dealt with Israel as her sins deserved, she would have been punished. Instead God had shown mercy. To be a recipient of mercy should lead to the desire that mercy should be shown to others. Jonah had evidently forgotten that God delights to show mercy, even to citizens of wicked cities.
Third, God is slow to anger. This is his attitude to the impenitent. Our God is long-suffering towards the wicked. Why was God slow to anger with the Assyrians? One answer is that they were ignorant of his requirements. He describes them at the close of the chapter as not knowing the right hand from the left. It may be that most people in our society are ignorant of God and his ways, and therefore he delays his judgements to give them an opportunity for repentance.
In passing, we can note that ignorance is not an excuse for sin, nor does it make people not responsible for their actions. Yet we know that Jesus used the ignorance of the soldiers who were crucifying him when he prayed that the Father should forgive them (Luke 23:34). And Paul says that he obtained mercy because his awful actions prior to his conversion were done ignorantly (1 Tim. 1:13).
Fourth, God is faithful to his commitments. This is his attitude towards those who trust in him. This is the way he displays his love. He is ever loyal to them, which was just as well for Jonah. The reason why the inhabitants of Nineveh were not judged immediately was God’s long-suffering, the reason why Jonah was not judged immediately was God’s loyalty to his own promises to his people.
Fifth, God responds to those who repent. This is his response to those who heed his warnings. The heinousness of their sin did not prevent forgiveness once Nineveh repented. What wonderful grace God shows to sinners! This is not evidence that the Lord changes his mind depending on how individuals respond to his warnings. Rather it is a reminder that God’s offers of mercy are genuine.
There was nothing wrong with Jonah’s theology, although there was plenty things wrong with Jonah himself. We can compare Jonah’s attitude to another man who discovered a lot about God, but who did not respond to God in the manner that Jonah did. Years ago, John Newton penned his hymn, Amazing Grace. Newton did not become like Jonah because he did not forget what he had been. On his study wall, Newton had a plaque which read, ‘Remember you were a bondsman in the land of Egypt.’ One essential requirement for living in grace is to keep a good memory. Peter complains about those who have forgotten that God pardoned their sins (2 Pet. 1:9). What a sad description of a believer!
2. Jonah’s wrong response to God
Most preachers would give anything to experience only a fraction of converts that Jonah had been given. 120,000 people had responded to his message of repentance and a heathen city had turned to God. Yet Jonah was not overjoyed, in fact it was the opposite. His response is a reminder that sin and rebellion in the heart of a believer can occur in a spiritually prosperous situation.
We noted in previous studies that it was likely that nationalism was part of the problem with Jonah’s attitude and we can see evidence of his mind-set in his description of Israel as ‘my country’ (v. 2). He is almost saying that God has forgotten his special relationship with his people, whereas what has happened is that Jonah has forgotten God’s intention for Israel to be a light to the world.
I think we can identify one or two other negative features in his outlook. One is a spirit of petulance, which is particularly seen in his outburst after the gourd was destroyed. This spirit is also displayed in his attitude to God. Jonah was angry with the God who refused to punish sinners. This attitude seems to have been a natural trait in Jonah’s character because he was irritated by the demise of the gourd.
It is easy for our natural traits to be transferred into religious outlooks and cause us to sin. An impatient person will be an impatient Christian unless he or she deals with the matter. The best way to deal with a flaw is to replace it with its opposite. Jonah, therefore, should have been praying that the city’s repentance would continue; he should have been praising God for showing mercy to it; he should have thanked God that his delay in getting to Nineveh had not caused judgement to come on the city. Of course, I wonder how many people died in Nineveh the day before Jonah arrived and therefore did not hear his warning because he arrived late.
A second negative feature may be a concern for public appreciation. If Jonah had returned to Israel having announced a message of judgement on Nineveh that took place forty days later, he would have been welcomed as a hero in his homeland. Now he faced the prospect of having to return with the reputation of bringing a message of mercy to the enemies of his country.
A third negative feature is his attempt at self-justification (v. 2). How often even believers can engage in this outlook, often after they have been shown to be wrong. Even if Jonah was perplexed by God’s dealings with the Assyrians, it does not excuse his attempts to justify himself. Instead he should have acknowledged that God’s ways were higher than he could grasp.
Jonah is an example of how unlike God a believer can become. When God saw the city’s repentance he was moved with compassion; when Jonah saw it he was moved with anger. Sinclair Ferguson notes that geographically Jonah was outside Nineveh, chronologically he was in the middle of a revival, but spiritually he was almost back to square one. Instead Jonah should have imitated the God he knew how to describe.
3. God’s gracious instruction of Jonah
This chapter recounts how the Lord responded to Jonah’s state of soul, and we can picture Jonah as he records each detail. He writes as one who has tasted the pardon of God and he therefore records for our benefit how the Lord restored him.
First, God listened to the sinful response of his servant. Remarkably, the prayer of angry Jonah is heard by God. Sometimes the best response to a confused person is merely to listen. This is what Job’s friends did initially before they spoilt it by starting to assess the situation. It is wonderful to know that, in times of confusion, we have a listening God.
Second, when Jonah walked off in his rage to the outskirts of the city, the Lord followed him. Perhaps we would have let Jonah go and mope by himself, but God did not do so. Instead he followed on behind him and providentially arranged for his comfort. The Lord showed his goodness to a froward servant.
Third, the Lord gave Jonah an object lesson from the gourd that he had provided for Jonah’s comfort. God removed the gourd, which was Jonah’s protection against the hot sun. In the story Jonah feels sorry for the plant. From this incident, the Lord indicated the appropriateness of his concern for the people of Nineveh.
Fourth, the Lord asked Jonah several questions, designed to cause him to reflect on his own angry attitude and on the Lord’s forgiveness of Nineveh. The Lord did not accuse him, even although he was guilty. Instead he worked on Jonah’s mind in order for Jonah to realise his own folly.
In many ways, the Lord’s response to Jonah anticipates some of the ways that Jesus interacted with his disciples. He comforted disobedient disciples, gave them simple lessons, and asked helpful questions. Each of the Lord’s responses to Jonah reveal patience and concern.
Some lessons to learn
First, Jonah’s experiences warn us about the danger of a wrong concept of God. In his case, the wrong concept was nationalism. It was not the case that Jonah was ignorant of the character of God, but he had not allowed his intellect to affect his attitude. His knowledge about God did not cause him to understand God. He knew God was gracious, yet did not think he should be gracious to Nineveh. There is a real danger of having a detached knowledge of God that does not transform us into his image.
Second, God would not let Jonah go on in his downward path. He took steps in providence to arrest that descent as well as interacting with him personally. In a way, this is probably the most encouraging message of the book as far as the personal lives of believers are concerned. If you belong to God, he will not let you go. He may allow you to begin a descent, but he will not let you go down to the bottom. Eventually he will restore you. And he will not do so only once. Again and again he will restore his people.
Third, Jonah is an example of a preacher not being blessed by his own message. This is a danger that faces all preachers and may not be recognised by their hearers. No doubt, his converts in Nineveh were thanking God for Jonah’s ministry, yet Jonah was not interested. He had preached with benefit to others, but with no benefit to himself. It is important that you pray for blessing on the ministry from this pulpit, but you should also pray for blessing in the pulpit.
Fourth, can a reason be suggested for Jonah having this sinful attitude after his successful ministry in Nineveh? I would suggest that one cause of his outlook was a failure to engage in ongoing repentance. It was not enough that he repent inside the sea creature about his disobedience to God’s will. His response to God in chapter 4 reveals that he had allowed the wrong attitudes of nationalism and resentment to re-appear in his heart. Jonah should have continued to ask God to keep down these sinful tendencies. The same applies to us. Why do particular sins re-appear in our lives? Because we sometimes do not take their presence seriously and fail to pray penitently about them.
Fifth, we can be encouraged by realising that God can use a disobedient servant. This does not justify disobedience, but which of us is perfect? Our gracious God sidesteps the barriers that we erect and continues to use us in his service.
The book closes with God asking Jonah a question regarding the fate of the thousands in Nineveh. One assumes that Jonah realised the suitability of closing the account with a question. I suspect he finished his story in this way in order to help his readers grasp the most important detail of his book. If we come away saying that the most amazing feature of this story is the provision of a whale, we have missed the point of the book. Instead we are to focus on the amazing fact that the God of Israel blessed repentant pagans with mercy. The reason the book closes with an unanswered question is because the Lord wants us to give our answer to what he will do in our Nineveh.
It is also worth reminding ourselves that, in all likelihood, this account was written by Jonah himself, so we can say that he was an honest reporter. As Hugh Martin observed, ‘Let us not forget, therefore, that he has with much simplicity and frankness owned all his sin in this matter.’ This leads to the obvious question: how do we describe ourselves when we are part of a story we are telling? Do we exaggerate our good contribution and play down our sinful involvement?
Jonah informs us of his response to the repentance of Nineveh. He was more than angry – he regarded their repentance as an absolute disaster. Perhaps he had not expected them to repent, and had assumed that his predicted judgement would be fulfilled in just over a month’s time. Instead they had repented, and Jonah was disappointed, to say the least.
Yet it is important to note what angry Jonah did – he prayed (4:2). This at least is an improvement on his initial response to God’s command to go to Nineveh with his message. On that first occasion, he did not pray. Now, he does pray, which is a reminder to us that when things happen we do not understand, we should pray to God about it.
1. Jonah’s wonderful description of God (4:2)
Although in a bad mood Jonah gives one of the most beautiful descriptions of God that is to be found in the entire Bible when he says that God is ‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster’. We are familiar with the five points of Calvinism. Here is another set of five points, except they are five points about God and if we grasp each individually and all of them collectively, we will understand who God is and why he does what he does. Let us consider these details because they are the key to understanding the way that God acts.
First, God is gracious. This is his goodness towards the undeserving. Israel had not deserved any of the great blessings that God had given to them. Jonah had forgotten that the only way a person can have a relationship with God is by grace and not merit. We are familiar with the acrostic G(od’s) R(iches) A(t) C(hrist’s) E(xpense).
Second, God is merciful. This is his forgiveness of the guilty. All have sinned against him, including Jonah’s own people. If he had dealt with Israel as her sins deserved, she would have been punished. Instead God had shown mercy. To be a recipient of mercy should lead to the desire that mercy should be shown to others. Jonah had evidently forgotten that God delights to show mercy, even to citizens of wicked cities.
Third, God is slow to anger. This is his attitude to the impenitent. Our God is long-suffering towards the wicked. Why was God slow to anger with the Assyrians? One answer is that they were ignorant of his requirements. He describes them at the close of the chapter as not knowing the right hand from the left. It may be that most people in our society are ignorant of God and his ways, and therefore he delays his judgements to give them an opportunity for repentance.
In passing, we can note that ignorance is not an excuse for sin, nor does it make people not responsible for their actions. Yet we know that Jesus used the ignorance of the soldiers who were crucifying him when he prayed that the Father should forgive them (Luke 23:34). And Paul says that he obtained mercy because his awful actions prior to his conversion were done ignorantly (1 Tim. 1:13).
Fourth, God is faithful to his commitments. This is his attitude towards those who trust in him. This is the way he displays his love. He is ever loyal to them, which was just as well for Jonah. The reason why the inhabitants of Nineveh were not judged immediately was God’s long-suffering, the reason why Jonah was not judged immediately was God’s loyalty to his own promises to his people.
Fifth, God responds to those who repent. This is his response to those who heed his warnings. The heinousness of their sin did not prevent forgiveness once Nineveh repented. What wonderful grace God shows to sinners! This is not evidence that the Lord changes his mind depending on how individuals respond to his warnings. Rather it is a reminder that God’s offers of mercy are genuine.
There was nothing wrong with Jonah’s theology, although there was plenty things wrong with Jonah himself. We can compare Jonah’s attitude to another man who discovered a lot about God, but who did not respond to God in the manner that Jonah did. Years ago, John Newton penned his hymn, Amazing Grace. Newton did not become like Jonah because he did not forget what he had been. On his study wall, Newton had a plaque which read, ‘Remember you were a bondsman in the land of Egypt.’ One essential requirement for living in grace is to keep a good memory. Peter complains about those who have forgotten that God pardoned their sins (2 Pet. 1:9). What a sad description of a believer!
2. Jonah’s wrong response to God
Most preachers would give anything to experience only a fraction of converts that Jonah had been given. 120,000 people had responded to his message of repentance and a heathen city had turned to God. Yet Jonah was not overjoyed, in fact it was the opposite. His response is a reminder that sin and rebellion in the heart of a believer can occur in a spiritually prosperous situation.
We noted in previous studies that it was likely that nationalism was part of the problem with Jonah’s attitude and we can see evidence of his mind-set in his description of Israel as ‘my country’ (v. 2). He is almost saying that God has forgotten his special relationship with his people, whereas what has happened is that Jonah has forgotten God’s intention for Israel to be a light to the world.
I think we can identify one or two other negative features in his outlook. One is a spirit of petulance, which is particularly seen in his outburst after the gourd was destroyed. This spirit is also displayed in his attitude to God. Jonah was angry with the God who refused to punish sinners. This attitude seems to have been a natural trait in Jonah’s character because he was irritated by the demise of the gourd.
It is easy for our natural traits to be transferred into religious outlooks and cause us to sin. An impatient person will be an impatient Christian unless he or she deals with the matter. The best way to deal with a flaw is to replace it with its opposite. Jonah, therefore, should have been praying that the city’s repentance would continue; he should have been praising God for showing mercy to it; he should have thanked God that his delay in getting to Nineveh had not caused judgement to come on the city. Of course, I wonder how many people died in Nineveh the day before Jonah arrived and therefore did not hear his warning because he arrived late.
A second negative feature may be a concern for public appreciation. If Jonah had returned to Israel having announced a message of judgement on Nineveh that took place forty days later, he would have been welcomed as a hero in his homeland. Now he faced the prospect of having to return with the reputation of bringing a message of mercy to the enemies of his country.
A third negative feature is his attempt at self-justification (v. 2). How often even believers can engage in this outlook, often after they have been shown to be wrong. Even if Jonah was perplexed by God’s dealings with the Assyrians, it does not excuse his attempts to justify himself. Instead he should have acknowledged that God’s ways were higher than he could grasp.
Jonah is an example of how unlike God a believer can become. When God saw the city’s repentance he was moved with compassion; when Jonah saw it he was moved with anger. Sinclair Ferguson notes that geographically Jonah was outside Nineveh, chronologically he was in the middle of a revival, but spiritually he was almost back to square one. Instead Jonah should have imitated the God he knew how to describe.
3. God’s gracious instruction of Jonah
This chapter recounts how the Lord responded to Jonah’s state of soul, and we can picture Jonah as he records each detail. He writes as one who has tasted the pardon of God and he therefore records for our benefit how the Lord restored him.
First, God listened to the sinful response of his servant. Remarkably, the prayer of angry Jonah is heard by God. Sometimes the best response to a confused person is merely to listen. This is what Job’s friends did initially before they spoilt it by starting to assess the situation. It is wonderful to know that, in times of confusion, we have a listening God.
Second, when Jonah walked off in his rage to the outskirts of the city, the Lord followed him. Perhaps we would have let Jonah go and mope by himself, but God did not do so. Instead he followed on behind him and providentially arranged for his comfort. The Lord showed his goodness to a froward servant.
Third, the Lord gave Jonah an object lesson from the gourd that he had provided for Jonah’s comfort. God removed the gourd, which was Jonah’s protection against the hot sun. In the story Jonah feels sorry for the plant. From this incident, the Lord indicated the appropriateness of his concern for the people of Nineveh.
Fourth, the Lord asked Jonah several questions, designed to cause him to reflect on his own angry attitude and on the Lord’s forgiveness of Nineveh. The Lord did not accuse him, even although he was guilty. Instead he worked on Jonah’s mind in order for Jonah to realise his own folly.
In many ways, the Lord’s response to Jonah anticipates some of the ways that Jesus interacted with his disciples. He comforted disobedient disciples, gave them simple lessons, and asked helpful questions. Each of the Lord’s responses to Jonah reveal patience and concern.
Some lessons to learn
First, Jonah’s experiences warn us about the danger of a wrong concept of God. In his case, the wrong concept was nationalism. It was not the case that Jonah was ignorant of the character of God, but he had not allowed his intellect to affect his attitude. His knowledge about God did not cause him to understand God. He knew God was gracious, yet did not think he should be gracious to Nineveh. There is a real danger of having a detached knowledge of God that does not transform us into his image.
Second, God would not let Jonah go on in his downward path. He took steps in providence to arrest that descent as well as interacting with him personally. In a way, this is probably the most encouraging message of the book as far as the personal lives of believers are concerned. If you belong to God, he will not let you go. He may allow you to begin a descent, but he will not let you go down to the bottom. Eventually he will restore you. And he will not do so only once. Again and again he will restore his people.
Third, Jonah is an example of a preacher not being blessed by his own message. This is a danger that faces all preachers and may not be recognised by their hearers. No doubt, his converts in Nineveh were thanking God for Jonah’s ministry, yet Jonah was not interested. He had preached with benefit to others, but with no benefit to himself. It is important that you pray for blessing on the ministry from this pulpit, but you should also pray for blessing in the pulpit.
Fourth, can a reason be suggested for Jonah having this sinful attitude after his successful ministry in Nineveh? I would suggest that one cause of his outlook was a failure to engage in ongoing repentance. It was not enough that he repent inside the sea creature about his disobedience to God’s will. His response to God in chapter 4 reveals that he had allowed the wrong attitudes of nationalism and resentment to re-appear in his heart. Jonah should have continued to ask God to keep down these sinful tendencies. The same applies to us. Why do particular sins re-appear in our lives? Because we sometimes do not take their presence seriously and fail to pray penitently about them.
Fifth, we can be encouraged by realising that God can use a disobedient servant. This does not justify disobedience, but which of us is perfect? Our gracious God sidesteps the barriers that we erect and continues to use us in his service.
The book closes with God asking Jonah a question regarding the fate of the thousands in Nineveh. One assumes that Jonah realised the suitability of closing the account with a question. I suspect he finished his story in this way in order to help his readers grasp the most important detail of his book. If we come away saying that the most amazing feature of this story is the provision of a whale, we have missed the point of the book. Instead we are to focus on the amazing fact that the God of Israel blessed repentant pagans with mercy. The reason the book closes with an unanswered question is because the Lord wants us to give our answer to what he will do in our Nineveh.