June 19, 2020
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Reading along with us in Jonah? Here’s today’s reading:
Jonah 4 (ESV)
Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?…..Continue Reading
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He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Is it right to be angry when God extends mercy to someone who we feel humanly doesn’t deserve it? Is it right to be angry when things don’t go our way?
I am not sure what to say about chapter four. Jonah is a troubled prophet. Instead of rejoicing over repentance, he bemoans the mercy of God toward Nineveh. Consider that it is this same mercy that vomited the reluctant prophet onto dry land and called him once again to ministry.
Another part of me gets it. The Assyrian capital of Nineveh was beyond wicked. There is a part of all of us who want the wicked to get justice. Yet, we feel this way because we scale our sin to justify our own wicked behavior. We do not believe our sin is so bad that it deserves God’s judgment. However, we all deserve judgment and it is His mercy that withholds it.
Ah Jonah chapter 4…..where Jonah shows himself to be the rare or only prophet who is angered when the recipients of his message adhere to it. Like I said before, the Assyrians were notably evil in their conduct in battle and they were the powerhouse in that area of the world at this time and also the tool of judgement that God will use to discipline the Northern kingdom of Israel. It is not hard to imagine that they have caused destruction and pain to the Jewish people. So Jonah clearly hoped that they would reject the message and receive God’s judgement. Jonah knew if they repented, that God would be merciful. So he fled in chapter one so as to not even give them the chance to repent….at least not by virtue of his proclamation!
And so God asks Job a very important question that we need to ask ourselves alot…….do you have a right to be angry? How often is our anger misplaced because we have been personally offended by something or someone. And how helpful it is for us to hear God ask..do you have the right to be angry? Maybe we should have more understanding and compassion for people rather than anger…..and let vengeance be God’s if vengeance is even warranted….but who better to decide than God?
And there is another powerful lesson here as well. God makes a vine to benefit Jonah and then takes it away. It helps us question whether we are more enamored with the gifts of God or the Giver? How important it is for us to accept whatever comes from God’s hand and bring glory to Him in the midst of it! As Job says, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. He has shown Himself to be sovereign, wise, powerful, true, gracious and compassionate so there is always reason to believe and praise and trust and depend on the Giver and not on the gifts. Jonah just didn’t get it and because the chapter concludes open ended, maybe he never did. All he saw was Assyria’s evil….God looked at the 120,000 people there who were innocent….young children and those who lacked mental capacity to be responsible for the evil that was done…..and I love that He mentions the cattle as well…so God offered repentance on their behalf, the weak and the vulnerable….those are the ones closest to God’s heart….
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”