Archive for the 'Jonah' Category

Jonah 4:11

Published on December 22, 2001 in Jonah. 2 Comments
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Jonah 4:11 “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?”
 
And should I not pity Nineveh,
God asked Jonah to take spiritual inventory by a pointed, piercing question.  God demonstrated to Jonah what He feels is important.  God is a God of compassion (“pity”).
 that great city,
God’s point to Jonah was this: “Jonah, you care more about your plant (temporal thing) than about the greatest city in the world.  You care more about temporal things than eternal things.” 
in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left
The city of Nineveh had 120,000 small children who could not tell the difference between their right hand and their left hand.  By extrapolating 120,000 very small children, we must conclude that there were between 600,000 and a million people in the city.  That is a lot of people about which to be callous.
God’s point about children is something like this: “Jonah, if you don’t care about adults, maybe you care about children?  Do you even have any compassion for them?” 
—and much livestock?
The book of Jonah closes abruptly.  This is intentional because God wants His people to think about eternal things.  It is a more forceful conclusion than if He spelled out the implications of the conclusion.  It was important for Jonah to learn the relative value of the temporal and eternal, the material and the spiritual. 
The book of Jonah concludes on a very powerful note.  Here is the implication: “Jonah, if you don’t care much about the adults of Nineveh, maybe you care about the children.  If you don’t care about the children, maybe you care about the cows of Nineveh?”  This is pure irony. 
Jonah did not answer that question because it is an open question for anyone who reads the book of Jonah.  All of us should take inventory of our lives.  What do we care about? 
PRINCIPLE:  All of us need to take inventory of our compassion for the lost. 
APPLICATION:  Take inventory of your life.  Is your chief concern for your house, success, security, health and pleasure? 
The reason most people are indifferent to missions is that they are indifferent to the lost anywhere.  We are God’s representatives on earth today.  God loves the most awful of people.  He intends that every generation be evangelized.  Many of us are calloused and indifferent to this mission.  We have the heart of Jonah.  We do not care about the eternal state of people around us.  The reason we do not care is that we are too occupied with the “plants” of this life, with material pursuits.  There is a tendency to make our churches into country clubs of Christians who enjoy one another but who could care less about those who do not know Christ. 
Every time we become indifferent to the lost, God prepares a worm.  If we are in bondage to materialism, God sends something to disrupt our covetous idol.  It is time to take stock.  Do I care about the lost around me?  Do I have my priorities straight? 
1 Tim. 2: 3 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
2 Pet 3: 9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
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Jonah 4:10b

Published on December 21, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:10 “But the Lord said, ‘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.’”
 
which came up in a night and perished in a night
Jonah’s plant (his air conditioning system) came quickly and went away quickly.  It was a temporal thing.  It was a temporal gift from God given out of unadulterated grace. 
Jonah had no “right” (4:4,9) to be angry because he did not earn the right to enjoy the plant.  God gave him the plant due to no merit on his part.  Jonah then must tacitly acknowledge that the plant was an act of grace on God’s part.  He did not earn or deserve it.  If Jonah was the recipient of God’s grace, the Ninevites must be afforded that right as well. 
PRINCIPLE:  A good perspective on grace puts transitory things in their proper place. 
APPLICATION:  Temporal things are momentary.  They are not lasting values.  We give great amounts of time to these things, but in the final analysis they are temporal and will not enrich us in time nor continue into the eternal state. 
Most of us have a superficial heart for the spiritual needs of people around us.  Our vision for those without Christ has dimmed.  This is because we have lost our perspective on the grace of God. 
Ro 11: 6 “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
2 Co 1: 12 “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.”
2 Co 6: 12 “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.”
He 12: 28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.”
1 Pe 4: 10 “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
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Jonah 4:10

Published on December 20, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:10 “But the Lord said, ‘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.’”
 
Now we come to the climax of the book of Jonah. 
But the Lord said,
Now God presses the point of the analogy between the plant and Nineveh.  God has the last word.  Jonah does not speak again. 
“You have had pity on the plant
Jonah expressed himself so clearly on his affection for the plant (air conditioning system) that afforded him comfort.  He was attached emotionally to the plant.
for which you have not labored, nor made it grow,
The plant needed no thought, planting, pruning, watering or tending.  Jonah put no labor or toil into the plant.  God gave him that plant by His sheer grace.  Jonah did not merit it or deserve it.  The plant came from God, was nurtured by God and was sustained for Jonah.  Jonah, therefore, was the subject of pure grace, so why should he begrudge grace to others, even the Ninevites? 
PRINCIPLE:  Those who receive God’s grace should extend grace to others. 
APPLICATION:  All of us are the recipients of God’s grace.  We do not earn or deserve that grace from God.  Grace is something God gives us because of Christ, not because of a religious toe dance.  Paul had a good grip on this.
1 Co 15: 10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
If God gives us grace with no strings attached, should we not extend the same grace to others?  Why begrudge others the grace of God?  It is amazing how much duplicity there is in our lives when it comes to this. 

 

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Jonah 4:9

Published on December 19, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:9 “Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’”
 
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
God asked Jonah a further penetrating question: “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”  There is an analogy between Nineveh and the plant.  Jonah loved his plant (air conditioner) but he did not love Nineveh.  Jonah needed to learn God’s values about things rather than to operate on the premises of his own values. 
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
This time Jonah answered God’s question: “I am justified in my anger about losing that plant to a worm.  I deserve the comfort of my air conditioning system!  It is enough for me to die!”   Here was a man with extremely distorted values.  The only thing he cared about was his air conditioning system.  Jonah was totally given over to materialism. 
PRINCIPLE:  Unrestrained materialism distorts fellowship with God. 
APPLICATION:  Ungoverned materialistic values are brutish to God’s system of things.  We want what we want and we could care less about God’s system of values: “God I do not want you fooling with my life.  I don’t want you to run my life.  I would rather be dead than have you do that.  I care about things and not what you care about.” 
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Jonah 4:8

Published on December 18, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:8 “And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
 
And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind;
We have the word “prepared” for the third verse running; God prepared a plant, a worm and now “a vehement east wind.”  God prepared this hot wind to intensify Jonah’s discomfort, to show him where his true values lay. 
God knows something about meteorology.
Pr 30: 4 “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?”
and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint.
Jonah may have experienced sunstroke here. 
Then he wished death for himself,
Again, for the second time Jonah wished that he was dead.  He asked God to kill him in verse three, but that did not work.  Children say this sometimes but they do not mean it: “I wish I were dead.”  This is a faulty appeal to compassion in their parents.  It sounds dramatic.  Jonah tried to be dramatic with God at this point.  Here is a miserable servant of God who thinks he can appeal to a false sense of compassion in God. 
and said, “It is better for me to die than to live
Jonah claimed that it was “better” for him to die than to carry on with the knowledge that God did not discipline the Ninevites.  He did not know that for sure.    
PRINCIPLE:  God puts discord into our lives to show us the true and ultimate value of fellowship with Him. 
APPLICATION:  If our lives are out of harmony with the Lord then we are out of tune and our lives are in discord.  We do not have music but noise in our soul.  God will make music in our lives if we walk in fellowship with Him. 
Sometimes God brings discord into our lives.  That may not be pleasant for the moment but God has a blueprint with eternal values.  We do not know all the factors as to why God does this; however, there is one thing that we do know – God is too good to do wrong and He is too wise to make a mistake.  He will make our Christianity real or He will put us through the ringer.  He will strip all superficiality from us.  God will also build us into what He wants us to be for our lives.  There is no way that we can sidestep the sovereignty of God. 
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Jonah 4:7

Published on December 17, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:7 “But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.”
 
But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm,
God “prepared” a second thing in two verses.  We meet this term in verses six, seven, and eight.  In the previous verse He prepared a plant to give Jonah shade.  Now He prepares a worm to destroy the plant.  The worm was to show Jonah where his true values lay. 
We can translate the word “prepared” as ordained.  God ordained a worm!  God ordained a fish in chapter one to save Jonah (1:17), and now he ordains a worm to teach Jonah about his materialistic attitude. 
and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
Jonah needed to see the relative value of the temporal and the eternal, the material and the spiritual.  He needed to understand something of God’s grace and mercy to Nineveh.  Jonah was so occupied with his own comfort that he forgot about the spiritual needs of others.  The worm destroyed the only thing that Jonah cared for. 
PRINCIPLE:  God introduces dissonance into our lives to make us see where our true value lies. 
APPLICATION:  All of us have our blind spots.  Although Jonah saw the need for grace in his life, he could not see the need for grace in the Ninevites’ lives.  That is the same with us.  We see the need for grace and mercy in our lives but we find it difficult to extend grace to others. 
In order to blast us out of our biases about what is true value, God at times introduces dissonance into our lives.  He cares about us too much to let us go on unchecked.  The Lord wants us to live at the highest standard of excellence possible. 
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Jonah 4:6

Published on December 16, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:6 “And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.”
 
And the Lord God prepared a plant
The word “prepared” is the key word in the book of Jonah.  In this case, it was God Himself who prepared this plant.  This is a case of God’s sovereign provision for Jonah.  It was to be an object lesson to help Jonah learn something about the nature of grace and compassion. 
God clearly acts in sovereignty throughout the book.  There are five things that God “prepared” in the book of Jonah:
1.      God prepared a wind, 1:4
2.      God prepared a great fish, 1:17
3.      God prepared a plant, 4:6
4.      God prepared a worm, 4:7
5.      God prepared a vehement east wind, 4:8
and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery.
The design of the plant was to provide shade for Jonah in the blazing sun of the near east.  Jonah did not water or prune the plant; it was an unadulterated gift of grace from God. 
So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Jonah went from one extreme to the other.  He wanted to die in verse three; now he is “very grateful” for the plant.  He was a man of extremes.  He was either way up or way down.  He was really mad or really glad.  He was completely right or completely wrong.  There was no in-between with him.  Jonah expressed himself very clearly concerning his plant.  This is the only place in the book where Jonah articulates any positive emotion. 
PRINCIPLE:  Grace is God’s way of motivating us to serve Him. 
APPLICATION:  God provides grace even for those out of fellowship.  His grace is a motivation for restoration.  We do what we do as Christians because we love the Lord Jesus.
2 Co 5: 14 “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”
People attach themselves to material things.  Some love material things more than people.
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Jonah 4:5

Published on December 15, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:5 “So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.”
 
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city.
Jonah did not answer God’s question in verse four but made himself a box seat to see the fireworks that he expected God to rain down on Nineveh.  Apparently he had an unobstructed view of the entire city. 
There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade,
While waiting for the doom of Nineveh, Jonah provided for his own personal comfort first and foremost.  He defied God further by selfish concern for his personal welfare.  What a contrast to the king of Nineveh, sitting in ashes and sackcloth! 
till he might see what would become of the city
Jonah got a good view of the city with its fifteen hundred towers and high walls.  Jonah might have said to himself, “Oh, oh, I had better get out of this city.  God is going to make this city an ash heap.”  We see the heart of Jonah.  Later in the chapter, we will see the heart of God.  Can you see Jonah in his easy chair saying, “Hit them with a thunderbolt!  Send an intercontinental ballistic missile to wipe them out!”  There is no compassion here, just judgment and condemnation. 
PRINCIPLE:  There is no place in spirituality to carry a wounded attitude. 
APPLICATION:  Jonah had a hard heart toward the lost.  The sad thing is that our hearts are just as hard as his.  We do not want to be disturbed in our lives of comfort.  Our hearts are just as hard about the people where we live.  Are you extending compassion to anyone now? 
How long has it been since you shared Christ with someone? 
Are you in the business of giving or providing for your own personal comfort?  Many of us get to such a point of self-interest that we sulk.  That is what kids do.  If they do not get their way, they pout.  A big lip protrudes out.  Does your husband do that?  He just goes over to the couch and lies there like a big glob of grease!  Maybe you have a wife like that?  The best school in which to learn selflessness is the School of Matrimony.  We learn to get along with someone who differs from us.  We learn that it does not profit us to pop off with our opinion without giving due consideration to someone else. 
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Jonah 4:4

Published on December 14, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:4 “Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’”
 
Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?
At this point, the LORD addressed Jonah’s values (4:4-8).  God tried to reason with this rebellious prophet.  Jonah sulked yet God still sought him.  The LORD did not reproach Jonah but compassionately asked him a question that should have stirred him to the true condition of his soul. 
Jonah had no entitlement to be angry.  He had no right to be angry at what God chose to do with the Ninevites.  He did not have reasonable grounds for his bias against the Ninevites. 
Notice that Jonah did not answer this question from God.  He just went out obtusely to the edge of the city to see if God would judge Nineveh.  Jonah was resolved to destroy Nineveh regardless of Jehovah’s question. 
PRINCIPLE:  Callousness of soul causes unconcern for others. 
APPLICATION:  God tries compassionately to awaken us to the true condition of our souls.  He will not allow our mistaken values to remain unchallenged.  This is especially true in our callousness toward those without Christ.  Coldness of soul keeps us from reaching out to those without Christ.  What is the true condition of your soul about this? 
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Jonah 4:3b

Published on December 13, 2001 in Jonah. 0 Comments
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Jonah 4:3 “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
 
for it is better for me to die than to live!
Jonah was sulking here.  Jonah earlier prayed that he might live (2:2).  He was concerned about himself, not about Nineveh. 
PRINCIPLE:  Sulking is not a good system of communication. 
APPLICATION:  Sulking is never a good mode of operation for dealing with life.  It is amazing how many people feel that this is a good system of communication. 
Jonah was not the first to want to die.  Moses prayed that God would kill him (Ex 32:30f).  If people get too discouraged, they want to die.  Elijah wanted to die.  He was afraid of Jezebel (1 Kg 19:1).  He ran clear across Israel to get away from her.  God still has not answered his prayer yet for God took him to heaven without dying! 
In one sense it is better to die than to live (Ph 1:21-23).  Most of us do not believe this but it is true anyhow.  Heaven is better than earth.  The reason God keeps us alive is to do His purpose on earth. 
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