Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] If you haven't been with us for a time, or a little while, or maybe it's your first time here, whatever that may be, we're glad that you're here. We're gonna be in Jonah, as it says on the screen. Just a little book with how many chapters? Four. Four chapters. And today we're gonna be in chapter four. So we are gonna be concluding Jonah today and then next week. Well, you'll have to come back next week to see where we'll be.
[00:00:26] But I'll give you a hint. It's not back in John. Now, if you're looking for Jonah in your Bibles, Cause some of you still have paper Bibles that you use. If you're looking for Jonah, you will find it right between Obadiah and Micah. So that should hopefully help you considerably as you get digging there.
[00:00:44] If you again, haven't been here with us, just let me give you a quick recap and then we will dive into this passage here. So Jonah, a well known story, probably one of the most major, if you will, of the minor prophets that we talked about. Because there's all the movies about it, there's the stories and so on. Whereas this one particular prophet that we don't know a whole lot about other than what we read in this book, is tasked by God to go to a nation that is about 500, 550 miles or so from where he is and tell them that their time to repent is now. Because God's judgment is coming. And Jonah, instead of saying, yes, sir, goes the other direction. Well, how does that work out for him?
[00:01:32] He ends up down in the belly of a fish.
[00:01:36] Fish. The Bible says fish.
[00:01:39] I know everyone says whale, because how could that be if you were with us? Week one. Let me just give you a brief synopsis here.
[00:01:45] Was it a fish? Was it a whale? I wasn't there. And neither were you. So when we get to heaven, we can ask God about that. But God says that he prepared a great fish. And so God can make anything as big as he wants. So it could just be a really big fish that can take care of housing one individual for three days and keeping him alive for that long. After three days, Jonah has now prayed. He said, God, I should have obeyed. I was wrong to not obey. And God says, that's right. You are right about that. And then it says that the fish vomited him out. What a pleasant term.
[00:02:21] Onto the shore. And then last week we saw that he then goes into Nineveh and joyfully preaches not at all begrudgingly preaches to this nation.
[00:02:36] And so we pick up here in chapter four after this proclamation has been made in the great city of Nineveh.
[00:02:47] Let me pray and then we will just jump right into your outline, into chapter four of Jonah. Dear Jesus, we are grateful for your great love for us that even though we might be going through hard things right now, as we sung earlier, we can continue to bless, to praise your name, though you give and take away, your name is still to be honored in this place this morning. And so we want to do that. And so with whatever distractions might be on our minds, I pray that you would press those to the side. Whatever burdens we might be carrying, we would lay those before the cross this morning.
[00:03:25] And we would remember that because you are sovereign, it is well with our soul.
[00:03:31] And so as we spend time in your word, Lord, we also ask that your spirit would teach and guide us, would direct us, would correct us, would challenge us to be people that walk with you the way you've called us to. In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:03:46] There are times in your life and my life that we see. And maybe you've experienced somebody getting a second chance. Have you ever got a second chance before? You know, other people that have gotten a second chance before, have you ever been frustrated or annoyed that somebody else got a second chance?
[00:04:01] Sometimes when you didn't get the second chance, but they did, you got pretty annoyed by that.
[00:04:06] Here we see Jonah not excited about somebody else getting a second chance. If you look in your Bibles, in chapter one, I'm sorry, chapter three, it says, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Jonah got a second chance, didn't he? But here we're gonna find that Nineveh, they get a second chance. The judgment doesn't come immediately. And Jonah is not excited about that. He's actually very frightened, frustrated about that. So God, Jonah's anger and God's mercy is what I have entitled this here. And we're going to read through this together.
[00:04:42] You read through it kind of as we're, as we're preaching through, as I'm preaching through it, but we'll walk through it kind of together, verse by verse. What we're going to see though is that this passage is Jonah is so focused on himself. As we go through this chapter nine times, at least, we see the word I and my son spoken from Jonah's mouth. He's very self focused here, not focused on the character of God, the heart of God, as we walk through this. So let's just jump right in verse one of. What chapter are we in?
[00:05:12] Chapter four. So you could write this in if you'd like. Point one there. The mercy, mercy that caused anger. That's what we see there. Verses 1 through 5 kind of gives us this broader glimpse of this anger that Jonah has. And why it was had by him is because of God's mercy. So let's look. Verse one says this, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. We'll just stop right there. When we see. But it. We're like, what are we talking about? We have to go back now to chapter three. Look at verses five through ten of chapter three with me. It says this. And after Jonah's proclamation, here's what it says the people of Nineveh did. Look at verse five. The people of Nineveh believed God. It's not on the screen. And it says they called for a fast and they put on sackcloth. From the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh and he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself in sackcloth and put on ashes. That is a sign, an outward sign to everybody in this nation. There is something significant going on. The king is grieving. You should as.
[00:06:22] And then the king puts a proclamation out and he says that people should not eat or drink, including man and animals. And then he says everyone should turn from their evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. We know from previous weeks we've seen that Nineveh is an incredibly violent, terrible nation. The people there have done incredible atrocities that I don't even want to talk about.
[00:06:45] Here you can do some research on your time. And then here's what the king says. Who knows?
[00:06:51] God may turn and relent. Can you say relent?
[00:06:54] Relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish. That's the hope of the people of Nineveh. Their hearts are postured towards repentance. Their actions are postured towards repentance right now. And look what verse 10 says. When God saw what they did and how they turned. That's the repenting part. Turned from their evil way. God relented. Say repent. Relented.
[00:07:20] Relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them. And he did not do it. So we go back now to verse one of chapter four, or go forwards. But it. That's what Jonah is upset about. God relenting of his judgment.
[00:07:34] Now, you might be thinking, yes, I know that but hold on a second. This is a prophet of God who's tasked with preaching the message of God and the heart of God to people. And he's upset that God is relenting of judgment.
[00:07:47] Jonah's missed the heart of God, hasn't he?
[00:07:50] Why does this stir up anger inside of him? Because Jonah's message was successful.
[00:07:59] Now, let me just pause here for a moment. For most preachers, for most preachers, they hope, or anyone giving a teaching, maybe if you've taught before, you hope that the information that you're sharing or if you're preaching, perhaps the call that you're making, people, People would respond to that, right? Does that make sense? Like if a person's preaching. Let's say someone's preaching the gospel somewhere to a bunch of people who don't know Jesus and they're saying, you should trust in Jesus. And then people respond, you know, it's a great altar call. People come flooding up. You would imagine the preacher would get really excited right now if the preacher's name, at least in this case, was Jonah, he would be really upset. That's what we see from Jonah. He preaches to a nation and he says, you should repent. God's judgment is coming. And then they flee and they say, we're gonna repent. And Jonah is so mad.
[00:08:46] So backwards, right?
[00:08:48] So backwards.
[00:08:50] Why is he so angry that people are actually doing what he said they should do and what God said he should do, what they should do. We see this in point one, point A. Now, he says the reason he is angry is this. Verse two goes on, and he prays to the Lord in a frustrated, pouty tone.
[00:09:08] He prays to the Lord and says, o Lord, is this not what I said when I was yet in my own country, that is, back in Israel? That is why I made haste to flee to where?
[00:09:21] Tarshish. For I knew that you are a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and relenting, say relenting.
[00:09:33] Relenting from disaster.
[00:09:36] Now here we finally get a clear answer to why in chapter one, verse three, Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. Not because he thought, this is going to be a hard job or the people there might not like me. He ran from the presence of the Lord. He gives us the answer now. Because, God, I knew you were a gracious God and you might actually forgive them.
[00:09:59] Now, most people want to avoid others if they're mean or if they're cruel. You might have people in your life that you kind of avoid because they're kind of rude to you or whatever. And so you just kind of stay away from them. Right? You know what I'm talking about, or am I the only one? Actually, there's nobody. I love all of you.
[00:10:17] Here we see something unique. Jonah's frustration with God is that God is kind.
[00:10:23] And here's a real life example. It's like one spouse says to another, you, you know what? I want a divorce. I'm leaving you. And the other person says, why? Why are you leaving? You are way too kind.
[00:10:34] You make me breakfast all the time. You prepare my coffee, you take me out. You're so attentive, you love me so well. And the other person says, and you wanna leave because of that?
[00:10:44] Yes, I do.
[00:10:46] That's what we have going on here.
[00:10:48] That's exactly what we see happening with Jonah and God. God is like, what's going on? He's gonna say, ask this question. Why are you angry? Because you're so merciful and you' and you're so gracious. God's like, that's why you're upset.
[00:11:02] That's why you're mad.
[00:11:05] Write this down somewhere. Jonah didn't disobey God because he was theologically uninformed, but because he didn't let his theology transform him.
[00:11:16] He knew all about God, but his theology about God did not transform him. And, friends, this is a danger that you and I have as well, isn't it?
[00:11:27] We are theologically informed, but the effort, the desire that all of us should have is not just, can I be more theologically informed about God? Can I know more about this, though? That's so good and so valuable, so needed. But I want this not to just. I don't want to just be informed about the Word. I want the Word to transform me. And that was Jonah's issue here. One of his issues here is he was informed theologically, but he wasn't transformed.
[00:11:56] This reality, this identity of God was not a new concept to the nation of Israel. Exodus 34:6 speaks about God. The first time we see this, it says this. Verse 6 of Exodus 34 says this. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord.
[00:12:14] The Lord, a God, merciful and gracious, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. This is God. Moses, Mount Sinai. The limitations, chapter 3, verse 22 says this. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Maybe you know this. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness the heart of God is one of mercy and of grace.
[00:12:46] And here we see that he's missed that.
[00:12:50] He knew about it, this mercy. It was known, but he was still angry because of it. And even we see at the beginning, he fled because he knew the character of God. He was angry because of the mercy of God, which was loved and desired by God's people.
[00:13:06] But he was angry that that same mercy that he thought this should be my mercy from God and I want my love from God. He said, why should God show it to other people?
[00:13:16] I think God's love is great if it's aimed at me, but as soon as it's aimed at somebody else, I'm having a problem with it. Are you with me there?
[00:13:24] That was his issue here. He wanted to own for himself and his people and the nation of Israel. My mercy from God not good enough for other people as well. We're going to get into that a little bit more later. Point B on your outline. You can write this in. This anger that he had was deep.
[00:13:42] Look what he says in verse 3. Now therefore, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to what?
[00:13:55] Whoa.
[00:13:56] To die than to live.
[00:13:59] That's quite a statement. When we talk about anger that is deep. That is some deep anger. He is so, so mad right now that God would have the nerve to be merciful to those horrible Ninevite.
[00:14:14] He says, you know what? I can't even live if this is going to be the situation now. Why is he so angry about this? Why does the anger run so deep, even to the point of him saying, I'm willing to die? Maybe two things, if you like writing things down, one of them is this. People would probably talk about his failure to bring judgment upon Nineveh when he goes back home to Jerusalem, to Israel, and they go, hey, Jonah, you smell better now. How's it going?
[00:14:40] And he says, well, I went to Nineveh and I proclaimed that judgment was gonna come and go like good. Did God bring fire and brimstone down? He's like, nah, they repented.
[00:14:49] People in Nineveh would be ticked because everybody in Nineveh knew how bad.
[00:14:55] Everybody in Israel knew how bad Nineveh was. They would have wanted great judgment to come upon them. And then Jonah was the guy who brought God's mercy on that terrible nation. Secondly, he believed this nation deserved punishment. And he couldn't live knowing, or he didn't want to live knowing, that he was the one who helped them see God's mercy.
[00:15:17] He was what we would say here.
[00:15:20] What he did here really was anti Jewish, even though it was pro God.
[00:15:28] Our anger at God at times, or what God is doing doesn't change God's anger, nature, his character, or his power. God didn't look at Jonah's anger and say, you know what? You have a point. Their repentance, that should mean nothing because their sin has been so great.
[00:15:45] Isn't that a good thing that God didn't say their sin is so great? My mercy can't reach that far.
[00:15:52] We think that's good for us, don't we, when it's applied to somebody else. Jonah didn't think that was a great thing. So look what Jonah. Look what the Lord says.
[00:16:00] He asked Jonah a Do you do well to be angry? In other words, how's your anger going for you? By the way? If somebody's angry at you, don't ask them that. Only God can get away with asking that question.
[00:16:13] Why are you so mad at me? How's that going for you?
[00:16:17] It's not going to go well. Just trust me. There's better questions to ask.
[00:16:22] Five times in this chapter, we find the word anger in relation to Jonah. Why is this anger there? Now, as you might know, anger is often a secondary emotion. So when someone's angry, a wise question to consider, sometimes asked depending on the other person's emotions, is why are you angry? What's causing anger? Now, sometimes anger is caused by sadness, sometimes it's fear. Sometimes. And I would say in this situation, it's a sense of injustice. You know, when you see something, maybe it's on the news or you read something about, or you hear a story about some great injustice, you kind of get a little angry. And if it's a massive injustice, you get very, very angry. We see here that this anger is born out of a sense of injustice, which makes sense. They deserve something. I think they deserve something. God's not giving it to them.
[00:17:18] This anger is rooted in Jonah's sense of justice, not God's heart for mercy. Now remember the prodigal son story, Jesus. This is a long time later. Jesus tells a story. The boy, he leaves his father, he takes a bunch of money.
[00:17:30] The older brother is sitting off on the side and says, well, that's not fair.
[00:17:33] He's grumbling whatever he's doing. And then the prodigal son, what does he do?
[00:17:39] Comes back. And what does the dad do?
[00:17:42] Well, you know what, son, I have a place for you out back in the shed. Is that what he does?
[00:17:48] No, he welcomes him back in and they celebrate. And what does the older brother do?
[00:17:56] We see that here as well with Jonah to an even greater extent, according to the heart of God, as we see in James 2:13.
[00:18:06] Mercy triumphs over judgment.
[00:18:09] Mercy triumphs over judgment. Point C on your outline. You could write this in a judgment that was hoped for.
[00:18:17] Verse 5. Jonah went out of the city and he made a booth for himself. And he sat under it in the shade till he could see what would become of this city. So instead of Jonah answering God's question, does it do? How's it going for you? How's that anger going for you? Instead of him answering that question, he answers really with his feet. And he leaves the city possibly getting more and more angry. As he sees people putting on sackcloth, as he sees the little markets closing down. Cause they're not selling food anymore. And people are being nice to him. And he's getting really mad. Do you get mad when people are nice to you?
[00:18:50] Jonah did. At this case in time, Jonah was getting more and more upset because people were being friendly to him, which would be really strange, right? And so now he's mad because of this kindness that's being shown, this repentant heart. Remember, the king has said, turn away from your evil.
[00:19:06] They've done that now. And Jonah is becoming more and more upset by this. He couldn't stand this kindness any longer. So he walks himself out of the city. And here's what it says. He went out to look at the city from a distance. He builds the structure so he can stay cool and comfortable.
[00:19:23] And he sits there and he just hopes that they're gonna backslide or that God is gonna change his mind.
[00:19:31] That God's gonna say, you know what? Their sin is too much. Never mind about that mercy business.
[00:19:37] Or that those people down there are gonna say, you know what? Never mind about repenting. Jonah's gone. We'll be fine.
[00:19:43] And God will bring down the fire and brimstone that he's been hoping for. Remember, the Assyrians were people who grew their empire out of mutilation, torture, and what one pastor calls happy violence towards their enemies.
[00:19:59] These people were bad, bad people. Yet somehow God desired to show them mercy. These people deserved God's judgment. If anyone did, God didn't give them what they deserved.
[00:20:14] So Jonah, his attitude is looking on from the city, hoping for judgment. Now, quick, Jonah, Jesus, parallel here. Remember when Jesus, before his trial, goes into the city and he's sitting up above the city. Do you remember this? And he sees the city and he's not mad at the city for their lack of repentance. He's weeping because of their lack of repentance.
[00:20:38] Jesus desires repentance. And we see that in the nation of Assyria, here in the city of Nineveh. What does this teach us about God?
[00:20:47] No one here today is outside the realm of God's mercy. Not one of us. No matter how bad we may have been, no matter what mistakes that we have made, no matter what words we have done, we said whatever those things, maybe God says. Here we see this clearly. God desires to show mercy and will show mercy when we repent. That's the turning around. Write this down somewhere. The mercy of God will always supersede the sinfulness of man for those who repent.
[00:21:19] Jonah didn't believe this. Or perhaps he did and was just upset about it. And then we see that God says, you know what?
[00:21:27] I need to teach you a lesson. An object lesson. How many of you like object lessons?
[00:21:32] You pull out something. I don't have an object lesson for you. God has an object lesson for Jonah. But that's what this is. This is an object lesson. You have something like, let's use something else over here to help give you a picture of what is going on. So now we have an object lesson from God. And that really is what verses 6 through 11 is. Or at least 6 through 10 is an object lesson for Jonah. Because Jonah's just not getting it, is he?
[00:21:54] God sent him to Nineveh. Jonah runs the other direction. God says, I'm gonna cast a storm upon you. God doesn't say, jonah, you're dead. He puts him in a fish. He keeps himself.
[00:22:04] He keeps Jonah safe. We see mercy of God over mercy of God over. Mercy of God for Jonah. And then as soon as Jonah sees the mercy of God for somebody else, he says, I don't like this anymore. I'm so mad at you, God. And so God's now gonna say, you know what, Jonah? We need you to check your heart, and here's how I'm going to help you do that. Verse six. Look with me. A lesson in compassion. That's what we see here, a lesson in compassion.
[00:22:31] First item in the object lesson here in this invisible table, if you will. First item in God's object lesson is a plant. Okay, imagine a plant with me. It's not on the screen, but imagine a plant. Verse 6. Now, the Lord God and I keep pausing here. I know we're going into the story. This is a beautiful. These two words together. I think this is the only time in Jonah that we see the Lord God. These are two different words, Elohim and Jehovah. These two words, one of which is used particularly for God by nations outside of Israel.
[00:23:04] And the other word is used by the nation of Israel for God. And here's why that's significant. It's because it's like God is communicating to us here that Jonah, I'm not just the God Israel, I'm the God of the world.
[00:23:19] The God that you love and care about. And all of that for Israel, the God who is merciful for Israel is also the same God for the whole world. So now the Lord God, Jehovah, Elohim, appointed. This is the same appointed word that we see. He appointed a fish we're gonna see in a minute. Appoints a worm and an east wind. We'll see that in just a moment. He appoints a plant. Can you say plant?
[00:23:40] He a plant. To come up over Jonah. Again, we see mercy of God that it might be shade over his head to save him from his discomfort. Or as the original language says, to rescue him from his evil, is actually another translation of that.
[00:23:56] Jonah was exceedingly glad because of this plant. Some of your Bibles might say the word gourd there. One of the things I love about this is not only this miraculous plant that comes up out of the ground. Wouldn't you wish your garden grew like that, by the way, man? You put a little tomato seed in the ground, and then tomorrow you come out and there's, like, tomatoes. And you're like, perfectly right. This is wonderful.
[00:24:16] Not that kind of plant, but this kind of plant God, miraculous plant God has come up overnight. We're gonna see. And it brings shade over Jonah. Because his little fort thing that he made, he didn't play a lot of fort as a kid. So he didn't know how to make it well. And so God gives him a plant to help shade him again. God's mercy we see here, and Jonah, for the first time in this entire book, we see a glimpse of a smile on his face.
[00:24:44] The entire story of Jonah. He's happy about a little plant. He's not happy about the repentant people. He's happy about a little plant. And this is the beginning of the object lesson that God is laying out for him. Do you see what brought you joy? A little plant that came up in a day.
[00:25:02] Wow. The selfishness of Jonah that we can see here. The lack of love for people over a plant.
[00:25:08] So here we see step one here in this object Lesson, the second item that we see in this object lesson from God is not just a plant, but we see a worm showing up. So we see a mighty worm or the hungry little caterpillar for you parents out there that comes up, out that God brings, look what it says, verse 7. But when dawn came up the next morning, the next day, God appointed there that unique word again, appointed this miraculous, really word here appointed a worm. And here's the irony. There's a lot of satire that goes on in Jonah. This is one of those little phrases, a worm that attacked. How many of you have seen an attacking worm?
[00:25:50] I have never seen in a worm. Like, oh, it's chasing me. Like that kind of worm attacking. Like, I've never seen that. This is just again, some satire that we see here laid out before. God appointed a worm that attacked. Literally the word is strike, smote, hit, beat, slay, kill, slaughter. Like, that's the idea here that this little worm is doing to this plant.
[00:26:14] Now it's time for God to use this miraculous, one might even say worm to teach Jonah a significant lesson.
[00:26:25] As we have already seen in this book, when God appoints an animal to do something, the animal always does it.
[00:26:32] It's the people that disobey.
[00:26:35] So maybe a quick lesson for us is, when God appoints you to do something, just do it. Just do it.
[00:26:41] Humans are the ones who have a problem with that. So we have item one in this object lesson is the plant. Item two is what the mighty little worm here. And item three in this object lesson is a melting wind. You could write in, because we're going to stick with the M words there that you're writing down. But verse 8a, when the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. So God's object lesson, it wasn't done with this worm. Now it's time for this hot sun to be whipping down on Jonah again. We find that God prepares or he appoints this wind to cause Jonah to be faint or to be tired. Now, Jonah, if you think about it, Jonah could have gone back down into the city, couldn't he? He could have, but he didn't. He could have left and gone back to Israel. He didn't do that either. He was so set on watching fire and brimstone rain down on these people that he was willing to sit there and go, I'm gonna.
[00:27:44] Whatever he was saying in Hebrew, of course.
[00:27:47] And as he's sitting there, he sat on watching the Judgment of God upon you now see a little bit more of the glimpse of his heart, don't you?
[00:27:57] He wasn't satisfied with. They repented and I'm going to leave. And whatever God's going to do, God's going to do. He wanted to see judgment on this people.
[00:28:06] So now we've seen three mighty works of God teaching Jonah a lesson. We move now to the conclusion of what God is trying to show Jonah. And I think all of us.
[00:28:17] You can write this in point D on your outline. A miserable prophet. A miserable prophet. A, B, the second part of 8. And then verse 9. Look what it says with me. And he asked that he. This is the second time, by the way. And he asked that he might what?
[00:28:35] Die? And said, it is better for me to die than to live.
[00:28:42] But God said to Jonah, do you do well?
[00:28:46] Sound familiar? Do you do well to be angry? And now we have a little add on here for the plant. And he says, he replies, this time. Remember last time? Did he reply no, this time Jonah replies. He says, yes, I do. Well, to be angry. Angry enough to what?
[00:29:05] To die now? Last time when he was angry because God was showing mercy, God says, do you do well to be angry? And it's almost like Jonah was realized, you know what? I can't answer this question because I realize something's going on here. And so God, again, here's the object lesson to teach him the same lesson that he should have learned before. And God says, do you do well to be angry about the plant?
[00:29:28] And Jonah has clearly missed the point. How many of you have ever missed the point before? Or missed the turnoff? Like missed the point completely?
[00:29:37] He's ready to go. He isn't ready to go back inside the city and to say, you know what? I'm sorry, everyone, I shouldn't have done that. God is merciful and I should be ready to be merciful to you. No, his attitude here is that of a. And no offense to children, but a pouting child, like that's what we see here. He is pouting.
[00:29:57] He didn't get his way. How many of you have never got your don't get your way sometimes? And then we pout a little bit. I wanted my way. It was mine. It was mine. That's the attitude that we see here. The plant given by God.
[00:30:12] He was happy about sitting under this plant so that he could watch people made in the image of God be destroyed.
[00:30:22] He was happy about sitting in the shade under this plant so that he could watch people made in the Image of God be destroyed.
[00:30:33] There is a problem there, isn't it?
[00:30:36] There's a problem there.
[00:30:38] Verse 9.
[00:30:39] We see now God speaking in a calm, not mean and cruel tone. Ask this question, Jonah. Really, really like, did you miss this? Do you miss my heart for people?
[00:30:53] You rejoice over a plant. I rejoice over repentance.
[00:30:57] That's what you should be excited about right now. The whole point of the plant was to show him that his anger was misguided. His justice meter. I talked about justice earlier. His justice meter was improperly calibrated. Jonah didn't seem to see that God in his mercy meter, was pegged all the way over.
[00:31:20] I want to show mercy to these people. Point E on your outline. You could write that in a merciful God. Look what it says there.
[00:31:28] The Lord said, here's the lesson. You pity. That word pity is really. You have compassion from the inside. You have deep compassion or care. You desire to spare, is what he's saying. You desire to spare the plant for which you did not labor nor make it grow or come into being.
[00:31:49] But it came into being in a night and then perished in a night.
[00:31:53] Verse 11, the last verse of this chapter and of this book.
[00:31:57] We have a question that remains unanswered.
[00:32:00] Should I, God speaking not pity, or should I not have compassion, desire to spare Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left. And much cattle.
[00:32:21] Now, that last phrase there, let me just explain for a brief minute, and then we'll see the lesson from God here. It's this.
[00:32:27] Most people consider God saying this when he's asking that question. This right hand from your left. It can mean two things. Scholars are kind of back and forth on this. Two things. One, it can mean this.
[00:32:38] Children, because they don't have. They're not at the age of accountability. They don't know right and wrong. So that's one view of this. 120,000. If it's children, very possibly. And I think maybe that's more so where I'm leaning personally. That speaks to the size of Nineveh, which could be 500, 600, 700,000 people if just these children is somewhere in the neighborhood of 120,000 of them. And then cattle, that word cattle is actually beast of the land, like land creature. We see this word cattle, and some of your Bibles might say animal. And so we see that God says, there's lots of wealth there, there are lots of animals there. The Second side, as far as the right hand from the left could be. Speaking of, they are theologically ignorant. They aren't familiar with. They don't have a moral compass. And so God's saying, I now care about these people and have always. I care about these people. They don't have a moral compass. You, as God's people, you've been told what is right and what is wrong. You have the ten Commandments that direct you in what is right and what is wrong. They don't have that.
[00:33:44] So that's that. Not knowing their right hand from their left, you desire. Here's what God's saying. You desire to spare a plant that you didn't even plant or water or care for, but just randomly popped up. But when it died, you got so mad you wanted to die.
[00:34:00] And when I see a city that has been around for thousands of years and has hundreds of thousands of people made in my image that I love, and including, I would say, children, I want to spare them when they repent of their sin. But you get angry about that.
[00:34:19] How does this make sense? That's what he's asking Jonah here. Now. We don't know what happens after that.
[00:34:29] This is a strange book in that regard. We like to watch the Disney movies where everyone lived happily ever.
[00:34:36] And here we find the book of Jonah. And God is like, uh, this doesn't make sense. Jonah, your heart is far from me. And as a prophet of God, it shouldn't be.
[00:34:46] We find Jonah sitting above a great city with hundreds of thousands of people upset at the mercy of God. That's how this book ends. What a great ending, right?
[00:34:57] No.
[00:34:59] No, it's not. And so don't worry, that won't be my ending here, though. It's Jonah's ending. Ending.
[00:35:05] I want to point something out as we kind of bring all this conclusion to kind of give you a picture.
[00:35:14] This was done for us. And maybe some of you noticed on the board behind me, there's a chalkboard behind me with an image. And I just want to show this to you because it's kind of a fun picture that kind of shows us where we're going in the story of Jonah. Over here on the chalkboard, on this side where my hand is. We started with Jonah floating in the water. He's not there now because we're in chapter four, Chapter one, Jonah was floating in the water. There's a little picture of him behind me floating in the water. Chapter two, Jonah was in the belly of the.
[00:35:41] And so if you were here on week Two, you would have seen Jonah on the chalkboard behind me in the belly of the fish last week. If you were paying attention with the board behind me, you would have seen Jonah sitting next to the city over there. Yeah, he would have been standing next to the city right behind me on this arm. Now, chapter four. We find Jonah sitting next to above the city, arms probably crossed under his little sad shelter because the plant is now gone.
[00:36:06] Upset at the mercy of God.
[00:36:09] Now, for all of us today, here's the connection. We can rejoice at the mercy of God, can't we?
[00:36:16] That is our call. To still be similar to Jonah, perhaps at first, to be looking at the city, saying, God, I want your mercy for this city. And not just that, friends, it's to be willing to walk back down the mountain and into the city and proclaim God's mercy over and over and over again.
[00:36:37] So we see for all of us, really, there's this transition that we've all been running from God. At some point in time, there's been a point of repentance, us in the belly of the fish. Then there's been, okay, God, finally, I'll listen to you. And then maybe there's been a time in some of your life where you're saying, God, I want some distance.
[00:36:53] And here's what God is saying to anyone here today that might be saying, God, I want some distance. He's saying this, I don't want that distance.
[00:37:01] I want to be close to you.
[00:37:04] Here's a prayer that I saw in conclusion to this chapter. It's this, Lord, help me to see.
[00:37:13] Help me to see in those I meet on a country road or on a city street.
[00:37:20] Not just people passing by, but those for whom Jesus came to die.
[00:37:27] We don't know what happened to Jonah. His last words, wishing that he would die is a sad ending to a powerful story. But you and I have the power to say, I'm not gonna be like that. I'm gonna be like Jesus, who, looking at the city, wept over it and said, I want repentance for that city. And, friends, you and I have been given the Holy Spirit to go into the city, haven't we? And to proclaim the mercies of God.
[00:37:51] I'm gonna give you five concluding thoughts, and then we'll go into communion. So if you'd like to write things down, this is maybe some takeaways for you and for me as well.
[00:38:01] God desires. Point one here, one of the first of the five. God desires our hearts to look like his heart. And our actions to reflect his heart.
[00:38:12] And when it doesn't, God might say, I'm gonna let some hardship happen to your life so that your heart can be adjusted.
[00:38:19] God wants to change us. Amen.
[00:38:22] He says, I'll take you as you are, but I don't wanna leave you as you are.
[00:38:26] So there's gonna be times that hardship comes, and it's valuable for us to say, God, do you wanna change me in this time? And if so, how?
[00:38:34] Secondly, no matter how far you've run from God, no matter how much you've messed up, no matter what sins, secret sins, may be stuffed away in the closet back there, no matter how far you may have gone from him and said, I don't think I can ever go back.
[00:38:50] Here's the truth that we see. God's mercy remains, and he's saying this over and over again, Come back to me. I'm ready. I'm ready. Thirdly, are we questioned to consider? Are we more concerned about our comfort and our convenience rather than the people that God saves?
[00:39:10] For Jonah, that was the case, wasn't it? He was happy about the plant, his little shelter, his comfy little spot. He was thinking more about his comfort than about the lost people out there.
[00:39:23] Fourthly, don't be fooled.
[00:39:26] Information about God's character does not mean you are demonstrating God's character.
[00:39:32] Wow.
[00:39:33] The goal of the Christian life is transformation, not information. If you and I are bulked up on information about Jesus, but people don't hear Jesus voice coming from us when we speak, we are truly failing at the mission of God in our life.
[00:39:47] Because God's goal for us, his mission for us isn't go be informed. His mission for us is go be transformed, right? Romans 12:1, Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that people can see me in you. That's why I gave you my spirit, so that you can reveal the fruits of the spirit in your life. And so, friends, I would encourage you, challenge you to do this. God, am I content with information right now?
[00:40:12] Help me not to be content with information.
[00:40:15] And fifth, God's mercy is for not only you and I, though that is a wonderful thing every day. His mercies are new every morning. But God's mercy, we see in chapter four here, really, through the book of Jonah. God's mercy is not just for us, but for the nations.
[00:40:31] This is a mission rich chapter, calling us really to go into all the places, into the neighborhoods, into the cities, into the counties, into the countryside, and even just the person sitting across from us at the dinner table at times and say, God has mercy for you.
[00:40:48] God has mercy for you.
[00:40:50] This chapter is a beautiful reminder that God can reach anybody. And the goal for us is to tell people about the mercy of God for them if they choose to run towards him. Not saying, you need to fix up your life so you can be good enough for God, because that's not what God's heart is.
[00:41:09] So maybe you're here today and you're thinking through this mercy concept. Just sit with this reality God desires and will show you mercy as you run back to him. Let's pray and then we're going to transition to a time of communion.
[00:41:21] Dear Jesus, we this morning that your mercy abounds.
[00:41:29] No matter what's going on in our life. We can rejoice today knowing that you love us. And your love is not one of set in the distance, but your love is near. It's compassion shown to us.
[00:41:43] And each day as we mess up, as we think improperly, as we go down our own ways, as our hearts are prone to wander, we ask you to call us back to yourself. And we can do that with confidence because we know that you're a God of mercy.
[00:41:58] And anyone today here maybe who's been running from you, Lord, I pray that you'd give them the confidence to turn back to you and see your character as a God, as Jonah says, who is gracious and kind, full of mercy and steadfast love for all who turn to you.
[00:42:16] And maybe for those here today who have never trusted in you, Lord, reveal your character in your great love. We know that will turn hearts towards you. In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:42:31] For those getting ready with communion, they can do that now.
[00:42:35] Worship team is up here. They're just going to play some music here in a minute. As we think about communion, a few things. We do this on the first Sunday of the month. It's a time for us to, as Jesus told us to, to look back at the cross and see the beauty of God's mercy and of God's grace.
[00:42:53] To not forsake this practice. Because we are forgetful people, aren't we?
[00:42:58] So, so forgetful.
[00:43:01] How does Jonah, this chapter that we just looked at and communion really connect?
[00:43:08] What we see here is unique in Jonah versus Jesus. Jesus said that we are to love our enemies, didn't he? And what we see here in Jonah is not enemy love. We see enemy hate.
[00:43:23] Jesus though, he says, I am more perfect than any prophet that's ever come before me. I am the fulfillment of them all. And so Some prophets, they did things right. Some prophets, they did things wrong. But me, I always do things right. Jesus says.
[00:43:39] Jesus called us, you and I, to love our enemies. And he showed us that on the cross, didn't he? When he's hanging there, he says, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Romans says that we are enemies of God before we turn and repent. And Jesus says, I'm gonna die for my enemies. Is that not love? Friends?
[00:44:00] Love your enemies. Jesus.
[00:44:03] Jesus teaches us this enemy love in a beautiful way. And that's what we see at the cross.
[00:44:09] Enemy love.
[00:44:11] A mercy thrown upon people that do not deserve mercy.
[00:44:17] Jesus at the cross, he showed us this. I want to read the lyrics of a song to set our hearts in the right place. You know this song?
[00:44:27] When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss and I pour contempt on all my pride.
[00:44:42] Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God, all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrificed them through his blood.
[00:44:59] See from his head, his hands and his feet Sorrow and love flow, mingle down.
[00:45:06] Did ere such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown were the whole realm of nature mine that were present far too small compared to the love that is so amazing, so divine.
[00:45:27] It demands my soul, my life, my all.
[00:45:34] The wages of sin is death.
[00:45:37] He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. And by his work we are healed.
[00:45:49] The gift of God is eternal life for God. He so loved the world that everyone who believes in him, we can have life.
[00:46:04] This is what we celebrate here today. In a moment, I'm going to distribute those trays. And as I do, I want you to consider three things in your mind. Firstly, if you've never trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let the tray pass by you. Maybe you're visiting, you're from another church, you're not a member, whatever that may be. If you've trusted in Jesus, you here are a part of the family of God. Take and eat of the elements with us.
[00:46:27] If you've never chosen to trust in Jesus, your Lord and Savior, let the tray pass by. Or right now choose to say, jesus, I'm ready. I'm ready to surrender my life to you. Secondly, if you have trusted in Jesus and you're a follower of Jesus today, take the elements in a reverent heart, with a reflective heart.
[00:46:50] And thirdly, and lastly, as we pass the trays, as they go back and forth amongst people, I want you to pray through this confession, any confession that needs to take place, any repentance that needs to take place, to consider, to remember the cross and to celebrate. So we're gonna confess, we're gonna consider the cross, and we're gonna celebrate Jesus power over all things. Amen.
[00:47:15] Powerful over all things, no matter the sin, the shame, the injustice. That's what we're celebrating here today. As the family of God.
[00:47:27] Do you hold in your hands two different cups? For many of you, there's one, there's a little wafer inside of one, there's a grape juice in the other.
[00:47:35] We take these as elements reminding us of the body and the blood of our Savior and Lord. We're called to in Scripture to do this on a regular basis.
[00:47:46] 1 Corinthians, chapter 10 says this in verse 16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not participation in the body of Christ?
[00:47:59] That is to say, as we take and eat together, we're saying to one another, to the Lord, I am thankful for my relationship with you because of your mercy.
[00:48:10] Chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians says this. For I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you. This is Paul speaking, calling the church to remember what Jesus has done, that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And then he passed the bread around and they ate. Let's eat together.
[00:48:38] In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death. Until he comes, let's drink together.
[00:49:00] Lord Jesus, we take and eat together as a body, as a family. Today, sitting under the cross, we are all one.
[00:49:09] Men and women, boys and girls. No matter our background, no matter our history, no matter our knowledge, we sit under the cross this morning, grateful for the work that you have done and are continuing to. To do in our life.
[00:49:22] And as we continue to walk with you, as we continue to listen to the voice of your spirit, give us courage to step into those places that you've called us to. We rejoice, Lord, knowing that we are your forgiven and loved sons. And daughters, in Jesus name, amen.
