Sunday Night Bible Study August 16, 2020
Jonah 4
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
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. 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. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 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.”
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!”
Jonah did not go to Nineveh the first time God instructed him to because he knew how merciful his God was. He was afraid that if he went there and cried out to them, they would repent and God would show them mercy. He did not fear that he would be ineffective, but feared that he would be effective! Jonah wanted God to bring judgement upon them and because He showed them mercy, Jonah was angry. The repentance and salvation of the people of Nineveh was so painful to Jonah that he would rather die than think about it.
Have you ever been so upset with someone that you just wanted God to make them pay? In your anger towards someone else, have you become angry at God because He did not make them suffer consequences for what they did to you?
Then the LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Just like Jonah, we can express our anger but we should not think that all our feelings towards God is justified. God likes for us to ask questions because they reveal our heart and it also puts us before God to where He has every right to question us also. So, is it right for us to be angry? This is the question we should ask if we find ourselves angry with God.
What do you think the answer should be?
My answer would be NO!
Just like Jonah, it is alright for us to state that we feel anger but we must repent of any anger towards God and know that His ways are right even if we don’t understand them.
Why do you think it is important to repent for being angry at or feel anger towards God?
What if God treated you the way Jonah wanted God to treat the people of Nineveh?
Jonah himself called on the mercy of God and enjoyed the mercy of God when it was extended to him. Then became angry when God extended that same mercy to others. Would we want God to not be merciful towards us or to not show us loving kindness? No, we would not want that and we should not want God to be that way to others, no matter the situation.
Jonah went out of the city in hopes that he would see the fall of Nineveh. Even then God prepared a plant to give Jonah shade as he waited for the city to be destroyed. Here Jonah is happy because God was finally doing something for him. Both his anger and happiness were about self, not about God. But when God brought the worm and withered the plant, Jonah wished death upon himself. Jonah was still thinking of himself instead of what a merciful God he served.
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. 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?”
The book of Jonah shows us important principles about the sovereignty of God. What happens when God wants a person to do something, but the person doesn’t want to do it? Jonah shows us that God has a way of bringing us to the place where we want what God wants. The real work of preparation happened in Jonah. What God really prepared was a prophet.
If you feel that you bear trouble, maybe more than others, I would be mindful that God may be preparing you for a greater work. Also, He may be using these methods to teach you more of what may not be God like within you and to show you these forms of evil which might not be driven out of you unless his Holy Spirit had used these methods.
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