FINAL CHAPTER
Jon 4:1 But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.
2 And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.
3 So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from me; for death is better for me than life.
4 And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?
5 Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of the town.
6 And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the vine.
7 But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.
8 Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is better for me than life.
9 And the Lord said to Jonah, Have you any right to be angry about the vine? And he said, I have a right to be truly angry.
10 And the Lord said, You had pity on the vine, for which you did no work and for the growth of which you were not responsible; which came up in a night and came to an end in a night;
11 And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons without the power of judging between right and left, as well as much cattle?
(BBE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmi9IBP209
Let's go one segment at a time. Our Jonah remains true to himself. He was obedient when it was "impressed" upon him that it was God's will. Now, his mission complete, standing in the midst of a city of pagans, probably no proper food to eat, nothing kosher. Pagan women used to flouting themselves likely still not dressed correctly sackcloth or not. Even the animals wearing sackcloth, a kind of profound misunderstanding of God, but one He ignores. The whole city shuns Jonah and keeps its distance. No one will harm him. He may even have thought they would rip him to shreds when he showed up, so he wouldn't have to live with the awful knowledge that he saved the people who would eventually destroy northern Israel, later Samaria, and disperse the tribes.
Imagine the response he will get in Israel on return.
Go ahead, tell them you saved their most bitter enemy from destruction. Let them know what a swell guy you are to the pagans. That will get you dinner invitations to the king's place for sure. Well, they WILL most likely to take you before the king.
Jon 4:1 But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.
2 And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.
3 So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from me; for death is better for me than life.
4 And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?
How could God do that? I recall the moment on the movie "The Apostle" where Sonny the minister is in the attic bedroom of his home ranting at God. Complaining about the things God has done. Like Jonah, he's having a personal conversation with a living God he knows as a friend and as God.
God doesn't shut Jonah up or send him into another fish. He listens and reasons with the prophet. He applies patience. He wants Jonah and the eventual reader to see, really SEE, really understand. God loves the human race, every last stitch and fiber of us. He wants everyone saved, delivered from the wrath they face. It is his will.
Get this clear in your mind as you read this. Get it crystal clear.
God loves everyone including the people you don't love. Tell Ted Cruz God loves Hillary Clinton. Repeat the reverse to Hillary. Tell Rupert Murdoch He loves Jim Wallis. Tell Wallis God loves Murdoch. Tell the Southern Baptist God loves gays. Tell the gays God loves the Southern Baptist.
Now pay attention. Every one of you may be saying that is right, that's telling them. Tell yourself He loves that redneck who beat up your sister who he married. Tell yourself He loved the bully on the playground who took your lunch money. Tell them He loves the midget in charge of North Korea or the strongman in charge of Russia or the guy running Isis at this moment. He loves that gang member down the street who raped the minister's daughter. He loves the IRS agent who dearly enjoys auditing everyone. He loves your city councilman who thought it was a good idea to send poisoned water into everyone's home to save a couple bucks and the governor who endorsed the idea and then used public money which could have been spent to clean the water to hire defense council for himself in case he gets indicted.
During the Vietnam war, God loved the guys who had to kill to survive and the guys and girls who stuck flowers in their rifles at Kent State and then burned down the Ad Building. He loved the soldiers who were only doing their duty however repulsive and the soldiers who loved taking it too far and slaughtered innocents. He loved the Communists America was supposed to hate when they fought the war and He loved them when they eventual welcomed Nike plants and offered them slave labor to make shoes.
He loved Martin Luther King on his march on Selma and He loved George Wallace who met a federal warrant on schoolhouse steps in defiance of desegregation.
He loved the Nazis who slaughtered His people to wake up the conscience of the sin-blinded world so Israel could be reborn and He loved every one of the ones who died in the gas showers. He loved the soldiers who only did their duty, the men who were more beasts who empowered the slaughter and the ones who turned a blind eye to everything, a numb nose to the smell of burning human flesh in the giant ovens.
He loves every one who ever died in his name and cries with love for those who die without ever taking his name in salvation.
How is it possible to love those so soaked in sin?
We forget: one sin outweighs a lifetime of good deeds. One sin blots God from our lives. One sin accomplishes as much as Hitler's mountain of atrocities. Now, I agree there are likely levels of punishment and levels of reward, but one thing needs to be absolutely transparently clear: one sin, like a little leaven, thoroughly works its way through the dough of our lives. Which oa why Christ died to take them all away.
Read Chronicles and Kings, one and two, to site in the manner a famous Presidential candidate. Israel had a few tons of their own sins, God's people or not. Bad as Nineveh was, they at least repented immediately and did not continue testing the God they KNEW was God.
And Jonah, hadn't he just gotten done pleading for his life with God? Hadn't he just begged for mercy even as this entire city was now begging? Hadn't God forgiven him his sin, brought him back from destruction, even as he has brought Nineveh back from it's own apocalypse?
This is where Jonah reminds me of a modern American Christian in that we see those claiming Christ in government positions absolutely determined to find some sin in members of the other party have committed and need to be punished for when they forget they have sinned and been spared much worse punishment. Like the debtor in the parable who is forgiven much then has the man who owes him a few dollars thrown into prison. Please spare me the:"OH, but it's not as bad as..." I believe we already dealt with that. When I see a bumper sticker: "Hillary lied and four died." I wish someone had also printed: "Cheney lied and thousands are STILL dying." Both sides sin and the pretense of greater sin becomes more reprehensible if we wrap ourselves Bible verses as a kind of immunity from prosecution.
We shout that this is not OUR President, OUR leader, not the guy we wanted, be he Bush or Obama, If we are God's people, as Jonah, we need to answer the question: have you any right to be angry? Since God chose to spare Nineveh and also chose to put both those Presidents in that office.
I am aware that my own sins make me hardly the one to speak. "I got a million of 'em!" as the bad comic used to say. But I write this only in defense of God's simple plan: everyone should hear the Gospel so they may join the Kingdom of God in service for eternity, service now in spreading that Gospel and service in whatever God has planned for us in the New Heaven and New Earth after the Millennium. We do a disservice to God and His plan when we do our best to alienate those who aren't saved.
And that's the real thing here: we exist to serve Him whether we understand or not, whether we like it or not. Our salvation is not so we can go to heaven, it is so we can tell others about Salvation and then all go to heaven to serve God,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeBv9r92VQ0
5 Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of the town.
6 And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the vine.
7 But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.
8 Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is
better for me than life.
Now Jonah goes to sit in judgement of his own on what action God will take.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Greatly displeased at the clemency of God towards Nineveh, Jonah confesses that it was the expectation that that clemency would be exercised, which rendered him unwilling to undertake the divine mission at the first, and in his annoyance and chagrin requests that he may die, 1–3. Met by the calm appeal to reason, which however he is in no mood to entertain, Doest thou well to be angry? Jonah goes out of the city, and constructs in the immediate vicinity a booth or hut, under the shelter of which he may dwell and watch, till the forty days are expired, what the fate of Nineveh will be, 4, 5. Intending to correct and instruct him by an acted parable, in which he himself should bear the chief part, God causes a wide-spreading plant to spring up and cover his booth with its refreshing shade. But scarcely has Jonah begun to enjoy the welcome shelter from the burning rays of the sun thus afforded him, when God, in pursuit of His lesson, causes the plant to be attacked by insects, which rapidly strip it of its protecting leaves and cause it to wither away, 6, 7. Once again, the hand that governs all things sets in motion, like the blast of a furnace, the burning wind of the desert, and the sun’s unbroken rays pour down on the now defenceless head of Jonah, so that faint and weary, beneath the weight of bodily distress and mental disappointment, he urges anew his passionate complaint, Better for me to die than to live!
Jonah sets himself up as the student and judge of God's action. How can He show mercy to this Gentile vermin, Jonah wonders? He told Joshua to show no mercy, why mercy now?
The simplest answer is that God shows mercy to who He will.
And He gives Jonah the example of his own emotions:
First, he grants Jonah shade.
Recall he gave Jonah a prophecy for Israel. He gave him recognition as a prophet and whatever distinction it meant, whatever boost it gave to his ego.
Next , God kills the vine and send a hellish wind.
Jonah aches and sweats and faints from the heat as he sits there to see if God keeps his Word. He ends up begging for death.
Even as he asked the sailors to toss him to the fish.
God essentially says: "You miss something that I created specifically to serve you, to give you relief and offer comfort in a time of need. You had nothing to do with it, you merely enjoyed it, reveled in it, found the joy of the comfort even though you were doing something of no service to me. I still gave you something of worth and you miss it."
And the kicker:
"Now imagine how much I would have been hurt by the loss of these people who I DID CREATE and who I CARE ABOUT. Even the cattle have value to me because I created them. You care about animals yourself. Learn that I care about all humanity."
Our old friends in Jamieson-Fausset-Brown offer a perspective from the event's intended influence on Israel as reflected in Jonah:
Jonah could hardly have been so vexed for the letter of his prediction failing, when the end of his commission had virtually been gained in leading Nineveh to repentance. This then cannot have been regarded by Jonah as the ultimate end of his commission. If Nineveh had been the prominent object with him, he would have rejoiced at the result of his mission. But Israel was the prominent aim of Jonah, as a prophet of the elect people. Probably then he regarded the destruction of Nineveh as fitted to be an example of God's judgment at last suspending His long forbearance so as to startle Israel from its desperate degeneracy, heightened by its new prosperity under Jeroboam II at that very time, in a way that all other means had failed to do. Jonah, despairing of anything effectual being done for God in Israel, unless there were first given a striking example of severity, thought when he proclaimed the downfall of Nineveh in forty days, that now at last God is about to give such an example; so when this means of awakening Israel was set aside by God's mercy on Nineveh's repentance, he was bitterly disappointed, not from pride or mercilessness, but from hopelessness as to anything being possible for the reformation of Israel, now that his cherished hope is baffled. But God's plan was to teach Israel, by the example of Nineveh, how inexcusable is their own impenitence, and how inevitable their ruin if they persevere. Repenting Nineveh has proved herself more worthy of God's favor than apostate Israel; the children of the covenant have not only fallen down to, but actually below, the level of a heathen people; Israel, therefore, must go down, and the heathen rise above her. Jonah did not know the important lessons of hope to the penitent, and condemnation to those amidst outward privileges impenitent, which Nineveh's preservation on repentance was to have for aftertimes, and to all ages. He could not foresee that Messiah Himself was thus to apply that history. A lesson to us that if we could in any particular alter the plan of Providence, it would not be for the better, but for the worse [Fairbairn].Jonah, repining at God’s mercy,Jonah 4:1-3, is reproved by the type of a gourd, Jonah 4:4-11.
But, Heb. And, it, the Divine forbearance sparing the great and sinful Nineveh,
displeased Jonah; was very disagreeable to Jonah’s hasty and fierce temper, to his love of his own credit, and it afflicted him to see Nineveh survive the forty days limited for their continuance.
Exceedingly; it was a great affliction to him, so highly distempered is Jonah at God’s goodness to a repenting city.
And he was very angry: this kindled a fire in his breast which was made up of envy, indignation, and grief, for that it was not done, and desire that yet it may be done. Jonah would yet have Nineveh a sacrifice to God’s justice, and an eternal monument of his truth who foretold its ruin.
Jonah was as concerned that he be right as he was that God be glorified. God wanted him to see that he was a tool, even as the vine, that he was offering a moment's shade by his action even though the worm of sin would eat it away over time.
Everything was done to show us that we are meant to be in His service and that, sometimes, it will not be what we expect, what we think we were meant to do or even for ones we care about or even love.
That God gives us the power to do His work despite our reservations.
Which we can meet with much more joy than Jonah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VoUYtx0kw
Summation:
1) God is in control. He will direct us to where we are meant to be, He will allow us to resist to a point. Then He will send "suggestions."
2) It doesn't matter what our opinion of our mission is. He will be there and His power will reach the ones that are meant to be reached.
3) It will not always come out as we wish. Note Jesus' comment abut how Israel killed all their prophets. These Gentiles spared Jonah because God created in the "disaster" a circumstance which was also a peculiar sign to the Ninehevites.
4) We may say God hasn't and spoken to us given us a mission. I will suggest he whispers to all of us through the Holy Spirit. Hr has given all of us a mission" go into all the world making disciples of all nations.
5) He will act in some way to let us know that we are not listening or that we have yet to learn his lesson.
6) Idols are worthless in times of actual trouble. Superman won't really come to our rescue. Nor the Avengers. Nor the Presidential candidate so many are putting faith in. Nor the party he or she represents.
7) Those who want to will listen that Hell awaits them if they fail to accept Christ. Those like
Rob Bell who wish to emphasize the celebration of our joining the body of Christ need to realize there is also the truth of a terrible doom awaiting the disbeliever. And, yes, it can reach the masses as well as the story of the party,
J. Vernon MacGee's list of the important points given completely here:
There are six significant subjects which are suggested and developed in the Book of Jonah which make it very relevant for us today:
1. This is the one book of the Old Testament which sets forth the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of the great doctrines of the Christian faith are set forth in certain books of the Old Testament. For instance, the Book of Exodus sets forth redemption. The deliverance from sin for the sinner who comes to Christ is illustrated in that book. In the Book of Ruth you have the romance of redemption, the love side of redemption. In the Book of Esther, you have the romance of providence. The book of Job, I believe, teaches repentance. You can go through the Scriptures and find that the great doctrines of our faith are illustrated in various books of the Old Testament. The little Book of Jonah illustrates and teaches the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If this book does not teach the great doctrine of resurrection, then this most important doctrine of the Christian faith is not illustrated by a book in the Old Testament. For this reason alone, I would say this is a significant book.
2. The Book of Jonah teaches that salvation is not by works, but by faith which leads to repentance. This little book is read by orthodox Jews on the great Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The way to God is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by the blood of a substitutionary sacrifice provided by the Lord. The most significant statement in the Book of Jonah is in the second chapter. “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). He is the author of salvation; He erected the great building of our salvation; He is the architect.
3. The third great purpose of this book is to show that God’s purpose of grace cannot be frustrated. Jonah refused to go to Nineveh, but God was still going to get the message to Nineveh. The interesting thing in this particular case is that Jonah was going to be the witness for God in Nineveh—he didn’t know he was going there, but he did go.
4. The fourth great truth in this book is that God will not cast us aside for faithlessness. He may not use you, but He will not cast you aside. There are a lot of football players sitting on the bench; in fact, more sit on the bench than play in the game. A player is called out to play only when it is believed that he can make a contribution to the game. If you and I are faithless, God may bench us; but we are still wearing our uniform, and He will not cast us aside. Anytime we want to get back in the game of life and do His will, He will permit us to do it.
5. The fifth great truth is that God is good and gracious. Read Jonah 4:2 for the most penetrating picture of God in the entire Bible. It is wrong to say that the Old Testament reveals a God of wrath and the New Testament reveals a God of love. He is no vengeful deity in the Book of Jonah.
6. The sixth and last great teaching is that God is the God of Gentiles. When God chose Abraham, in effect He said to the Gentiles, “I’m going to have to leave you for awhile because of the sin that has come into the human family. I’m going to prepare salvation for you through a man and a nation, and I’ll bring the Redeemer, the Savior, into the world through them.” Now God has a salvation for all mankind. I have written Romans 3:29 over the Book of Jonah in my Bible. Paul writes, “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” The Book of Jonah reveals that even in the Old Testament God did not forget the Gentiles. If He was willing to save a woman like Rahab the harlot, and a brutal, cruel nation like the Assyrians, including inhabitants of Nineveh, its capital, then I want to say to you that God is in the business of saving sinners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2KOCgC8DnU&list=RDJ2KOCgC8DnU#t=0
From here, we proceed to James:the Brother of Jesus.
Jon 4:1 But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.
2 And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.
3 So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from me; for death is better for me than life.
4 And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?
5 Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of the town.
6 And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the vine.
7 But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.
8 Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is better for me than life.
9 And the Lord said to Jonah, Have you any right to be angry about the vine? And he said, I have a right to be truly angry.
10 And the Lord said, You had pity on the vine, for which you did no work and for the growth of which you were not responsible; which came up in a night and came to an end in a night;
11 And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons without the power of judging between right and left, as well as much cattle?
(BBE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmi9IBP209
Let's go one segment at a time. Our Jonah remains true to himself. He was obedient when it was "impressed" upon him that it was God's will. Now, his mission complete, standing in the midst of a city of pagans, probably no proper food to eat, nothing kosher. Pagan women used to flouting themselves likely still not dressed correctly sackcloth or not. Even the animals wearing sackcloth, a kind of profound misunderstanding of God, but one He ignores. The whole city shuns Jonah and keeps its distance. No one will harm him. He may even have thought they would rip him to shreds when he showed up, so he wouldn't have to live with the awful knowledge that he saved the people who would eventually destroy northern Israel, later Samaria, and disperse the tribes.
Imagine the response he will get in Israel on return.
Go ahead, tell them you saved their most bitter enemy from destruction. Let them know what a swell guy you are to the pagans. That will get you dinner invitations to the king's place for sure. Well, they WILL most likely to take you before the king.
Jon 4:1 But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.
2 And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.
3 So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from me; for death is better for me than life.
4 And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?
How could God do that? I recall the moment on the movie "The Apostle" where Sonny the minister is in the attic bedroom of his home ranting at God. Complaining about the things God has done. Like Jonah, he's having a personal conversation with a living God he knows as a friend and as God.
God doesn't shut Jonah up or send him into another fish. He listens and reasons with the prophet. He applies patience. He wants Jonah and the eventual reader to see, really SEE, really understand. God loves the human race, every last stitch and fiber of us. He wants everyone saved, delivered from the wrath they face. It is his will.
Get this clear in your mind as you read this. Get it crystal clear.
God loves everyone including the people you don't love. Tell Ted Cruz God loves Hillary Clinton. Repeat the reverse to Hillary. Tell Rupert Murdoch He loves Jim Wallis. Tell Wallis God loves Murdoch. Tell the Southern Baptist God loves gays. Tell the gays God loves the Southern Baptist.
Now pay attention. Every one of you may be saying that is right, that's telling them. Tell yourself He loves that redneck who beat up your sister who he married. Tell yourself He loved the bully on the playground who took your lunch money. Tell them He loves the midget in charge of North Korea or the strongman in charge of Russia or the guy running Isis at this moment. He loves that gang member down the street who raped the minister's daughter. He loves the IRS agent who dearly enjoys auditing everyone. He loves your city councilman who thought it was a good idea to send poisoned water into everyone's home to save a couple bucks and the governor who endorsed the idea and then used public money which could have been spent to clean the water to hire defense council for himself in case he gets indicted.
During the Vietnam war, God loved the guys who had to kill to survive and the guys and girls who stuck flowers in their rifles at Kent State and then burned down the Ad Building. He loved the soldiers who were only doing their duty however repulsive and the soldiers who loved taking it too far and slaughtered innocents. He loved the Communists America was supposed to hate when they fought the war and He loved them when they eventual welcomed Nike plants and offered them slave labor to make shoes.
He loved Martin Luther King on his march on Selma and He loved George Wallace who met a federal warrant on schoolhouse steps in defiance of desegregation.
He loved the Nazis who slaughtered His people to wake up the conscience of the sin-blinded world so Israel could be reborn and He loved every one of the ones who died in the gas showers. He loved the soldiers who only did their duty, the men who were more beasts who empowered the slaughter and the ones who turned a blind eye to everything, a numb nose to the smell of burning human flesh in the giant ovens.
He loves every one who ever died in his name and cries with love for those who die without ever taking his name in salvation.
How is it possible to love those so soaked in sin?
We forget: one sin outweighs a lifetime of good deeds. One sin blots God from our lives. One sin accomplishes as much as Hitler's mountain of atrocities. Now, I agree there are likely levels of punishment and levels of reward, but one thing needs to be absolutely transparently clear: one sin, like a little leaven, thoroughly works its way through the dough of our lives. Which oa why Christ died to take them all away.
Read Chronicles and Kings, one and two, to site in the manner a famous Presidential candidate. Israel had a few tons of their own sins, God's people or not. Bad as Nineveh was, they at least repented immediately and did not continue testing the God they KNEW was God.
And Jonah, hadn't he just gotten done pleading for his life with God? Hadn't he just begged for mercy even as this entire city was now begging? Hadn't God forgiven him his sin, brought him back from destruction, even as he has brought Nineveh back from it's own apocalypse?
This is where Jonah reminds me of a modern American Christian in that we see those claiming Christ in government positions absolutely determined to find some sin in members of the other party have committed and need to be punished for when they forget they have sinned and been spared much worse punishment. Like the debtor in the parable who is forgiven much then has the man who owes him a few dollars thrown into prison. Please spare me the:"OH, but it's not as bad as..." I believe we already dealt with that. When I see a bumper sticker: "Hillary lied and four died." I wish someone had also printed: "Cheney lied and thousands are STILL dying." Both sides sin and the pretense of greater sin becomes more reprehensible if we wrap ourselves Bible verses as a kind of immunity from prosecution.
We shout that this is not OUR President, OUR leader, not the guy we wanted, be he Bush or Obama, If we are God's people, as Jonah, we need to answer the question: have you any right to be angry? Since God chose to spare Nineveh and also chose to put both those Presidents in that office.
I am aware that my own sins make me hardly the one to speak. "I got a million of 'em!" as the bad comic used to say. But I write this only in defense of God's simple plan: everyone should hear the Gospel so they may join the Kingdom of God in service for eternity, service now in spreading that Gospel and service in whatever God has planned for us in the New Heaven and New Earth after the Millennium. We do a disservice to God and His plan when we do our best to alienate those who aren't saved.
And that's the real thing here: we exist to serve Him whether we understand or not, whether we like it or not. Our salvation is not so we can go to heaven, it is so we can tell others about Salvation and then all go to heaven to serve God,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeBv9r92VQ0
5 Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of the town.
6 And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the vine.
7 But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.
8 Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is
better for me than life.
Now Jonah goes to sit in judgement of his own on what action God will take.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Greatly displeased at the clemency of God towards Nineveh, Jonah confesses that it was the expectation that that clemency would be exercised, which rendered him unwilling to undertake the divine mission at the first, and in his annoyance and chagrin requests that he may die, 1–3. Met by the calm appeal to reason, which however he is in no mood to entertain, Doest thou well to be angry? Jonah goes out of the city, and constructs in the immediate vicinity a booth or hut, under the shelter of which he may dwell and watch, till the forty days are expired, what the fate of Nineveh will be, 4, 5. Intending to correct and instruct him by an acted parable, in which he himself should bear the chief part, God causes a wide-spreading plant to spring up and cover his booth with its refreshing shade. But scarcely has Jonah begun to enjoy the welcome shelter from the burning rays of the sun thus afforded him, when God, in pursuit of His lesson, causes the plant to be attacked by insects, which rapidly strip it of its protecting leaves and cause it to wither away, 6, 7. Once again, the hand that governs all things sets in motion, like the blast of a furnace, the burning wind of the desert, and the sun’s unbroken rays pour down on the now defenceless head of Jonah, so that faint and weary, beneath the weight of bodily distress and mental disappointment, he urges anew his passionate complaint, Better for me to die than to live!
Jonah sets himself up as the student and judge of God's action. How can He show mercy to this Gentile vermin, Jonah wonders? He told Joshua to show no mercy, why mercy now?
The simplest answer is that God shows mercy to who He will.
And He gives Jonah the example of his own emotions:
First, he grants Jonah shade.
Recall he gave Jonah a prophecy for Israel. He gave him recognition as a prophet and whatever distinction it meant, whatever boost it gave to his ego.
Next , God kills the vine and send a hellish wind.
Jonah aches and sweats and faints from the heat as he sits there to see if God keeps his Word. He ends up begging for death.
Even as he asked the sailors to toss him to the fish.
God essentially says: "You miss something that I created specifically to serve you, to give you relief and offer comfort in a time of need. You had nothing to do with it, you merely enjoyed it, reveled in it, found the joy of the comfort even though you were doing something of no service to me. I still gave you something of worth and you miss it."
And the kicker:
"Now imagine how much I would have been hurt by the loss of these people who I DID CREATE and who I CARE ABOUT. Even the cattle have value to me because I created them. You care about animals yourself. Learn that I care about all humanity."
Our old friends in Jamieson-Fausset-Brown offer a perspective from the event's intended influence on Israel as reflected in Jonah:
Jonah could hardly have been so vexed for the letter of his prediction failing, when the end of his commission had virtually been gained in leading Nineveh to repentance. This then cannot have been regarded by Jonah as the ultimate end of his commission. If Nineveh had been the prominent object with him, he would have rejoiced at the result of his mission. But Israel was the prominent aim of Jonah, as a prophet of the elect people. Probably then he regarded the destruction of Nineveh as fitted to be an example of God's judgment at last suspending His long forbearance so as to startle Israel from its desperate degeneracy, heightened by its new prosperity under Jeroboam II at that very time, in a way that all other means had failed to do. Jonah, despairing of anything effectual being done for God in Israel, unless there were first given a striking example of severity, thought when he proclaimed the downfall of Nineveh in forty days, that now at last God is about to give such an example; so when this means of awakening Israel was set aside by God's mercy on Nineveh's repentance, he was bitterly disappointed, not from pride or mercilessness, but from hopelessness as to anything being possible for the reformation of Israel, now that his cherished hope is baffled. But God's plan was to teach Israel, by the example of Nineveh, how inexcusable is their own impenitence, and how inevitable their ruin if they persevere. Repenting Nineveh has proved herself more worthy of God's favor than apostate Israel; the children of the covenant have not only fallen down to, but actually below, the level of a heathen people; Israel, therefore, must go down, and the heathen rise above her. Jonah did not know the important lessons of hope to the penitent, and condemnation to those amidst outward privileges impenitent, which Nineveh's preservation on repentance was to have for aftertimes, and to all ages. He could not foresee that Messiah Himself was thus to apply that history. A lesson to us that if we could in any particular alter the plan of Providence, it would not be for the better, but for the worse [Fairbairn].Jonah, repining at God’s mercy,Jonah 4:1-3, is reproved by the type of a gourd, Jonah 4:4-11.
But, Heb. And, it, the Divine forbearance sparing the great and sinful Nineveh,
displeased Jonah; was very disagreeable to Jonah’s hasty and fierce temper, to his love of his own credit, and it afflicted him to see Nineveh survive the forty days limited for their continuance.
Exceedingly; it was a great affliction to him, so highly distempered is Jonah at God’s goodness to a repenting city.
And he was very angry: this kindled a fire in his breast which was made up of envy, indignation, and grief, for that it was not done, and desire that yet it may be done. Jonah would yet have Nineveh a sacrifice to God’s justice, and an eternal monument of his truth who foretold its ruin.
Jonah was as concerned that he be right as he was that God be glorified. God wanted him to see that he was a tool, even as the vine, that he was offering a moment's shade by his action even though the worm of sin would eat it away over time.
Everything was done to show us that we are meant to be in His service and that, sometimes, it will not be what we expect, what we think we were meant to do or even for ones we care about or even love.
That God gives us the power to do His work despite our reservations.
Which we can meet with much more joy than Jonah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VoUYtx0kw
Summation:
1) God is in control. He will direct us to where we are meant to be, He will allow us to resist to a point. Then He will send "suggestions."
2) It doesn't matter what our opinion of our mission is. He will be there and His power will reach the ones that are meant to be reached.
3) It will not always come out as we wish. Note Jesus' comment abut how Israel killed all their prophets. These Gentiles spared Jonah because God created in the "disaster" a circumstance which was also a peculiar sign to the Ninehevites.
4) We may say God hasn't and spoken to us given us a mission. I will suggest he whispers to all of us through the Holy Spirit. Hr has given all of us a mission" go into all the world making disciples of all nations.
5) He will act in some way to let us know that we are not listening or that we have yet to learn his lesson.
6) Idols are worthless in times of actual trouble. Superman won't really come to our rescue. Nor the Avengers. Nor the Presidential candidate so many are putting faith in. Nor the party he or she represents.
7) Those who want to will listen that Hell awaits them if they fail to accept Christ. Those like
Rob Bell who wish to emphasize the celebration of our joining the body of Christ need to realize there is also the truth of a terrible doom awaiting the disbeliever. And, yes, it can reach the masses as well as the story of the party,
J. Vernon MacGee's list of the important points given completely here:
There are six significant subjects which are suggested and developed in the Book of Jonah which make it very relevant for us today:
1. This is the one book of the Old Testament which sets forth the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of the great doctrines of the Christian faith are set forth in certain books of the Old Testament. For instance, the Book of Exodus sets forth redemption. The deliverance from sin for the sinner who comes to Christ is illustrated in that book. In the Book of Ruth you have the romance of redemption, the love side of redemption. In the Book of Esther, you have the romance of providence. The book of Job, I believe, teaches repentance. You can go through the Scriptures and find that the great doctrines of our faith are illustrated in various books of the Old Testament. The little Book of Jonah illustrates and teaches the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If this book does not teach the great doctrine of resurrection, then this most important doctrine of the Christian faith is not illustrated by a book in the Old Testament. For this reason alone, I would say this is a significant book.
2. The Book of Jonah teaches that salvation is not by works, but by faith which leads to repentance. This little book is read by orthodox Jews on the great Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The way to God is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by the blood of a substitutionary sacrifice provided by the Lord. The most significant statement in the Book of Jonah is in the second chapter. “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). He is the author of salvation; He erected the great building of our salvation; He is the architect.
3. The third great purpose of this book is to show that God’s purpose of grace cannot be frustrated. Jonah refused to go to Nineveh, but God was still going to get the message to Nineveh. The interesting thing in this particular case is that Jonah was going to be the witness for God in Nineveh—he didn’t know he was going there, but he did go.
4. The fourth great truth in this book is that God will not cast us aside for faithlessness. He may not use you, but He will not cast you aside. There are a lot of football players sitting on the bench; in fact, more sit on the bench than play in the game. A player is called out to play only when it is believed that he can make a contribution to the game. If you and I are faithless, God may bench us; but we are still wearing our uniform, and He will not cast us aside. Anytime we want to get back in the game of life and do His will, He will permit us to do it.
5. The fifth great truth is that God is good and gracious. Read Jonah 4:2 for the most penetrating picture of God in the entire Bible. It is wrong to say that the Old Testament reveals a God of wrath and the New Testament reveals a God of love. He is no vengeful deity in the Book of Jonah.
6. The sixth and last great teaching is that God is the God of Gentiles. When God chose Abraham, in effect He said to the Gentiles, “I’m going to have to leave you for awhile because of the sin that has come into the human family. I’m going to prepare salvation for you through a man and a nation, and I’ll bring the Redeemer, the Savior, into the world through them.” Now God has a salvation for all mankind. I have written Romans 3:29 over the Book of Jonah in my Bible. Paul writes, “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” The Book of Jonah reveals that even in the Old Testament God did not forget the Gentiles. If He was willing to save a woman like Rahab the harlot, and a brutal, cruel nation like the Assyrians, including inhabitants of Nineveh, its capital, then I want to say to you that God is in the business of saving sinners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2KOCgC8DnU&list=RDJ2KOCgC8DnU#t=0
From here, we proceed to James:the Brother of Jesus.
