Have you ever been angry at God? Most of us, if we’re honest, will admit to having been at one time or another. And also, if we’re honest and god-fearing, will admit that God is right, and His ways are always correct and unerring. If we have something that is upsetting us about the ways of the Lord, it is us that are off-base, not Him. One Old Testament character, one that most of us are familiar with, found himself quite angry at God, and was stubbornly refusing to bend his feelings. Let’s take a look at our Scripture today.
Our angry Biblical character is none other than the prophet Jonah. Most of us know the account of his ministry, how the Lord called him to journey to the city of Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, and bring His message to the people there. The Assyrian Empire was the bitter enemy of the nation of Israel, and Jonah had a deep-seated hatred for the Assyrian people. He had no intention of going to Nineveh to tell them about Yahweh, so after hearing God’s call, Jonah planned on getting as far away as he could. He took a ship to the furthest destination he could find. God wasn’t going to let Jonah get away that easily from His plan for him, so He sent a storm. Jonah soon found himself overboard, and in the belly of a large fish! (Jonah 1). After spending three days there, Jonah reluctantly changed his mind, obeyed God, and went to preach where God sent him.
Despite his virulent hatred of the Ninevites, Jonah was a gifted preacher, and a great revival broke out in the city, with the whole city repenting and turning to the Lord (Jonah 3:4-9). Because the people repented and turned to Him, God spared Nineveh, and did not bring judgment down upon the city. On the basis of their repentance, God could deal with them in grace rather than in judgment.
This is where Jonah’s great anger developed. He had preached that unless the people repented of their sins, God would destroy them, and because of his immense hatred of the Ninevites, Jonah wanted a front row seat to watch their destruction (vs. 5). The thought of that happening must have filled him with glee. However, when he saw that the people repented, and God did not destroy them, Jonah was furious. The prophet was very open and honest with God. He spoke right up, telling Him that this was what he had feared would happen, and why he had tried to flee to begin with. Jonah knew that God was a merciful God, and that if someone repents, He spares them (vs. 1-2).
Rather than getting angry at Jonah for his terrible attitude, God tried to teach him an object lesson. With the hot Middle East sun beating down upon Jonah as he sat there, God quickly made a vine grow, sprouting large leaves, which brought him shade (vs. 6). Jonah was very thankful for that. However, overnight God brought a worm to eat up the vine, causing the plant to die. The next morning, with the hot sun beating down upon him, Jonah was angry that the plant had died (vs. 7-9). The heat made him wish he was dead, and he complained to God about this. God then proceeded to give the prophet a good scolding. He told Jonah that if he could have pity on the death of the plant, something he had not created, why couldn’t He, the Creator and Lord of all, not have mercy on the city of Nineveh, especially when they repented? (vs 10-11).
Anger isn’t always sinful or wrong, as when Jesus was angry in the Temple. However, Jonah’s anger here was not commendable, justifiable, or honorable. It certainly didn’t glorify God. Here we see that a man of God was indifferent to a whole group of people’s potential damnation! Jonah was happy when God spared his life in the fish, but angry when the Ninevites got saved. As in the case with the prophet, God uses both blessings and trials to challenge and change us for the better. He prepared a storm, a fish, a plant, and a worm to confront Jonah’s heart problem, to try and reach him to make him more compassionate.
God will spare no extreme to get His message to the lost, even if the messenger is deliberately disobedient. As we see, Jonah’s anger towards God was completely wrong and out of place. His hatred for another nationality was a sin. God didn’t love only Jonah’s people, the Jews. God has love for everyone, and wants them to repent and get saved. His forgiveness extends to all who repent and believe. He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy (Psalm 103:8).
The Book of Jonah ends abruptly. Jonah is silenced. He can make no reply to God’s Words. His only appropriate answer would be to confess that he is entirely wrong, and that God is entirely righteous. Did he do that? We don’t know, but hopefully he did. Who is God calling you to love that you do not want to love?
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