JONAH LESSON 4

     We will begin this lesson in Jonah 4:1 "But it displeased Jonah
exceedingly, and he was very angry."

     Jonah had judged these people not worthy to be saved. He is, now,
angry that God has forgiven them. Perhaps, he was angry, because the
warning he had given them had not been carried out. I believe he just
harboured great hate toward these people, and did not want God to save
them. His anger was toward God, and that is very dangerous.  He had
thought that the Hebrews were the only ones worthy to be saved.  If
God saves the Gentiles, he thinks that will make the Hebrews less
special to God.

     Jonah 4:2 "And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O
LORD, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou [art] a
gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repentest thee of the evil."

     He was actually questioning the good judgement of God. He did not
want Nineveh to repent, and be forgiven. His hate was overwhelming.
All of the prophets knew that God threatened, many times, to cause the
people to repent. Jonah did not want Nineveh saved.

     Jonah 4:3 "Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life
from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live."

     Jonah did not want to live as an equal with the Gentiles. Jonah
wants to die, because God did not do what He told Jonah to tell them.
He was a very arrogant self-centered man. You would think, he would
have learned his lesson in the giant fish, but he did not. If he could
not have his way, he would rather die.

     Jonah 4:4  "Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?"

     God is disappointed at Jonah's anger. God makes Jonah examine
himself rather than condemn him.

     Jonah 4:5 "So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east
side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the
shadow, till he might see what would become of the city."

     Jonah is like a pouting little boy. He will just sit outside the
city in a booth, until God destroys the city. He had made up his mind
that God would go ahead and destroy Nineveh, to please him. He sits
there, possibly, until the forty days expire. He still wants the city
destroyed.

     Jonah 4:6 "And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made [it] to
come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to
deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd."

     Jonah becomes even more proud, when God makes a gourd come up out
of the ground to shade him. He will really feel his importance to God
now. His grief is not a physical thing, but a trouble in his mind.

     Jonah 4:7 "But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next
day, and it smote the gourd that it withered."

     The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. This is undoubtedly
the funniest thing in this. Just when Jonah is so proud of God doing
special things for him, God causes the worm to eat the gourd. Now
Jonah does not have any shade. God is trying to teach Jonah that God
can bless whoever He wishes, whenever He wishes.

     Jonah 4:8 "And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God
prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of
Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It
is] better for me to die than to live."

     With all the other shortcomings Jonah had, he also felt sorry for
himself. God is trying to show Jonah how unforgiving he is. God is
showing him, that he should have mercy on the people of Nineveh, if he
plans for God to have mercy upon him.

     Jonah 4:9 "And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for
the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death."

     Of course, Jonah has no right to be angry. He is like a spoiled
child. He is so angry, that it nearly kills him.

     Jonah 4:10 "Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd,
for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which
came up in a night, and perished in a night:"

     God is shaming Jonah, that he had pity on a gourd, and yet, did
not have pity on the people of Nineveh. Plants of life have a very
short life span. They are not made in the image of God, like people
are.

     Jonah 4:11 "And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city,
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern
between their right hand and their left hand; and [also] much cattle?"

     God has driven the point home. The people of Nineveh were human
beings. There were over 120,000 people there who would have been lost,
had God not had mercy upon them. God is making Jonah the judge of
whether He should have saved these people, or not. God is not
controlled by things of the flesh, as Jonah was. God is forgiving and
loving. He saves, because of His grace, and not because of our
worthiness. Salvation is a free gift. God is telling Jonah, that these
people had never been taught about God, and they did not know they
were doing wrong. When God showed them of their error, they repented
and changed their lifestyle. To be forgiven, we must forgive. We do
not hear the outcome of this. I sincerely hope that Jonah agreed with
God and forgave them. God is fair. He gives us all ample time to
repent and be saved.
                          Jonah 4 Questions


1.  What did Jonah feel about Nineveh being saved?
2.  Jonah had judged these people _____ ______ to be saved.
3.  Who was his anger toward?
4.  Who did he think were the only ones worthy to be saved?
5.  Why does he not want the Gentiles saved?
6.  What did he pray in verse 2?
7.  What was he actually questioning?
8.  What did all the prophets know about God's threats?
9.  What request does Jonah make in verse 3?
10. Describe Jonah.
11. What question did God ask him in verse 4?
12. What did Jonah do, because he wanted to see the city destroyed?
13. What is Jonah like?
14. The Lord God prepared a _________.
15. What was it for?
16. What effect did this have on Jonah?
17. What did God do to the gourd?
18. What lesson is God trying to teach Jonah?
19. What caused Jonah to faint?
20. What question does God ask Jonah about the gourd?
21. How angry is Jonah?
22. Why is God shaming Jonah?
23. The 120,000 people of Nineveh could not discern between what?
24. God saves, because of His ________, and not because of our
    _________.
25. How is God fair in His judgements?