Something better than anger

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord , is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord , please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." And the Lord said, "Do you do well to be angry?" Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 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. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." And the Lord said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"- Jonah 4:1‭-‬11 ESV

Rev. Travis Drake

Something better than anger

Opening argument (v1-4)

Jonah's complaint was that he was exceedingly displeased. He saw this as a great evil. He was very angry in his prayer to God. He was very unhappy about the repentance of Nineveh. A world in which God even forgives Israel's enemies is not one that Jonah wants to live in. This is why Jonah wants to die. Jonah does not want to serve a God that forgives more than just Israel.

In this culture, justice was crucial. One must pay for their crimes. Jonah felt that they deserved judgement and punishment. This was revolutionary in that time and age. Jonah felt angry about how these evil people repented in one moment and God forgave.

God asked Jonah if it was good for him to be angry. Jonah wanted to see the city burned to the ground. He wanted retribution. He wanted payback. Justice is restitution and restoration. Retribution simply desires destruction. But for true justice to be served a debt must be absorbed. Jonah didn't want God, he wanted something from God. God wanted good for Jonah. God wanted more than retribution for Jonah; He wanted justice.

Dramatic intermission  (v5-8)

Jonah runs away again, but he doesn't go as far this time. He goes just outside the city. The entire city of Nineveh has just repented and the only person who knows what is going on is outside the city. It is the same issue as before. Jonah is the same prophet who will not go. He is still struggling with the same issue as before the storm and the fish.

Why doesn't God just move on? Pick another prophet? Fulfill the death wish of this prophet? Because God sees progress. Jonah prays about his anger. Jonah doesn't run as far as before. God wants good for Jonah. God shelters Jonah from the sun with a plant. This is vitally important in a desert. But Jonah needs more than shade. So God sends a worm to attack the plant. Then the sun and hot wind attack Jonah.

Jonah is waiting to see if God will attack the city. But instead God sends a worm to attack the plant. God sends the sun and the hot wind to attack him. This is ironic. Then God uses words.

Closing argument

God asks why he is so angry over this plant. God asks if it is good for Jonah. Jonah replies to God in anger. He says he is so angry that he wishes for death. And it would be anger that killed him. Anger is what controls him. Jonah is experiencing tunnel vision from anger and the desire for retribution. Jonah is not free, he is a slave. Jonah needs to forgive them.

God finally closes the scene. He says, You, you pity this plant that grew in one day and perished in the next. But I, I care for this city. God is contrasting himself with Jonah. God cares for this city of 120,000. But where is God? God is outside talking to this one prophet. Why? Because the city has repented, but the prophet has not. Jonah is blinded by his anger. The people in the city don't know their left from their right. But Jonah is even more blind in his anger about Nineveh. He is the lost sheep and God is calling him back. Jonah doesn't know the way home even if he was shown it.

More than being told and shown the way, we need a rescuer. God has to save us, even from ourselves. God places difficult people and difficult circumstance in our lives for our good.

Application
Don't be trapped by your anger. (forgive, cancel the debt)
Don't be discouraged by your incremental progress

Do ask yourself, is your anger good for you?
Do remember that God was willing to go after one little sheep.