From an unknown source comes an article titled,
“How To Be Miserable.” It says, “Think about
yourself. Talk about yourself. Use ‘I’ as often as
possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of
others. Listen greedily to what people say about you.
Expec … More
Anger
Jonah had preached to the Ninevites, as God had commanded, and the Ninevites were spared, but Jonah’s attitude towards them remained unchanged. Instead of marveling at God’s grace, Jonah was displeased and angry (v. 1). Jonah’s anger stemmed from his hatred of the Assyrians. Jonah had suspected that God would spare Nineveh if he preached there, which is why he had tried fleeing to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). Jonah knew God’s character, “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2; Exodus 34:6-7). Jonah asked the Lord to kill him (v. 3). This is what anger does to us; it robs us of joy and makes us think life is no longer worth living. The Lord graciously did not give in to Jonah’s request. Instead, He questioned the morality of Jonah’s anger, asking, “Do you do well to be angry?” (v. 4).
Jonah left the city and made a shelter to protect himself from the sun (v. 5). He waited to see what would happen to Nineveh. Though Jonah was angry at God (vv. 1-4), God still cares for Jonah and demonstrates this by preparing a plant to provide shade for him. Jonah was happy for the provision of this plant, but apparently, he did not recognize it as having come from the hand of God (v. 6). Jonah, in in a state of complete self-pity, enjoyed the shade of the plant for one day, but at dawn the following day the Lord had a worm to bore its way into the plant, causing it to dry up and die (v. 8). Once again, Jonah expressed his desire to die, and once again the Lord questioned the morality of Jonah’s anger (v. 9). First Jonah was miserable because the Lord spared a city full of repentant people, and now Jonah is miserable because the Lord did not spare his plant. Clearly Jonah had a distorted sense of value. Jonah valued the perishable plant more than the 120,000 children (those who don’t know their right hand from their left) who lived in Nineveh who would have also perished if the city was destroyed.
Application
How is anger distorting my sense of value? Am I trapped today in a cycle of self-pity?
Jonah 4:1-11 (English Standard Version)
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God’s final lesson for Jonah
Jonah 4:1–11
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
From an unknown source comes an article titled, “How To Be Miserable.” It says, “Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use ‘I’ as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expec … More
Jonah had preached to the Ninevites, as God had commanded, and the Ninevites were spared, but Jonah’s attitude towards them remained unchanged. Instead of marveling at God’s grace, Jonah was displeased and angry (v. 1). Jonah’s anger stemmed from his hatred of the Assyrians. Jonah had suspected that God would spare Nineveh if he preached there, which is why he had tried fleeing to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). Jonah knew God’s character, “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2; Exodus 34:6-7). Jonah asked the Lord to kill him (v. 3). This is what anger does to us; it robs us of joy and makes us think life is no longer worth living. The Lord graciously did not give in to Jonah’s request. Instead, He questioned the morality of Jonah’s anger, asking, “Do you do well to be angry?” (v. 4).
Jonah left the city and made a shelter to protect himself from the sun (v. 5). He waited to see what would happen to Nineveh. Though Jonah was angry at God (vv. 1-4), God still cares for Jonah and demonstrates this by preparing a plant to provide shade for him. Jonah was happy for the provision of this plant, but apparently, he did not recognize it as having come from the hand of God (v. 6). Jonah, in in a state of complete self-pity, enjoyed the shade of the plant for one day, but at dawn the following day the Lord had a worm to bore its way into the plant, causing it to dry up and die (v. 8). Once again, Jonah expressed his desire to die, and once again the Lord questioned the morality of Jonah’s anger (v. 9). First Jonah was miserable because the Lord spared a city full of repentant people, and now Jonah is miserable because the Lord did not spare his plant. Clearly Jonah had a distorted sense of value. Jonah valued the perishable plant more than the 120,000 children (those who don’t know their right hand from their left) who lived in Nineveh who would have also perished if the city was destroyed.
Application
How is anger distorting my sense of value? Am I trapped today in a cycle of self-pity?
Jonah 4:1-11 (English Standard Version)
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View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »