The Fainting Spells of a Prodigal Prophet (Jonah 4)

Jonah could have ended as a hero story: one sermon, one brutal city, mass repentance, and a prophet instantly remembered as the greatest evangelist of his day. But Jonah chapter 4 refuses to let us build a celebrity out of a messenger. Right after Nineveh turns to God, Jonah is furious. He admits he ran because he feared God would show grace to people he hated, and suddenly the real conflict isn’t outside the city walls, it’s inside Jonah’s heart.

We sit with the tension of knowing true things about God while resisting what those truths demand from us. Jonah can quote God’s character as gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and full of steadfast love, yet he still wants judgment for his enemies. Then God appoints a plant, a worm, and a scorching east wind, using Jonah’s comfort and discomfort to reveal what he values most. The lesson lands hard: Jonah celebrates shade, mourns a withered plant, and still has no room for compassion for human beings who are spiritually blind.

The closing question is the one we can’t dodge: should God not pity a great city filled with confused, broken people. If you’ve ever felt more passion about your own ease than someone else’s soul, this conversation will feel uncomfortably relevant. Listen, share it with a friend who wrestles with forgiveness, and leave a review telling us what part challenged your priorities the most.

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Transcript

Jonah’s Fame That Never Happens

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Have you ever thought about the fact that had Jonah ended with chapter three, he would have been revered to this day as the greatest evangelist prophet who ever lived? At his preaching, an entire city had repented and followed God, and this wasn't just any city, it was Nineveh, a city known around that ancient world for its wickedness and cruelty. I mean, if this happened today, I can just imagine the invitations for Jonah to appear on television and radio and talk about his experiences. He'd be sought out for advice by church leaders. He'd certainly become a best-selling author. He'd have millions of followers online. Fortunately, none of that will happen. And frankly, God will keep Jonah from becoming some kind of superstar celebrity. And that's because this little book doesn't end with chapter three. The rest of the story recorded in chapter four reveals that Jonah isn't some super saint. In fact, he's still battling a self-centered heart. And let me tell you, when you come to the end of this little book, you don't end up glorifying Jonah. You end up glorifying God. Now, to get a running start for today, chapter three concluded by telling us in verse ten that God accepted the repentance of the Ninevites, he didn't bring judgment upon them. And with that now, chapter four begins by saying here in verse one, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. Now, if you've never read that verse before, that's going to come as a disappointing surprise. Can you imagine a preacher seeing thousands of people repent, entire nations repent and follow God after one short sermon and then go home angry? Why you'd expect Jonah here to be jumping for joy and for all the people that God has redeemed and rescued from judgment, and he's angry. What's he thinking? Well we're told here in verse 2, as he says this to God, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? This is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish. For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful. In other words, he's saying, I was afraid this would happen. I was afraid you'd forgive all those wicked people. Think about it. Jonah had run away, not because he was afraid the Ninevites would not listen to him, he was afraid they would. That's how much he hated the Ninevites. You see, they were the enemy of the Jewish people. He didn't want them to be spared the judgment of God. And by the way, Jonah's not alone in his hatred. Israel, Israel's government, the citizens hate Nineveh. They could have viewed him in fact as a traitor to their own foreign policy to go over there and offer them mercy. Jonah now prays in verse 3, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. You see, now Jonah doesn't want to go back home to Israel. He wants to die. Now in response to this, God says here in verse 4, Jonah he's going to ask him three questions, by the way, do you do well to be angry? He's challenging Jonah's perspective. He's effectively saying, Jonah, we're looking at the same spiritual awakening, a national conversion. The hosts of heaven right now are rejoicing, and you're mad. You're angry. Well, God and Jonah have two very different perspectives. And the Lord is asking Jonah which one is the right one. Well, looking back here at verse two, Jonah admits, I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster. That's the truth here, he's saying. But it doesn't alter Jonah's perspective. It didn't affect his emotions either, did it? He knew the truth. He just didn't want the truth to affect his life. So now Jonah is he's going to sit outside the city and he's going to see if the Ninevites were truly repentant. He wants fire to fall. Verse five. 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 could see what would become of the city. Now this implies that Jonah doesn't believe the Ninevites were genuine. He wants to be far enough away so that when the fire of God's judgment falls, he gets to see it, but it won't scorch him. Now in verse six we read this interesting detail. 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. By the way, this is the first time in the book of Jonah that Jonah is described as happy. But his happiness isn't going to last very long. Verse 7 says, When dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. Now again, beloved, there's this underlying theme of creation's obedience to God's commands. God appointed, he commanded a great fish, a plant, and now a worm, and they all obey God. Everything in this book obeys God, including the Ninevehes. Everybody except Jonah. Now verse eight introduces another obedient element of creation. Notice when the sun rose, God appointed, same verb, he commanded a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he said, It is better for me to die than to live. This wind refers to a hot dust storm in that region and it can last for days. Now once again, Jonah would rather die and be put out of his misery than submit to God's perspective, God's plan, and stay alive. Well here in verse nine, God asks Jonah a second question. This one probes Jonah's priorities. Do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. So get this. Jonah is mad that sinners are converted. He's happy he gets some shade, but then he's angry that the plant withers. His priorities are upside down. He cares more about his personal comfort than the eternal condition of unbelievers. And before we point a finger, you know, too quickly, let's ask ourselves the same questions. What do we really care about in life? What are our real priorities in life? Is it making money? Is it becoming more comfortable? Is it avoiding problems? Or is it being an ambassador for the Lord wherever He has assigned us today in whatever nation we live? Now, God's third and final question points at Jonah's misguided passion. The Lord speaks very bluntly here in verse eleven. Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? Now it's likely that these one hundred and twenty thousand people are living inside Nineveh's city walls. That doesn't count the outlying suburbs where as many as five hundred thousand people lived, but in describing them as not knowing the difference between their right hand and their left hand, God might be reminding Jonah here how utterly blinded, how utterly confused they are by their wickedness and idolatry. This would be another way of saying that the Ninevites had confused right for wrong and wrong for right. And let me tell you, beloved, that sounds like our world today. Now God is reminding Jonah not to get angry with these people, but to pity them. Have compassion on them. Beloved, the sinners of our world, they're not our enemies, they're our mission field. And with that final question from the Lord, rather abruptly, the book of Jonah comes to an end. I'd like to think he said, you know what, Lord, you're absolutely right. I I really ought to care more about these people, you know, than myself, than this little shaved uh plant. Well, we don't know how he answered. But let me tell you, we we we might not know how he answered, but we need to know how we will answer the Lord today. Let's make sure we are answering correctly these questions about our perspective in life, our priorities in life, our our passion in life. And here's how we can tell we're answering correctly, when we are obeying God, like the wind and the waves, and those sailors, and that big fish, and that worm, and that plant, and and the east wind, and don't forget the Ninevehes. When we answer it like they did, when they gave their lives in surrender to the Lord. Well, with that we finish the little book of Jonah. Until our next wisdom journey begins, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.