Jonah 4:1-11.  This is the hardest part of the book to understand.  In Jonah 2:2, 8-9 Jonah was desperate and cried out to In God for help.  As we saw in verses 8-9 he declared that his faith was in a real powerful God and then he promised to be faithful.  Then he went and did what God asked him to do, he went and preached to Ninevah.  I have never though that he really wanted to go, it seems his heart was never in it.  Scholars point out that his message to Ninevah was six words long (In the Hebrew record of it).  “Yet forty days and Ninevah will be destroyed.”  That doesn’t seem like much to say after walking several hundred miles.  It seem like he must have said more.  I mean the people repented and hoped that God would not hold back his punishment.  Jonah never even suggested that they change, at least not in what he recorded in the book.  We need to trust that the message that is recorded at least reflects the total message What ever words he used this is what he said.  For example he actually may have spoken to them in their own language and so the words in the book contain the idea of what he said, just like English translations contain more than six words but they give us the idea of what he said.

What is written may actually be all he said, based on today’s reading.  In chapter four we see Jonah’s response to the fact that God forgave the Ninevites.  It’s interesting to wonder how Jonah knew that God forgave them.  Did God tell him?  Or did Jonah give his one line message then step aside and wait forty days to see what might happen?  Jonah 3:10 almost leaves me thinking Jonah waited around to see if God would pound them.  In that verse we see that God saw their change of heart and so he decided not to destry them and that “he did not do it”.  That last little phrase makes me think Jonah waited the full forty days to see what would happen.  Jonah 4:2 makes me think even more that Jonah really didn’t give it his best effort when he preached to the Ninevites.  In that verse he tells God that he knew the Ninevites might respond and turn back to God.  He says tht is why he ran the other way, to delay the possibility.  He admits that God is forgiving and that he didn’t want that to happen in Ninevah.  Wow what an attitude for a prophet to have.  Helping people turn back to God, honor and obey him, it the job of a prophet.  Jonah clearly had a bad attitude and he certainly didn’t reflect the heart of God, he wanted to avoid the possibility of the Ninevites turning back to God.  Then in verse 3 his attitude gets even worse.  “Hey God just let me die, that would be better than living.”  Maybe Jonah was trying to commit “Suicide by saylor” when he got the saylors to throw him overboard.  All of this is why I said this is the hardest part of the book to understand.  I mean, your job is a prophet, you get the chance to preach in the wickedest city you know, and every one repents from the king on down.  Do you thing Billy Graham would break down and want to die if he gave a message and everyone in the stadium stood up and said “I want Jesus”?  Then he was told people were lining up out side, the whole city saying the same thing.  Then he was told that the President was landing in Marine 1 (the helicopter) and was calling in asking if it was too late to repent of supporting abortion and all the other stuff that makes God sad.  Do you think tht would make him sorry he ever gave the message?  No way!  He might break down or have a heart attack or fall over dead but it would be because he was astounded at the power of God not because he didn’t want it to happen.  In verse 4 God is basically saying, “What are you mad about?”

In verse 5 we see that Jonah leaves the city and sits outside waiting to see what will happen.  I guess he realized before the forty days were up that God wasn’t going to follow through on the destroy Ninevah thing, though I do thing some time went by before he complained to God, maybe even most of it.  But he is waiting to see what will happen.  I do think he sat there for what ever part of the forty days were left, even though he knew God was “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger with a lot of loving forgiveness.”  That last part of the description of God is a Hebrew word “hesed”. It is a very big word in Hebrew and talks about God’s faithfulness to his promises and how he goes above and beyond to help.  So here is “poor little” Jonah sitting waiting to see if God might change his mind back even though he uses a word like that to describe God.  Ninevah was located where modern day Mosul is in Iraq.  Just to let you know the weather today in Mosul is 108º with 16% humidity.  Very hot and dry.  And Jonah is sitting out side the city waiting.  God must have a sense of humor because he causes a plant to grow rapidly up over Jonah to give him some shade.  I’m sure there was not misunderstanding by Jonah that this was a miracle, plants just don’t grow that fast, anywhere, let alone in such a harsh climate.  And Jonah’s response was, That’s more like it, mercy on the man, shade for the servant!”  But then God gave Jonah a little lesson he cause the plant to die the next morning and sent a hot wind off the desert too.  I wonder if the worm killed the root of the plnat and it stood there looking like shade till the wind came and blew it over.  In verse 8 we have Jonah for at least the second time and maybe even the third time wanting to die.  This guy seems to be all about himself.

In verses 9-11 God gives Jonah a little lesson on priorities.  Jonah said he had good reason to be mad about the plant, it had given him pleasure and comfort and now it was gone, toast.  In verse 11 God gets to the real point, Jonah knew he was a compassionate God, had admitted it in verse 2 and enjoyed the comfort it brought him in verse 6, so what did he expect that God would just destroy 120,000 people who had turned back to him.  No way!  That is the kind of God we have, one who cares, and one who will accept anyone who turns back to him.  I don’t think he even waits until we are turned all the way around (John 4 is my reason for saying that but that’s another story).  God has “hesed” loving kindness and he’s not afraid to use it, what he really doesn’t want to use is his wrath, but he will.  Unfortunately, later in their history, after this generation had been long dead, God did destroy the Assyrian people.  We read predictions of that in Isaiah.  But God is willing to let each generation have a chance at turning to him.  He is willing to forgive even an exceedingly wicked city, or have compassion on one selfish servant.  Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 that we all disobey and fail to measure up to God’s perfection.  But he will forgive any one who turns back to him (John 1:12).  If you haven’t already done so give your life to Jesus today.  Accept him as the only way to have a right relationship with God and start enjoying god’s “hesed” right now.  If you do let me know.

God thank you for being so loving.  Help me see people as something you love. Help me have even a fraction of the love for others that you do.  Help me not exclude any one .  Make me a truly faithful servant.  Give me your heart, let me be your hands and mouth.