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God The Patient Father-Jonah 4:1-4

By Larry Kirk | April 24, 2007

Have you ever driven through a long stretch of road construction? There are slowdowns, detours, rough patches, and flagmen stopping you for oncoming traffic or making you wait for a front-loader to finish with a dump truck. Finally you roll onto smooth pavement and see open road stretching out before you. And sometimes there is a sign there that says “End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”

Maybe when my time comes to leave this earth, that would be a great inscription to carve into my gravestone. “End of construction.Thank you for your patience.” Thank you, church, and friends, and wife, and children. I’ve been under construction, but now we’re past that. Thanks for your patience. Things will be smoother now.

All of us are under construction in life. In the Christian faith, when you put your faith in Christ and invite Him into your life, He begins to work in you to change you into the person He wants you to become. It’s a process that requires patience. What I have realized, looking at the book of Jonah and reflecting on your life and mine, is that while we need to be patient with this process and others need to be patient with us, the one who shows the greatest patience of all is God.

Jonah shows us how graciously patient God is with people. It also shows us how blind we can be to the patience He is showing us, how lost we can be in our own emotions and perspective and out of touch with the will of God, His ways, His goodness, and His glory. That’s not a good thing, but it is common, and it was certainly the case with Jonah.

Jonah 4 begins with Jonah’s anger.

What Can We Learn from Jonah’s Anger?

Look at Jonah 4:1. “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.” The Hebrew words here tell us that Jonah was absolutely furious. What’s ironic is the reason he was so angry. Something good happened, but it didn’t happen to the right people!

Sometimes Our Anger Is Irrational and Unjust

Why is Jonah angry? Jonah 3:5 says that when Jonah preached to them, “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” They all believed and repented from the greatest to the least, humbled themselves before God, turned from their evil ways, and God decided not to judge them.

Now, we are supposed to see the strange humor in this. Imagine that I go to Las Vegas to tell all the people there they need to repent. I start walking up and down the strip, telling people they need to turn from all their evil ways and make Jesus Lord. Suppose they listen, their hearts are moved, they all repent and are humble and start believing in God. The bouncers and the blackjack dealers, the strippers and the show-girls, and all the celebrities that are there for the weekend are on their knees praying and worshiping. They turn all the casinos into churches and open all the buffets to feed the homeless. Everyone from the political leaders to the mobsters truly turns to God.

What if something like that did happen? Suppose it did, and when it happened I was furious because I didn’t want people like that to receive the love of God. That’s what happened in Nineveh.

There is an interesting play on words here that carries over from the last verse of chapter 3 to the first verse of chapter 4. The same Hebrew word appears three times in the two verses, and it’s translated differently in English each time. It’s the Hebrew word ra-ah. This word is very flexible. It can mean evil, such as sin and wickedness, or it can mean other bad things, such as misery, a natural disaster, or God’s judgment.

Jonah 3:10-4:1 says: “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil (ra-ah) ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction (ra-ah) he had threatened. But Jonah was greatly displeased (ra-ah) and became angry.”

The Ninevites got rid of their ra-ah. God let go of His ra-ah. The only one still holding onto ra-ah is Jonah! He is full of anger. His anger is completely unjust, but that doesn’t matter to Jonah. He is angry at what God is doing and angry at how life is going.

Part of what we are supposed to learn from this is the persistent power of our own biases, prejudices, and emotions to warp our perspective on life and on God. It’s obvious that Jonah felt strongly about this. He was burning mad, but he was blinded by his emotion. He forgot the first principle of life and the Bible, which is this: I am not God. You are not God. He has to be the teacher; you have to be the learner. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7).

Jonah’s anger at God was unjust and even irrational. There is such a thing as righteous anger, but most of our anger is neither righteous nor rational. It is most often dangerous and sinful, so be careful.

But here is the amazing thing: Jonah was unjustly angry with God, but God was consistently patient with Jonah.

God Is Patient with Us Even When

We Are Unjustly Angry with Him

A man in a grocery store kept going past a father who was shopping with his little boy. The boy was behaving horribly. Every time they ended up on the same aisle, he would see the boy throwing a tantrum, calling his dad names, demanding some treat or snack or that they go home now.

The father impressed the man because Dad seemed so calm. He kept gently speaking in a calm soothing voice: “It’s all right, Max, don’t get upset. It’s just going to be a little bit longer. Hang in there, Max. Come on, Max, don’t get angry.”

They happened to check out at the same time, and the man said, “Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you how much I admire the way you were working with little Max. You just kept talking to him so gently.” The man smiled and said, “This is Billy, I’m Max.”

God doesn’t have to talk to Himself to stay patient with us. But that shouldn’t diminish our thankfulness that He is patient. In this life we are all, often like this petty, pouting prophet who forgot who God is and become demanding and dissatisfied and angry. Do you realize that every day of your life God is patient with you? That’s what we learn from Jonah’s anger.

In verses 2-3, Jonah prays.

What Do We Learn from Jonah’s Prayer?

Notice how Jonah describes God in verse 2. “He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

He Gives a Five-fold Description of God

That Begins with Grace

Such a description of God is found about ten times in the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s an ancient creed, or formula, for describing Him.

First, God is gracious (hannun) We get the name “Hannah” from this word. The word describes kindness shown to the undeserving. In Psalm 51, when David asks God to forgive him for adultery and murder, his first words are: “O Lord, be gracious to me.” He is saying, “Show me a favor, a kindness I do not deserve.”

God is compassionate (rahum.) From this word we get the name “Rachel.” This word is from the Hebrew term meaning womb. Hebrew scholars believe it is derived from a mother’s compassion and pity for a helpless child to whom she has given birth. It is often translated “tender mercy.” God is gracious and compassionate. He shows us kindness that we do not deserve and looks on us with a compassion that is tender and heartfelt.

God is slow to anger. He is patient. He doesn’t get angry easily or quickly. He holds back His anger and offers love to those who repent and trust in him.

God is abounding in love. Here is that word hesed that we have seen throughout Jonah. It describes the loyal love of an unobligated giver to an undeserving person. The Scripture doesn’t just say that God has this loving loyalty to us but that He overflows with it. He is abounding in gracious, tender, loyal love. The heart of God is like an inexhaustible spring of water that bubbles up in faithful love.

God relents from sending calamity. God will judge mankind’s rebellion against Him and injustice to others, but He loves to respond to repentance with grace. This is a divine characteristic. That’s why whenever we come under the threat of God’s judgment, there is always opportunity for repentance and grace.

We sing “How Great Is Our God.” This is how great He is. He is holy, glorious, and awesome. But He is also “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

Jonah describes God with these powerful words, and yet he isn’t taking these truths to heart. In verse 3, he says, “Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Whenever there is some thing, some plan, some person that has become so important to you that you would rather die than live without it, that thing has become an idol. It has become a false god that rules your emotions and robs you of the enjoyment of God’s love. Jonah’s desire to see the Ninevites judged by God is ruling his emotions at this point.

But here is the amazing thing and is what impresses me as I think about this story. What Jonah shows us is that . . .

God Is Gracious Toward Us Even When

We Are Unloving Toward Others

Even though Jonah is at odds with the love of God, he is still receiving God’s love because the Lord is gracious to him. That’s how He is with you, and that’s how He is with me. God does not give up on you even when you are unjustly angry with Him and unloving toward others. This is what His love is like. He wants us know that, not just as a theological statement but as a life-changing reality. He wants His love to shine into our lives. He wants us to see that nothing should move our emotions more powerfully than His love and His glory.

The irony in this story is that Jonah confesses the reality of the love of God but is not enjoying the reality of that love. He is doing the very thing he told us not to do. Remember, at the end of Jonah 2 he said, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

What often happens in our experience is that new circumstances resurface the same old issues. That’s what happened to Jonah. He was clinging again to the old idol of prejudice and was unwilling to let go and experience the gracious love of God. Don’t be like that with God and His love. Strong emotions and bitter feelings can be used by Him to show you where you are clinging to something that has become too important. Let it go. Say, “Lord, forgive me. What was I thinking? Nothing is more important than trusting in You and experiencing Your presence, for You are ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.’”

God wants to get through to us. After Jonah’s prayer, God asks him a question.

What Do We Learn from God’s Question?

Just think about what happens here in verse 4: “But the Lord replied, ‘Have you any right to be angry?’” Like a patient father, God tries to help Jonah see the truth.

The answer to God’s question of course is that Jonah has no right to be angry.

None of Us Has the Right to Be Angry with God

We have no right to put ourselves on the throne of the universe and become angry at God as if He has sinned against us. We have no right to act as if He should repent for disobeying us and denying our sovereignty and not doing what we say and fulfilling our desires.

God is perfect just the way He is. We don’t always see that perfection or understand it. But we have to believe in Him and bow to His will. He does not conform to who we are; we have to learn to conform to who He is. And that is not a bad thing. It is right and good, because He is right and good. He is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love and wisdom, and we’re not. We don’t see things as He sees and understands them. So we must learn to change in order to grow, to lay down our imperfect understanding, lay down our self-centered expectations, lay down our hard-hearted biases, and surrender to His perfect love and wisdom. That’s what He was working so graciously to get Jonah to do in this story, and that is what He is working to do in your life and in mine.

What we learn from God’s question is that . . .

God Is Persistent with Us Even

When We Are Resistant to Change

Jonah is a mess, blind to his own stubborn sinfulness, self-righteous toward the Ninevites, rebellious toward God, and resistant to change. But God comes and counsels with him, working with him to help him come to his senses. That’s what God is like. That’s why all of us in every area of life should quit resisting Him and surrender in faith and obedience.

When God doesn’t fit into your box, tear open your box! When God doesn’t conform to your expectations, set aside your expectations. When God’s will and God’s providence and God’s calling conflict with your feelings, surrender your feelings, let them go, and cling to Him. Do what He says and trust in His love.

God is so beautifully gracious, patient, and abounding in love that it is foolish to resist His transforming influence. Don’t fight God. Years ago a play was written called Arms Too Short to Box with God. It’s true that our arms are too short to box with God, but that’s not the only reason we should not fight Him. We should not fight with God because when we fight with Him we’re fighting against grace, compassion, and abounding love. That’s what we see in the story of Jonah.

All those themes in Jonah run like paths through the whole of the Bible and lead us right to Jesus Christ. In Christ, God Himself comes down into the sinful city of mankind. He takes on human flesh and becomes one of us and lives with us, but He lives life the right way. He is the only one who ever truly lives a sinless life of love. He obeys the Word of God out of love for Him. And He loves all people with grace and truth. Yet He doesn’t resent or resist God’s love being shared with sinners.

He goes to the cross and gives Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He suffers the judgment of God in our place. He endures hell for us in His death. He rises again to be our Savior. That’s the greatness of His abounding love.

Kay Arthur has become a well-known author and speaker. Her testimony is written in her book Lord, I Need Your Grace Because I Can’t Make It on My Own. She talks about her life and her struggles in coming to Christ. As a young girl she went to church. She wrote, “I would listen to the messages, and go to Sunday school, but I never really committed my life to Jesus.”

She grew up and married and found out that her husband suffered from a mental disorder. They had two children, but the marriage was always in trouble. Her husband was constantly causing problems, so at last she left him. Time after time he called and pleaded with her to come back, but she refused. Finally, he threatened suicide, and she told him, “Go ahead, I need the money.” And he did.

Kay Arthur says that she can remember driving from the funeral in a bitter mix of remorse over what she had said and anger at what God had allowed. She shook her fist and said, “Go to hell, God.” Sounds like Jonah, doesn’t it? Does the Creator of the universe really take that kind of lip from sinful human beings and continue to show grace and love? Yes, He does. Kay Arthur writes that when she said that, “It was like someone flipped a switch. I suddenly realized that was exactly what God did. He went to hell for me that I might go to heaven with Him.”

What happened? She realized that even though she was angry, God really was a God of grace, compassion, and abounding love. He showed that in the life of Jesus and in His death and resurrection. She had to decide whether she would live in angry rebellion or surrender in repentance to trust in Him. She chose surrender, repentance, trust, and obedience. That’s the choice to which God is constantly calling us.

If you’ve never come to Christ, come to Him with repentance, willing to lay aside self-righteousness and sin, turn to Him as Lord, and trust in Him as Savior. Quit fighting and admit that you are not God and He is. Now that Christ has come, God has made everything center on what you do with Him. If you aren’t sure that you have ever received Him, make sure that you do come to Christ and receive His grace.

Maybe you have received His grace, and it moved you deeply in the past. If so, learn a lesson from Jonah. Remember how he felt after God had answered his prayer for salvation and saved his life out of the sea. He said, “I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and fulfill my vows to the Lord.” What his story reveals is that we can come to that place of thanksgiving, but then, later, some new circumstance of life tests us again. We forget the goodness of God. Our emotions cloud our thinking, and our sins are exposed again. What then? Does God write us off in disgust? No. He is there, patient, calling us back to Himself. Answer His call, surrender your resistance, and return to Him.

I want to acknowledge that through out this series of messages I drew freely from several sources. First the book, Salvation Through Judgment And Mercy: The Gospel According to Jonah (Gospel According to the Old Testament) by Bryan D. Estelle (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing) This is one installment of the very helpful series The Gospel According To the Old Testament D.A. Carson says that “one of the most urgent needs of the church is to grasp how the many parts of the Bible fit together to make one story-line that culminates in Jesus Christ…(and) this series of books goes a long way to meeting that need”. Sinclair Ferguson was quoted as saying “at last a series on the Old Testament designed to provide reliable exposition, biblical theology, and a focus on Christ”. O Palmer Robertson’s little book on Jonah, Jonah: A Study In Compassion, published by Banner of Truth, also proved especially helpful. While preaching this series I also listened to sermons on Jonah by Dr. Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll. Their sermons often suggested helpful ideas which were adapted to fit my approach and my congregation’s needs. Both of their sermon series are available through their web sites at www.redeemer.com and www.marshill.org respectively.

Topics: Jonah |

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