Today is a day of outrage. Anger and outrage characterize the American landscape. Americans are angry. We are angry about Covid and the government and schools and churches respond to Covid. Americans are angry and outraged they have to continue to work at home and Americans are angry and outraged they are no longer able to work at home. Americans are angry when they do not get the right food in their bag at the drive-thru. Americans are angry. Anger and outrage is the currency of click bait and a large social media following. We have been trained to follow and celebrate the angry talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Stephen A. Smith. Anger sells. Anger sells online and T.V. Over the last 20 years the anger and outrage of James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll grew their churches into the thousands. And now having been discipled by angry, outraged evangelicals, others are building and growing their brand with more anger and outrage. Anger sells and America is buying. And sadly, the church has bought it as well.
Anger is not the problem but anger at what we do not get what we want. Anger is a problem when we feel we are justified in our anger and outrage. Anger is not the problem, sinful anger is. James 4:1-2, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” Anger is in us and it is a problem. James also writes, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” It appears that Americans are not the only ones who are angry. Anger is a universal human problem. James views anger as filthiness and rampant wickedness while humility, contentment, and peace characterizes true followers of God.
Jonah was angry. Jonah was exceedingly angry. Jonah was angry at God. Jonah rejoiced and praised God for his own salvation but was bitter and angry at the salvation of others. May God use Jonah’s anger to reveal our own. May the Lord show his kindness to us by exposing our self-centeredness and hypocrisy so we may put away our anger and live in the righteousness of God.
Are you Angry at God’s Patience Toward Others?
Jonah comes to Nineveh and gives the message God gives him, “ Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And shockingly the Ninevites believed God and called for a fast. The King made a decree, “Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” And God responded to their repentance with mercy. “When God saw what they did, how they turned away from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” Mission accomplished. And then the story takes an unexpected turn. If you are reading this story for the first time, it is shocking to read the first few words of Chapter 4. Jonah 4:1–3,
[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. [2] 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. [3] Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah was hot-mad. He saw God’s patience and kindness to the Ninevites and he thought it was evil for God to forgive their violence for the Hebrew literally reads, “It was exceedingly evil to Jonah.” The hypocrisy is staggering.
A few days before Jonah prayed, “you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God…Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope in steadfast love. But I with a voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” He rejoiced in his own salvation but the salvation of others makes him want to die. This prayer is much different, “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 disaster.” Jonah had great theology but his heart was far from God. How often do we have great theology but that theology does not inform our heart and actions?
Jonah who a few days before praised God for sparing his life now wants his life to be taken, “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Why does Jonah want to die? He did not get what he wanted. He received mercy but he wanted the Ninevites to receive justice. How often are we the same? We desire mercy and forgiveness from God for our sin, but we cry out for justice on those who sin against us. Jonah forgot how much mercy the Lord had shown him. He could not fathom a world where “those sinners” were forgiven. He minimized his own sin and maximized the sin of others. Do you ever do that? Do you ever view your sin, not as bad as their sin? Jonah battled self-righteousness. Do you?
His self righteousness is much like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son or the parable of the compassionate forgiving Father. One son squanders his inheritance with wild living but eventually comes to his senses. The Father stirred with compassion runs to his son and embraces him and throws a party by killing the fattened calf. The older son comes in from the field and hears the music and dancing and asks what’s happening, the servant responds, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.” He was lost and now is found. But the older son was angry and refused to go in. And listen why the older brother was angry, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came (notice not my brother), who has devourced your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.” Jonah is the older brother who was angry at God’s salvation. How could God forgive him?!!? Why should he get the same thing I got? I have done this and he has done that.
Self-righteousness does not understand sin for there is no one righteous, not even one. We are all sinners. When we try to minimize our sin and maximize the sin of others we are moving into self-righteousness. We believe our sin is not as bad as others. We begin to pray, “Thank God I am not like other men.” rather than beating our breasts saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And Jonah did not want to live in a world where the Ninevites were forgiven. Do you have any “Ninevites” in your life? Do you have any one who you do not want to experience forgiveness?
God was patient to the Ninevites and now God is patient again to Jonah. Instead of jumping on Jonah’s hypocrisy and self-righteousness, God works to expose Jonah’s heart. “Do you do well to be angry?” What an excellent question to probe our hearts! Do you do well to be angry? Jonah’s anger is self-centered. He did not get what he wanted so he pouted and was angry. He did not believe someone else got what they deserved. And he did not believe he got what he deserved. As prophet of God, well versed in the Scriptures, the phrasing of God’s question would have brought Jonah to Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:3–7
[3] In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, [4] and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, [5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. [6] The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? [7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is against you and it wants to rule over you. Anger reveals what is ruling you. It reveals what is mastering your heart.
Do you do well to be angry? You come home after a long day and all you want to do is sit and rest and your spouse or children need help and you get angry. In that moment you are being ruled by your comfort. Your master, your lord is yourself and your expectation of rest. Do you do well to be angry? Your friend gets a new car or a promotion and you get angry with your car or your financial state. You become jealous and are being ruled by money and reputation. Do you do well to be angry? Someone posts something online you disagree with and you begin to face flushed and your blood pressure rises. You become angry at their viewpoint and are being ruled by self and your knowledge. Do you do well to be angry?
Jonah did not want to do self-reflection. He wanted to be angry and he wanted the Ninevites to pay for their sins. Jonah 4:5, “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.” Jonah did not want to deal with his heart, but he wanted to wallow in his self-righteousness. He was hoping God would change his mind and send fire and sulfur down on the city like Sodom and Gomorrah. Again how often do we do the same? We know we are wrong but do not want to admit it. God is going after Jonah’s heart but he refuses to probe his heart to answer God’s question, “ Do you do well to be angry?”
Beloved, are you angry at God’s patience toward others? Have you been hurt by someone who you are reluctant to forgive? Probe your heart. Answer God’s question, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah is resistant, but God continues to extend more patience.
Are you Angry at God’s Providence Toward You?
Jonah is sulking in a booth he made for himself waiting for God to change his mind and destroy the Ninevites and God shows his control over nature to win the heart of his wayward prophet. Pay careful attention to the word appointed in the following verses. Jonah 4:6–9,
[6] 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. [7] But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. [8] 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.” [9] 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.”
God is controlling nature to expose Jonah’s sin and selfishness. Jonah was angry at his lot in life. He was exceedingly happy when God’s providence provided a plant and was exceedingly distraught when God’s providence brought discomfort. We will see God’s point in a moment in why he caused the plant to grow and perish, but first let me ask the question, “Are you angry with God’s providence toward you?” Are you angry where you are in life? Are you angry with your physical appearance? Intelligence? Your home? Parents? Relationship status? Finances? Your health? Are you angry with the providence the Lord has allowed in your life?
Beloved, if you are a believer in Christ, we must, as my good friend says, plant our flag on Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose…[for] God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.” Not all things are good. We live in a fallen world and there is much sin and filth in the world. Yet even though bad things will happen to us God will work even those bad things for our good. God is sovereign, wise and good. God is in control of the world as seen in how he appointed the plant, the worm and the eastwind. God is wise to cause all things to happen at the right time in the right way. He has the power for he is omnipotent and he has the wisdom for he is omniscient. When we are angry at God’s providences in our life we are tempted to doubt God’s sovereignty and his wisdom in the world. But he is not only all powerful and all knowing, but he is good. God’s heart is for us. He will work all things for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose. God is for us, not against us. He is patient towards us. He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Do not doubt his goodness.
We should not doubt God’s goodness in our life because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. We were dead in our trespasses and sin and God sent Jesus to die for us. God gave us his Son. When we like the Ninevites, angry and violent, God sent Jesus. When we were like Jonah, self-centered and self-righteous, God sent Jesus. God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all so how will he not graciously give us all things? If he gave us Christ to live and die for us. If he gave us Christ who was raised from the dead conquering sin and death, if he gave us the Spirit to live in us, how will he not give us what we need. God is good and trustworthy.
The Devil wants you to accuse God and cause doubt in your mind of his goodness. He wants you to look at what you do not have rather than who you have. You have Christ. You have all you in. Your greatest problem is sin and death has been solved so why are you worried about your job, your finances, or your health. God is for you not against you. Jonah looked at his circumstances and was angry enough to die. All Jonah needed to do was apply his theology to his life. He was exactly where God wanted him. God used a giant fish and saved a wicked nation so that Jonah would be sitting in that scorching heat so God could ask him, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” He is angry at God’s providence in his life. He did not want Nineveh saved and he did not want to be one used to save them. He did not get what he wanted so he wanted to die. Jonah believed God was sovereign but he did not think God was wise and good.
We will always be tempted to doubt one of those three things. Is God in control? Is God wise in the decisions he makes? Is God good? Are you tempted to doubt those things today? Friend, are you angry with God with your lot in life? Angry enough that you want to die? Depression has many layers. Some of it is genetic and involves chemical imbalance with the brain. Some of it is sinful thinking and lack of knowledge of the truth. Some of it is not trusting God with the providence of your life. I do not know why God does what he does. I do not understand his providence, but I believe wholeheartedly in the Word of God that says in Isaiah 55:6–11,
[6] “Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
[7] let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
[8] For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
[9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
[10] “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
[11] so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God is not asking you to know the why, he is asking you to trust him. He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for you. He has conquered sin and death, He has demonstrated his love for you. Will you not trust him?
God sent the plant with its shade and took it away to win Jonah’s heart and to reveal God’s heart.
Are you Ambitious for God’s Pity Toward Others?
The crescendo of the book is in these last two verses. It is a plea to Jonah but also it is a plea to all of Israel. It is a plea to us. It is a plea to have compassion and pity on others who are far from God. He wants us to be ambitious in extending God’s compassion to others. Jonah 4:10–11,
[10] 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. [11] 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?”
In Chapter 1, the Gentile captain woke up Jonah while he was asleep in the storm, “Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” Later in Chapter 1 all Gentile sailors call out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” In Chapter 3, the Gentile King, “Let everyone turn from his evil and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” Three Gentiles are concerned that souls will not perish. Jonah, the only Israelite, is only concerned for the plant that perished.
The Book of Jonah is a rebuke against the Israelites who cared only for themselves and their comfort. They were not concerned with the nations who did not know their right hand from the left (an idiom for spiritually lost). Jonah was angry at the salvation of the Ninevites but God had mercy. God had compassion on those who were lost. That is God’s heart. His heart is full of compassion to those who are lost and broken. If you are listening here and not a believer in Christ, please hear that God’s heart is for you. He knows your frame. He knows your sin. He knows your shame. He knows and he loves you. He has compassion for you. He is like the Father who sees you when you are a long way off and runs to you and wraps his arms around you in love. Jesus lived and died for you. He was raised for you. Repent of your sins and trust in Him. He is mighty to save.
Beloved, what kind of church will we be? Will we be an angry people? Will we constantly lived outraged at the opinions or the sins of others? Or will we be a people of compassion? Of pity and mercy? When we complain and bemoan God’s providence in our lives we take our eyes off of our mission. We must be ambitious for God’s salvation for others? We must be a people of compassion. God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Beloved, we must not spare our own lives but give them up for the sake of all. We must have compassion on those who do not know their right hand and their left.
In our home, we often say as things break, “Perishing. It’s all perishing.” This world is passing away but those who fear the Lord will live forever. Our goal should not be comfort, but salvation. Let us not become angry and outraged at others for every little thing but let us have compassion and mercy for their souls. We are in the business of souls. We do not need to show the world our anger but our compassion. We must be ambitious for God’s salvation. The church exists to proclaim the gospel and call the lost to Christ. If we want to be a church that honors Christ and glorifies God, we must be in the business of the soul. When Spurgeon reflected on his life and ministry he said this, a worthy way to think about our own ministries.
I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan’s day. I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business. I am engaged in personally-conducted tours to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest: I am glad he is still alive and active. And there is Christiana, and there are her children. It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants’ heads, and lead on the timid and trembling. I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings. I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God’s grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river’s edge. Oh, how many have I had to part with there! I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City.
Oh dear friends let us not be consumed with our own comfort and the wisdom of our opinions, but let us be consumed with compassion as we care for those who are perishing. Let us lead the timid and trembling. Let us hold the weak and let our hearts ache with pity for the lost. In compassion and love, let us travel safely to the river’s edge and go to our King. The King who lived and died and arose again so we would not perish but have everlasting life. Our God has already given us so much in Christ and promised to give us all things. My friend, in light of the gospel, do you do well to be angry?
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