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Love
Teaching Text: Jonah 3:10 - 4:11
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relentedand did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing 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. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Cry of the Prophet
Jonah - When We Hate God's Instructions
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
Two mentions of Jonah outside of these 4 chapters that make up the book with his name.
In the Gospels, Jesus seems to be frustrated that people keep demanding more and more external phenomena from Him while not experiencing a real change of heart and mind.
He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
– Matthew 12:39-41
In 2 Kings 14 - Jonah, son of Amittai, was a court prophet to Jereboam II. While other prophets of Yahweh in his time, Amos and Hosea, criticized the royal administration for its injustice and unfaithfulness…
Jonah had supported Jeroboam’s aggressive military policy to extend the nation’s power and influence.
Tim Keller gives a helpful comment on this story and it begins to shine some light on how Jonah ends up running from God….
The original readers of the book of Jonah would have remembered him as intensely patriotic, a highly partisan nationalist. And they would have been amazed that God would send a man like that to preach to the very people he most feared and hated.
– Timothy Keller
So from these two mentions outside of the book of Jonah we learn some crucial things about the story…
Jesus saw this as an essential sign of God’s plan bringing salvation to the world, for breaking healing and redemption to a broken world.
We learn a little something about why Jonah was so reluctant to follow through with what God asks of him.
Parallels in the story:
In 1:1 - God’s words comes to Jonah – In 3:1 - God’s Word comes to Jonah
In 1:2 - the message is conveyed – In 3:2 - the message is conveyed
In 1:3 - the response of Jonah – In 3:3 - the response of Jonah
In 1:4 - a warning is given – In 3:4 - a warning is given
In 1:5 - the response of non-believers – In 3:5 - the response of the non-believers
In 1:6 - response of the leader – In 3:6 - the response of the leader
In 1:7 unbelievers respond better than Jonah – In 3:7 - unbelievers respond better than Jonah
In 2:1-10 How God taught Jonah grace through the fish – In 4:1-10 How God taught Jonah grace through the plant
Few things that bear on all of us…
Why we do not want to do what God says
How we return to God when we’ve gone our own way
Why our anger new tells the whole story
And from all that a few things we learn about how God works…
The Conflict of Identity: Jonah’s primary significance was found in being a Hebrew and a nationalist rather than a servant of God. This caused him to flee to Tarshish because he feared God might actually forgive the "wicked" Ninevites.
The Storm of Disobedience: The sermon posits that every sin has a "mighty storm" attached to it. For Jonah, the storm was mercy—a visible picture of the chaos that comes from trying to manage the world without God.
The Death and Resurrection Pattern: Jonah’s journey "down" (to Joppa, to the ship, to the sea, to the fish) represents the end of self. Jesus later calls this the "Sign of Jonah," pointing to His own death and resurrection.
The Cliffhanger of Grace: The story ends with God asking Jonah if he should not love the great city. The sermon suggests the story ends abruptly to force us to answer: Will we be angry at God’s mercy toward others, or will we walk in the grace we’ve been given?
You may sincerely believe that Jesus died for your sins, and yet your significance and security can be far more grounded in your career and financial worth than in the love of God through Christ.
Shallow Christian identities explain why professing Christians can be racists and greedy materialists, addicted to beauty and pleasure, or filled with anxiety and prone to overwork. All this comes because it is not Christ’s love but the world’s power, approval, comfort, and control that are the real roots of our self-identity.
– Timothy Keller
Sin:
It [has qualities like] an addicting drug. At first it may feel wonderful, but every time it gets harder to not do it again. Here’s just one example. When you indulge yourself in bitter thoughts, it feels so satisfying to fantasize about payback. But slowly and surely it will enlarge your capacity for self-pity, erode your ability to trust and enjoy relationships, and generally drain the happiness out of your daily life. Sin always hardens the conscience, locks you in the prison of your own defensiveness and rationalizations, and eats you up slowly from the inside. All sin has a mighty storm attached to it.
– Timothy Keller
THINGS WE LEARN ABOUT GOD
God is not just the God of your nation, and group , and people, and politics. God really loves and cares about your enemy. (Be very careful if you imagine God is always cheering on American missles and drone strikes)
God can meet us where we are even when we run away. (But running away always costs dearly)
God redeems through the sacrificial love of death and resurrection. This we see most fully in Jesus.
Jonah wanted Ninevah to pay for all their evil and wrong. God wanted to warn them and offer them mercy.
This fight between justice and mercy is raging in Jonah - God keeps finding shocking ways to be merciful
And ultimately God would say I will be just and the Justifier by going to the cross.
Application Questions
Where is your "Tarshish"? Jonah ran to Tarshish because God’s command conflicted with his personal politics and national identity. Is there an area of your life (career, political conviction, or personal comfort) that you prioritize over God’s direction?
Are you "praying your anger"? The sermon notes that Jonah was "rage-filled" but at least he prayed his complaint. When you feel resentful toward God’s timing or His mercy toward people you dislike, do you hide that away, or are you honest with Him about your bitterness?
How do you view your "enemies"? If God moved powerfully in the life of someone you consider a "villain" or a rival, would you be glad for them, or would you be like Jonah—jealous, resentful, and bitter? How does the "Sign of Jonah" (the Gospel) challenge your view of who deserves mercy?
