Introduction
The book of Jonah tells the story of an unusual prophet, strange, almost bizarre. A great satire that tackles heavy subjects (judgment, repentance, injustice, death), in a tone that's sometimes light, full of twists and a great deal of irony. Through this account, you discover a compassionate God whose compassion doesn't stop at the borders of the Hebrew people. For one of the rare times in the Bible, God sends a prophet to the pagan nations. Jonah, in a way, is the prophet of the nations in spite of himself. And his reaction to the grace God shows his enemies confronts you with an uncomfortable question: the prophetic voice never comes without a prophetic heart. What about yours?
Message Outline
1. A bitter prophet
- A false start: God says "get up and go to Nineveh"; Jonah gets up and flees the other way, toward Tarshish.
- Nineveh is the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the archenemy of the Hebrew people, powerful because rich, powerful because cruel. Jonah's contempt is clearly justified, and God himself acknowledges the evil this nation has done.
- A descent into the depths: Jonah goes down to Joppa, then into the ship, then into the bottom of the ship, then to the bottom of the sea. He buries his head in the sand to the point of welcoming death as the only way out.
- A ridiculous sermon: "In 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed." Surely the shortest and weakest sermon in history. And yet the whole city humbles itself.
- A revealing anger: when Nineveh repents, Jonah is disgusted. He knows God (gracious, full of tenderness, slow to anger), and that's exactly why he fled. He has the words but he's missing the heart.
- His bitterness smothers his compassion. He doesn't want Nineveh saved; he wants it condemned.
2. Versus a compassionate God
- God shows grace to the sailors by keeping them from drowning. He shows grace to Nineveh by forgiving it. He also shows grace to his hardened prophet, twice.
- First grace: inside the great fish, Jonah experiences a kind of rebirth. God could have let him perish. Our God is slow to anger, slower than we are.
- False starts are not a problem for God. Jonah wasn't demoted. The beginning of chapter 3 is a fresh reset, as if his flight never counted.
- Second grace: God makes a plant grow to shelter Jonah, then sends a worm to destroy it. Then comes the question, full of gentleness: "Is it right for you to be angry?"
- Through patient, kind teaching, God invites Jonah to a realization: "You have pity on this plant that you did not grow. And should I not have pity on Nineveh, that great city?"
- The book ends on an unanswered question. As if the question were rhetorical. As if it were addressed to you, reading it today.
Key Takeaways
- The prophetic voice must be paired with a prophetic heart. Otherwise, you're preaching empty words.
- The pagans in this story (sailors and Ninevites), are better examples than Jonah. It's sometimes harder for a committed Christian to repent than for a non-Christian.
- The best test for whether your bitterness is smothering your compassion: watch how you react when God shows grace to your enemies, to those who've hurt you, to those you judge less deserving than yourself.
- False starts are not a problem for God. You are not too far gone, you have not gone too far, for him to come find you and restore you.
- God is greater than his bitter, failing spokespeople. Jonah's bitterness doesn't deprive the Ninevites of God's compassion, it's impossible for the Church to deprive the world of his compassion.
Personal Application
- Is there an uncomfortable situation you're burying your head in the sand about right now? A mission you're fleeing because it deeply displeases you?
- How do you react when God blesses someone you don't like, or who has wronged you? Is your joy sincere, or are you secretly like Jonah?
- Does grace sometimes seem "too easy" to you? Do you find it unfair that some people escape God's anger so quickly?
- Have you ever put God in a box, wanting him to act the way you want rather than according to his heart?
- Are our actions consistent with the grace we've received? How do you want to write the next chapter of your story with God this week?
Verses Cited
- Jonah 1 (WEB)
- Jonah 2 (WEB)
- Jonah 3 (WEB)
- Jonah 4 (WEB)
- Jonah 4:2 · "You are a gracious God, full of compassion, slow to anger"
Further reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Jonah refuse to go to Nineveh?
It isn't fear, first of all. The text is clear: Jonah knows God. He knows that God is gracious, slow to anger, and always ready to relent from bringing disaster. Now Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire, is the sworn enemy of the Hebrew people, a rich, powerful, cruel empire. Jonah doesn't want Nineveh saved. He wants it condemned. It's precisely because he knows God's compassion that he flees to Tarshish: he refuses to be the instrument of grace shown to his enemies.
What does it mean for "bitterness to smother compassion"?
It's that inner hardness that makes you angry and irresponsible, that makes you prefer to see evil punished rather than the sinner restored. A commentator quoted in the message offers a simple test: watch how you react when God shows grace to those you think deserve less, or are less acceptable than you. If that grace makes you angry, the way it made Jonah angry, then your bitterness is probably smothering your compassion.
Why does the book of Jonah end on an unanswered question?
Because the question isn't addressed to Jonah alone. It's rhetorical. Everything in the account invites you to answer: "Yes Lord, it is right that you should have compassion on these thousands of human beings created in your image." By leaving the ending open, the text leaves a space for you. It invites you to write what comes next. What state is your heart in today? How do you want to answer God?
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