Then God said to Jonah, ``Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, ``I have good reason to be angry, even to death." When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, ``Death is better to me than life." And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.īut God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. The LORD said, ``Do you have good reason to be angry?" ``Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life."
He prayed to the LORD and said, ``Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. And He did not do it.īut it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. ``Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish." ``But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. He issued a proclamation and it said, ``In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. Then the people of Nineveh believed in God and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk and he cried out and said, ``Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. ``Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, Obedience is what’s required, and its blessings may surprise you. But Christians are not to be ruled by feelings.
What selfish desire is keeping you from obeying the Lord? Maybe you are too angry with your spouse to work on your marriage or too hurt to welcome back a repentant friend.
If the Lord calls us to act, He will take care of the results. But our feelings about what might happen are not a reason to resist God’s plan.
Or like Jonah, we focus on our own desires and comfort and lose sight of what’s really important. Sometimes we resist God’s will because we dislike the probable outcome of obedience. Jonah confessed he wanted to see the Ninevites wiped out: “Therefore in order to forestall I fled to Tarshish” (Jonah 4:2 NASB 1995). The reluctant prophet was afraid that if these enemies repented, his merciful God would not destroy them. You see, Jonah was sent to the Ninevites, who were a threat to the Jewish people. But later, he admitted he didn’t want the job-and the Lord chastised his selfishness. From the belly of a fish, Jonah recommitted himself to the Lord’s purpose. The book of Jonah doesn’t end the way we might expect.
0 kommentar(er)
