God's Compassion
Jonah 4
God is immeasurably compassionate, so much so that we cannot truly grasp it, and yet, it is exactly sufficient to accomplish His plans.
#God
#compassion
Published July 4th, 2018; Updated July 31st, 2018
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Main point summary
The self-centered and envious man does not understand the compassion of God. Nevertheless, God is compassionate. His compassion is not grounded in the understanding and inclinations of man, but is motivated by His own perfect character. He displays His compassion both in bringing unworthy sinners to repentance and in judging the self-righteous in their rebellion, but all of it is to display His sovereign wisdom alone, which He reveals to us despite our own futility and self-absorption.
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Jonah 4:1-11
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But it displeased Jonah exceedingly , 1
AS A RESULT OF GOD'S MERCY OVER NINEVEH, Jonah was greatly unhappy
and y he was angry.
AND upset
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And he prayed to the Lord and said,
AUDACIOUSLY, he prayed,
“O Lord , is not this what I said
"God, didn't I predict that you'd do this
when I was yet in my country?
WHEN you first called me?
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z That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;
WHICH RESULTED in me quickly fleeing to Tarshish
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for I knew that you are a a gracious God
BECAUSE I knew that you are too gracious
and merciful,
AND too merciful
slow to anger
AND too slow to punish evil
and abounding in steadfast love,
AND too loving
and a relenting from disaster.
AND too compassionate!
b Therefore now, O Lord , please take my life from me,
THEREFORE, kill me
c for it is better for me to die
BECAUSE I'd prefer to die
than to live.”
NOT live."
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And the Lord said,
THEN God responded,
d “Do you do well to be angry?”
"Do you feel your anger is justified?"
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Jonah went out of the city
AS A RESULT OF HIS ANGER AND GOD'S REBUKE, Jonah left Nineveh (of his own free will)
and sat to the east of the city
AND THEN walked over to the east of the city (instead of resting in the city)
and e made a booth for himself there.
AND THEN made a little covering for himself (instead of taking the reparations the Ninevites would have given him)
He sat under it in the shade,
AND THEN sat under it
till he should see what would become of the city.
IN ORDER TO see what God would do to Nineveh.
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Now the Lord God appointed a plant 1
AS A RESULT OF JONAH'S POUTING, God compassionately orders a plant to do something (similar to how He order the fish to do something)
and made it come up over Jonah,
WITH THE RESULT that it hung over Jonah
that it might be a shade over his head,
IN ORDER TO shade Jonah
to save him from his discomfort. 2
AND TO provide comfort from the sun
So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
THEREFORE, Jonah was very (sinfully) happy for the plant/in the plant (because he took His comfort in it/and believed he deserved it)
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But when dawn came up the next day,
BUT WHEN the next day came
God appointed a worm that attacked the plant,
God commanded a worm to eat the plant
so that it withered.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF making it wither.
When the sun rose,
THEN, WHEN the sun came up
God appointed a scorching f east wind,
God commanded a hot wind to come
g and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah
FOR THE PURPOSE OF overheating Jonah
so that he h was faint.
THEREFORE he became exhausted.
And he asked that he might die
AS A RESULT the withering plant and the heat, Jonah asked to die
and said,
BECAUSE he believed that he'd,
c “It is better for me to die
"prefer to die like the dead plant
than to live.”
AND NOT live"
But God said to Jonah,
INSTEAD of killing Jonah, God rebukes him,
i “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?”
"Do you feel injustice for the plant?"
And he said,
THEN Jonah responded,
“Yes, I do well to be angry,
"Yes!
angry enough to die.”
IN FACT, I am angry enough to die"
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And the Lord said,
GOD'S ANSWER TO Jonah's daring answer is to show His mercy
“You pity the plant,
"SIMILAR TO how you feel injustice for a SINGULAR plant
for which you did not labor,
IN OTHER WORDS, a plant you did not plant
nor did you make it grow,
AND a plant you did not grow with your own hands
which came into being in a night
AND it was an insignificant plant that came up in one night (not something that's been there for a long time)
and perished in a night.
AND it was a plant that ceased to exist the next day (unlike the souls of a nation)
And should not I pity j Nineveh,
THEREFORE, as you feel injustice over a plant, how much more should I feel injustice over destroying all of Nineveh (which I created with my own hands, and have crafted my workmanship into, and which has stood over generations, and if I shall kill them, then its people shall suffer forever!),
that great city,
WHICH is far greater than your plant
in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left,
FOR EXAMPLE, there are over 120,000 people in it some of which do evil without knowing they are doing evil, and some of which may not be contributing to the evil (such as children) but would perish anyway
and also much k cattle?”
AND there is also a lot of living creatures (more worthy of pity than your plant)!
Jonah probably would have received a tremendous gift in thanks from the people of Nineveh, but instead he pouts, and goes off into the wilderness like a child!
God appointed a fish, a plant, a worm, and a wind to accomplish His purposes.
Takes deep joy in this plant, and wraps up His life with it (inordinate amount of happiness over this plant)
Jonah tied up his willingness to live in a small thing like a plant! He's so tied up in himself, his thoughts that he deserves better than this, that he mocks God - "Why don't you just kill me? I don't deserve this!" Lesson: God gives us things, and God takes away things, but we are not the provider of them, they are not ours to possess - we are God's possession, and He is ours! Everything else is fodder something we can have for a time then lose, but our confidence is not shaken, because we have our God.
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