today's Beach Talk. Now once a week I go down to the beach by my house here in
California and I teach a chapter of the Bible. Now today is the 100th episode of
these Beach Talks. We've had over 10,000 downloads so I'm really happy that this
is helping a lot of people learn. Now my passion is to help us understand the
Bible and to take it seriously. I want you to be able to understand it
so that you can apply it to your life. Now my objective has always been the same
in all 100 episodes so far and it's this, it's disciples making disciples who
plant churches that plant churches so Jesus can continue to be a beautiful
grassroots movement all over the world. And now this is happening. Right
now we have six churches in three countries and I want to just continue to
focus on teaching the Bible in a straightforward way so that our
expectations can be in line with what God wants to say to you each and every
time that you listen to one of these. So I'm going to assume that you're here to
listen and learn apply it to your life. Now our vision 2021 is to multiply.
You know God wants to multiply everything that he gives us and so when
we keep an open hand God can multiply the things that he puts in it and so we
want to keep an open hand with our lives and with everything that God has given
to us including our churches. So excited to see that happen this
year. Now we hope to see you in one of our locations soon. We have a collective
that's developed and you can look on our website for the details
that's being updated all the time. Now in Jonah chapter 4 Jonah was really
complaining. He had a displeasure at the people of Nineveh because they
had repented. In fact he was angry about it. Now it displeased Jonah. Now
this was strange because usually the person who is displeased is the
person doing the preaching but Jonah in this case was upset. He said that he was
exceedingly angry. Not only was this strange it was very strange because Jonah
was upset at the success of his preaching. Normally when you teach the
Bible you hope for good results. You don't curse the good results when they
come. This is kind of an odd occurrence in the Bible. Now look at verse 2. Jonah
explains his anger. He prayed to the Lord and said, Lord is this not what I
said when I was still in my country? And this is why he went to Tarshish for I
know that you're a gracious and merciful God slow to anger and abounding and
loving kindness. One who relents from doing harm. So you see Jonah understood
that the nature and the character of God was to be forgiving and to be kind and
to be gracious just like he is to us. Now he knew that God was gonna forgive
these people. That was why he was so apprehensive in going and talking to
them in the first place. You see Jonah was angry because God granted repentance
to the Ninevites and he didn't like the Ninevites. You see God is always trying
to stretch our understanding of love and so often he does that by giving us a
person or a group of people that we don't like. You see God always starts
with our culture and then God always calls us to go cross culture. This is
what happened to Jonah. And in fact we pick it up he says Lord was this not
what I said when he was still in his country? Jonah knew that God was full of
grace and mercy and that's why he was afraid to tell the people of Nineveh.
This was at least part of the reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. He
was afraid that they would turn around and then they would actually be in his
same spiritual family. When all along God wanted, he wanted God to judge the
Assyrian capital because these were their... Jonah himself called on the mercy of God
and enjoyed the mercy of God when it was extended to Jonah and now he resents it
when it was extended to others. What if God treated Jonah the way that Jonah
wanted God to treat the people of Nineveh? Now think about that. Now he said
it was better for me to die than to live. The repentance and salvation of the
people of Nineveh is so painful to Jonah that he would rather die than think
about it. And he also states that this was the reason that he ran away from the
call. Not out of fear that he would be ineffective but for fear that he would be
effective. Now God confronts Jonah about this. God questions Jonah's heart. Now the
Lord said to him is it right for you to be angry? Now what does this mean? Well
Jonah in expressing his anger against God was being honest about his feelings
so that's a good thing. That's something good. But we should not for a moment
think that all of our feelings towards God are justified. So God likes to ask us
questions, rhetorical questions, because they make us think. They reveal our heart.
It also puts us on proper ground before him because God has every
right to question us and we owe him answers. He doesn't owe us answers. Now he
says to Jonah where are you? Who told you that you were naked? What is this that
you have done? This was in his conversation with Adam and Eve in the
book of Genesis and then he also said to Cain, where is your
brother Abel? And then he also said to David, through Samuel, what have you done
when you sinned against Bathsheba? Why did you despise the word of the Lord by
doing what is evil in your eyes? Again God spoke prophetically. And then he
also said in Isaiah, whom shall I send? Who will go for us? So sometimes God asks
us questions just like he did to Peter. Who do you say that I am? And then Jesus
also asked someone in the gospel, what do you want me to do for you? You see
sometimes questions bring out our best thinking. That's why it's better to ask
someone a question than it is to tell them something or just to tell them what
to do because it's better for us to get to think, us to think and arrive at the
correct conclusion rather than just someone to tell us things. That's why
questions always produce critical thinking. Sometimes when you just tell
people things it results in absolutely no thinking at all. So Jonah was
angry towards God. Yes it was right for Jonah to stay his anger towards God but
he must also repent from his anger towards God. You see sometimes we share
our feelings with God but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're right. Now
look at verse 5, God prepares an object lesson for Jonah. So Jonah went out of
the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and
he sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.
And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might
be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very
grateful for the plant but as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm
so that it damaged the plant that it withered and it happened when the Sun
arose that God prepared an east wind and the Sun beat on Jonah's head so that he
grew faint. Then he wished death for himself and said it'd be better for me
to die than to live. Now this is a classic case of having a pity party. Now
Jonah went out of the city that he might see what would become of the city. You
see he went out and sat on his plant hoping that God would change his mind and
destroy the city which is what Jonah wanted to begin with. Now he goes out of
the city for safety. You see the Lord God prepared the plant and he made it come
up over Jonah just as God prepared a great fish for Jonah to swallow Jonah. Now
he prepares a particular type of plant that provided shelter for Jonah from the
elements the Sun and the wind even though Jonah's intentions and motives
were wrong for being out there in the first place. Now this is the first sign
that we find Jonah happy in the book of Jonah. Jonah was pleased because at last
after all the compassion that God had for other people God was finally doing
something for Jonah. Doesn't that sound like us? We see God do all these
wonderful things for the people and then we feel selfish about it. Now we could
say that Jonah's happiness was just as wrong as his anger. Both were about him.
The Sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. Jonah was angry with God
because he brought the people of Nineveh to repentance. Now the ancient Hebrew for
angry is literally means to be hot. Now God would let Jonah feel some of
that heat by allowing this plant to wither here in a second. Now Jonah was
grateful for the plant. He says it's better for me to die than to live. Now
when God took the plant and its pleasant shelter away from Jonah he missed the
plant so much that he wished for death. Skies all over the place. One theologian
said dear friends like Jonah if you want to complain you will soon have
something to complain about. People who are resolved to complain generally make
for themselves great causes for it. Charles Spurgeon. Jonah allowed even a
silly thing like a plant to become an idol. How often are the things that God
has made us? Do they become idols? And we fail to realize that the Lord gives and the
Lord takes away. It's always about the Lord and keeping our focus on him. Now
finally in verse 9 God applies the object lesson then he says to Jonah is
it right for you to be angry about this plant? And he said well it's it's it is
right for me to be angry even so much so that I wish I could die but the Lord
said you have had pity on the plant for which you've made but you haven't built
it nor did you make it grow it came up in a night and perish in a night should
I not have pity on Nineveh that great city in which there are more than a
hundred and twenty thousand persons who can't discern from the right hand with
their left hand. Wow what's happening here? Well Jonah in response to God's
question felt totally justified in his anger about the sheltering plants
destruction. Now this is considering that the plant was just a plant and Jonah had
no personal interest in the investment of the plant except what it provided for
him at the moment. Well Jonah made three errors that angry people often make. Each
of these things put Jonah in a worse place not a better place. Well one Jonah
quit quitting never helps. Two Jonah separated himself from others that never
helps and then three Jonah became a spectator and that never helps. Now they
these are the last words of Jonah recorded in this book but but thankfully
they are not the last words of the book. God's mercy and compassion still worked
with Jonah teaching him and guiding him to eventually have God's heart and he
said should I not pity Nineveh how much more should God be concerned about the
destruction of persons those made in his image even if they are Assyrians. You see
God's response to Jonah showed the prophet that he really didn't know God
as well as he thought he did. Sound familiar like you and I? Now those who
cannot discern between their right hand or their left hand are those who are
unable to make moral judgments they have no moral reference. The lesson is clear
not only does God God's concern for people go beyond us but he is totally
justified in giving us a heart for others. The lessons of Jonas reminds us
that God is the God of all people all the time. The lesson of Jonah is that is
what he proclaimed before being freed from the great fish salvation is of the
Lord and not any race or nation or class. This is the same message God made clear
through Peter in Acts 10. God is a God of all people all of the time not some
people some of the time. You see God had pity on Nineveh. Jewish tradition says
that after God said the words of Jonah 4 11 Jonah then fell in his face and said
govern your world according to the measure of your mercy as it is said to
the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness. Now we can only hope that
Jonah and we would have such a humble response when God speaks to us. You see
God showed his mercy to Jonah through a lot of preparation just like he does for
us. The Lord prepared a great fish for Jonah. God prepares everything for us in
our life. The Lord prepared a plant. God gives us special blessings in our life.
The Lord prepared a worm for Jonah. The Lord prepared a wind for Jonah.
Nevertheless the real work of preparation happened in Jonah. What God
really prepared was a person a prophet someone who was gonna go out and speak
his words to people just like he wants us to speak his words to people. We are
no different than Jonah. God has something for us to do. We often run from
it. We often run away from it. We often run the opposite direction of it but God
still has a call still wants us to do amazing things for him. That is the
lesson of this book.