Misplaced Anger

Jonah 4:9

(9) But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."

This is the end of Jonah's pity party for himself. He really wanted to see God rain fire down on Nineveh, but they repented and God relented. He preached his message, but he didn't really want for them to believe it. Instead he wanted the hated Ninevites to perish.

I'm very glad that God doesn't look at us the way we look at each other. I'm sure that there are plenty of folks who wish that I had never believed the gospel. If we turn it around it gets even more interesting. Suppose that Osama Bin Laden repents and believes in Christ. How would we react? Would we treat him with compassion or would we have Jonah's attitude?

I'd like to think that I would accept him as a brother, but I'm not sure. I don't trust my heart enough to say one way or the other. I also would hope that I could get past my own selfish needs and look to the salvation of his soul as more important. Jonah was more concerned about his comfort than he was about the salvation of Nineveh. I have to ask myself about my own approach to the world. Do I care more about my comfort or about reaching the lost with the gospel?

It's easy to read this passage and look down my nose at Jonah. What I find is that the passage can also be a mirror that convicts me of the same attitude at times.

Salvation

Jonah 2:8-9

(8) Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

(9) But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!"

This is the end of Jonah's prayer from inside the fish/whale. Incidentally, the Hebrew word is a bit ambiguous, but I think it's safe to say that there was some kind of large sea-going animal that swallowed and later vomited Jonah. This is one of those things that seems awfully ridiculous to the skeptic, but apparently so does creation ex nihilo

I just want to emphasize this passage because it continues the drumbeat of the prophets. Salvation is from the Lord. The Lord saves us because we can't save ourselves. If we instead turn to idols we forsake the hesed of God. How ridiculous! This would be like giving my family a Wii for Christmas and Lily wanting to spend all of her time playing with a bag that holds the controller. It's absurd, yet it's what we do.

Of course, salvation implies that there is something we need to be saved from. We are no different than the Ninevites that were in line for God's wrath. We deserve judgment. Yet in His incredible hesed He chooses to save some.

Perhaps you're reading this and you don't know if you are chosen for salvation. You may wonder what chance you have. Well, if this is something that you are thinking about and earnestly desire then I would say you have your answer. Genuine salvation is a heart-change. What is the most earnest desire of your heart?

Wartime Conversions

Jonah 1:14-16

(14) Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you."

(15) So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

(16) Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

We diagrammed Jonah 1 in Hebrew class on Thursday and this happened to come up in my slow walk through the prophets, so I thought I'd comment on something. Earlier in the chapter we see that each man was calling out to his own god. By the time the storm really got going and they learned more about Jonah and the God that he supposedly serves, they were convinced that their own gods could do nothing to save them.

This is bolstered by the language used. Earlier in the chapter each man was calling out to elohim, or gods in general (though this is sometimes used for YHWH). But by this point in the chapter they are calling out to YHWH. In other words, they realized the futility of their own gods and saw their need for the One True God.

As professing American Christians we tend to look down our collective noses at the ignorance of these sailors and are glad that they came to see the light as we have. I would submit that these sailors had a deeper and truer faith than most in the pews this Sunday morning. We may not have the same names for our gods that these men did, but we tend to be just as guilty.

Take away someone's job and see how he reacts. Does he trust God or does he get upset because you've removed his idol? Downgrade his car. Replace his wardrobe with one from the thrift store or from Wal-Mart. See what he thinks.

Take away someone's coffee. Take away the fine food that they enjoy, or at least reduce the quantity significantly. See how that goes over.

Take away the NFL. What would our nation do on Sunday afternoons in the fall? Take away Division I football or basketball and see how it goes over.

And so on. We all have to fight idolatry at some level. Let's not look down at these formerly pagan sailors, but let's emulate the deep faith that they developed in YHWH.