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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
July 19, 2009
God’s Mercy on a Repentant People
Jonah 3 & 4
Introduction
Last week we looked at the Jonah 1 & 2 and God’s Mercy on a Reluctant Prophet. Jonah was a prophet and the Lord told Him to go and preach against Nineveh, which was the capital of the Assyrian empire. The Assryians were one of Israel’s enemies, so Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because there was a chance that they might repent and God would then be merciful to them. Jonah wanted to see the Assyrians destroyed and he considered the fall of Nineveh a good place to start. The result is that Jonah went the opposite direction traveling to the seaport of Joppa and then on a ship heading for Tarshish, which was the most distant Phonecian trading city located on the southern coast of modern Spain.
It is easy to criticize Jonah for doing something so foolish, but we are often the same way. As I pointed out last week, Jonah was very familiar with the Psalms with his prayer in chapter two containing 17 quotes or allusions to different passages in the Psalms. It is reasonable then that he would have known Psalm 139 and that even if he took the wings of the dawn or dwelt in the remotest part of the sea that God would be there. As I also pointed our last week, the particular words used in Jonah 1:3 indicate that he was not fleeing from the omnipresence of God as much as trying to get away from Israel where God manifested Himself and where he was God’s servant. Jonah simply did not want to do what the Lord told him to do and was heading to some place where he could not do it.
I find that believers today can be the same way. They know there is something God wants them to do, but they will find any excuse they can to delay doing it. Whether it is a specific task, such as Jonah’s assignment, or a more general call such as serving God according to the gifts He has given you, it is never wise to disobey Him. The Lord always has ways to get your attention to move you back to where He wanted you in the first place. Jonah found that out.
After they had set sail, we find in Jonah 1:4 that the Lord hurls a great wind against the ship that even the pagan sailors recognized as coming from a divine source. The pagans called on their various gods to no avail. Jonah was finally exposed as the cause of the problems, and then at his own insistence, they cast him into the sea resulting in the storm stopping abruptly. The pagans now understood the power of the Lord and they made a sacrifice and vows to Him. Jonah had become a witness to them despite himself.
Being cast overboard in the middle of a raging storm should have been the end of Jonah, but the Lord still had a job for him to do. The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and he remained in the fish for three days and three nights before being vomited up on shore. It this part of the story that skeptics ridicule and liberal religious scholars conclude was a myth. They, like the pagans, do not know the Lord and so they doubt His power.
I pointed out last week that the book of Jonah is presented as an historical narrative with only his prayer in chapter 2 being poetic. It is accurate in its historical and geographic descriptions. It is the uniform tradition of the Jews that Jonah wrote this book and so it was accepted as prophecy into the cannon of the Old Testament. Finally, we find that Jesus accepted and cited the story of Jonah including his being swallowed by a great fish as historical fact (Matthew 12:39-41, Mark 16:4; and Luke 11:29-32). I also pointed out for the skeptics that there are modern accounts of people being swallowed by large sea creatures, specifically a sperm whale and a whale shark, and surviving to tell the tale. It should be no more incredible that Jonah could be swallowed by a great fish and survive than for the Lord to control the storm, or bring about the repentance of the people of Nineveh.
Jonah’s prayer is given in a poetic form which describes his distress in some detail and then gives thanksgiving for the Lord’s response. Jonah called on the Lord, and the Lord responded. He was heading for what appeared to be certain death, but the Lord intervened. It seemed the Lord had abandoned him for the waves tossed him about and crashed over him, but Jonah prayed anyway. He went under and was sinking to the bottom, and he prayed even as he was fainting away. The circumstances were bad with no apparent means of escape, but faith is not about your circumstances but rather it is about God who controls all things and can intervene in any circumstance. The Lord did intervene in a most unusual way of having Jonah swallowed by the great fish. Jonah responded with thanksgivng and a vow recognizing that salvation is from the Lord.
The fish saved Jonah from drowning, but now he needed to be freed from the fish. God did just that when he commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up onto the dry land (Jonah 2:10). The Lord still had a task for Jonah to accomplish which we are told about in Jonah 3.
Preaching to Nineveh
– Jonah 3:1-4
3:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. 4 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.”
For the second time God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim His message to them. Though it was still not something that Jonah wanted to do, he had learned his lesson and this time he obeys the Lord and goes. The text of most of our translations say that “Nineveh was an exceedingly great city” which is then followed by a reference to its size of being a “three days walk.” Last week I pointed out that Nineveh was considered the greatest city of antiquity with a diameter of 18 ¾ miles and a circumference of 60 miles. It had a wall 100 ft high with 1500 towers that were 200 ft high each and wide enough for three to four chariots. The greater area of Nineveh was 25 miles by about 15 miles and encompassed about 378 square miles. As the capital of the Assyrian empire it was important as the seat of government but also as a center for trade and commerce. But the size and importance of the city to the empire is not actually what is being referenced here. Young’s Literal Translation is more accurate translating verse 3, “and Jonah riseth, and he goeth unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a great city before God, a journey of three days.” Nineveh was important to God and that is why he was sending Jonah there. Remember, that this is the only case of God actually sending a prophet to a foreign city to make a proclamation to it. Usually the prophet remained in his own country and made proclamations against foreign nations. It is God that determines value based on what He deems important, not man who judges by size, wealth and his own prejudices.
Verse 4 tells us Jonah’s actions after arriving at Nineveh. He enters the city and starts walking around in it the first day. He then starts proclaiming his message. The text is a little ambiguous about exactly when he started doing this other than it was after he had walked some distance into it and not when he first entered. We do not know if what he said is exactly what God told him to say or if he changed the message to fit his own desires, for the message is simply one of impending doom. “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” This is the same word used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jonah did not appeal for them to repent or give them any hope of anything that could avert the coming disaster he was proclaiming. The only merciful part in the message was that they had forty days to prepare for it. This is exactly the kind of message that we would expect a reluctant and prejudiced prophet to proclaim against his enemies. In forty days Jonah would be happy to see Nineveh overturned like Sodom and Gomorrah with perhaps fire and brimstone raining down on it or some equivalent. But God works according to His own will and not ours.
The Repentance of Nineveh
– Jonah 3:5-10
5 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. 6 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. 7 And 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. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 “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. 9 “Who knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we shall not perish?”
The people of Nineveh did not respond the way Jonah wanted. He would have been happy if they had ignored him the same way we would ignore someone walking around with a sign, “The End of the World is at Hand.” We would consider the person a kook and go on our way. But the people of Nineveh did not do that with Jonah. They paid attention to what he said, though it was short and did not include any hope.
There is a lot of speculation as to why the people of Nineveh would pay such attention to Jonah ranging from the great respect ancient people had for divination, to respect for their fish god which they saw Jonah as speaking on behalf since he was spit up by a fish, to the bold preaching of this foreigner in their city. However, that is all speculation for our text only tells us that the people of Nineveh then believed in God. We have nothing to indicate they knew anything about Jonah’s experience with the great fish. Jonah’s preaching was bold, but it did nothing other than proclaim destruction in the near future. There is nothing to indicate that Jonah said who he was, though his clothing may have revealed to them that he was a prophet from Israel since it was not uncommon for prophets to wear distinctive clothing. We do know that God was at work and that he used Jonah’s presence to bring a knowledge of Himself to these people.
Verse 5 states, “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God” – Elohim, the creator God of the people of Israel. They had come to some recognition and faith in the God of the Jews and concluded that they needed to repent before Him as indicated by their calling for a fast and putting on sackcloth which were both common signs of distress and repentance. When word of Jonah’s proclamation reached the king, he also believed as indicated by his actions of getting off his throne, taking off his robes and putting on sackcloth and sitting in ashes. This was a sign of humility and serious petition of God. Jeremiah called on the people to do this (Jeremiah 6:26). Daniel did this when seeking and petitioning God after he read that the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem was nearly ended (Daniel 9).
The king then issued a decree that not only the people, but even the animals were to fast and have sackcloth put on them as a sign of repentance. Some have thought that unusual, and it would be in our day, but it may have not been so unusual in ancient time for Herodotus records it as an Asiatic custom. The people were then to call on God earnestly. The word for God here is again Elohim, the creator God of the Israelites and not a reference to any of the pantheon of gods of the Assyrians. Their prayers were matched by the actions of repentance of each one of them turning from their wicked ways and violence.
Jonah’s message did not mention any specific sin, though it is of course possible that he said much more than is recorded in the text. However, it is also possible that he did not need to say anything specific for the conscience of the Ninevehites would have convicted them just as described in Romans 2. God has placed it into the heart of every human that there are things that are right and things that are wrong. It takes a lot of work to train someone not to feel guilty about practicing flagrant sin. Such people have a seared conscience. We refer to such people as sociopaths.
The reason for the king’s edict is given in verse 9. “Who knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we shall not perish?” He had no promise and Jonah had not given him any hope of this, but he knew it was worth trying. He would have known little about the true God, yet demonstrated the faith required in Hebrew 11:6 to believe that He is and that He would reward those who seek Him. It is very reasonable for them to have come to this conclusion even with the very little that Jonah had proclaimed. With the foundation that they recognized Jonah’s message as being from God – Elohim, which is indicated by their subsequent belief in Elohim, it would be only logical for them to reason as follows. God has sent a prophet to us to warn us of being overturned in forty days. If God’s intention was only to destroy us, then He would have let us continue in our sin. There is mercy in God giving us a forty day warning, but there must be a reason for giving us that much time. There must be an opportunity to repent during this period which perhaps He will accept and spare us. It was the richness and kindness of God of sparing them to this point already and then giving them a forty day warning that led them to repentance (Romans 2:4).
God’s Grace
– Jonah 3:10
God did pay attention to their actions of repentance. Verse 10 records. “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. And He did not do it.”
There are several important lessons in this about true repentance, God’s character and salvation.
First, the actions of the people and king of Nineveh teach us something about repentance. It has become popular within some circles of evangelical Christianity to reduce repentance to an intellectual exercise of having a changed mind which may or may not result in any other changes. However, true repentance has always been a change of mind that results in a change of action. Verse 10 specifically states that “When God saw their deeds.” This matches the call of John the Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him for baptism. He said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8). Jesus made the same point in his illustration of two sons who were told to go work in the vineyard (Matthew 21:28-31). One said he would go, but did not while they other said he would not go, but regretted it and went. Only the son that repented and actually went to the vineyard did the will of the father. Without that action, there would not have been any genuine repentance.
It is easy to claim that you have changed your mind and believe something new, but it is quite another to actually believe it. The apostle Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 7 that there were two kinds of sorrow; that of the world and that which is according to God. The sorrow of the world is being sorry for getting caught. The person may claim many things, but the truth is that there has been no true change of mind or heart, other than perhaps learning to be more careful not to get caught the next time they do it. That sorrow leads to death. Godly sorrow leads to repentance and salvation. The change of mind results in a change of heart and action. That is why the apostle James argued that faith without works is dead. The claim to believe without having the actions of that belief demonstrated only proves that the profession is false. True belief always results in the actions that are in keeping with that belief.
Second, God’s character is demonstrated in His mercy toward Nineveh. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is patient and is not willing that any should perish but for all to come to repentance. 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Those are just New Testament statements of an Old Testament principle. The Lord proclaimed of Himself when He had His glory pass before Moses in Exodus 34:6, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.
Ezekiel 19:23 tells us that God does not have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather that they turn from their evil ways and live. Therefore it should be no surprise that God would relent from the condemnation at their repentance.
Third, salvation is of the Lord and not the result of any good work. The people of Nineveh were guilty and they knew it. That is why they were repenting. They had also turned from their wicked way, but that only means that they were not adding further condemnation upon themselves, not that they had somehow atoned for the evils they had already done. The king understood better than a lot of modern theologians. He was seeking God’s mercy, not earning God’s favor. Too many self professed Christians have fooled themselves into thinking that they can do something or be good enough so that they can go to heaven. They forget that all our righteous deeds are filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). They forget that it is not the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness that we are saved, but rather according to His mercy (Titus 3:5-6). We are justified before Him only by His grace granted to us by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to enter the kingdom of God we must come to God poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) seeking His mercy. His grace is given to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). We are saved from our sins by God’s own character and believing that He will be true to His promise that Jesus’ death on the cross is a sufficient substitute payment for the price of our sin.
The people of Nineveh may have had little understanding of the true God, but their actions demonstrated that their new belief in Him was genuine. The same needs to be true of those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their understanding may still be small, but their actions should reflect the new beliefs they claim to now embrace. The simplest facts of the gospel – that Jesus is God in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the substitute payment for our sin, was buried and rose again on the third day and will return some day to take us to heaven where He is now preparing a place for us – should change the way that we live. If Jesus is God, then His will and wisdom our superior to our own and we should follow Him. If our hope is in His return then we should be seeking to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
If you want to receive God’s mercy, follow the example of the people of Nineveh and do what James 4:8-10 states – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep ; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Jonah is Discontent
– Jonah 4:1-4
The repentance of Nineveh should have thrilled Jonah, but instead he was quite angry. “But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. 2 And 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 Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
Jonah knew God’s character to be gracious and compassionate, which is why he did not want to preach to Nineveh. He did not want them to repent and be saved. He wanted them to be destroyed, and so now he is angry because he did not get what he wanted. His prejudice and anger were so great that he even pleads with God to take his life because he thinks it would be better for him to be dead than see God’s mercy on the Assyrians. Like a child threatening to hold their breath until they get their way, Jonah was showing great immaturity though at a much more serious level. Imagine hating a people so much that you would rather be dead than to see them repent from their evil and receive God’s mercy. His anger had blinded him to the point of being irrational. Jonah had presented his reason for being angry in his prayer, and God responded to it with a question that Jonah did not answer. Do you have good reason to be angry? God would teach Jonah another lesson.
Jonah is Rebuked
– Jonah 4:5-11.
“Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.” For some reason, though Jonah has already recognized that God had extended His mercy to Nineveh, Jonah still seems to be hopeful that Nineveh would be destroyed. Perhaps he took God’s question of whether he had good reason to be angry as an indicator that his desire would still be fulfilled. The result is that he goes east of the city onto the slopes of the mountains that rise there from the Tigris valley and looks out over the city and waits to see what will happen. He makes for himself a shelter of some sort to protect himself from the sun. It can get very hot in that climate. God would now teach him another object lesson.
6 “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. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.” Even though he had the shelter he had built, a plant that would give additional shade was greatly welcomed. Again we find that God appoints this plant for this task and it obeys. There are several plants that can grow rapidly that have been suggested that the Lord may have used for this purpose including the Ricinus, also known as the castor-oil plant, or a gourd. Jonah is of course very happy about the plant since it is making him more comfortable and perhaps seeing it as God’s favor upon him. Now Jonah was ready for the lesson.
7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 And it came about when the sun came up that 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.” Again we find that God assigns a specific task to one of His creatures and it obeys without hesitation. This time it is a worm and it attacks the plant which causes it to wither. A hot east wind blows that day and with the sun now beating down on Jonah’s head he becomes so hot that he is faint. Once again Jonah begs to die, though this time with great intensity of soul. He was hot and uncomfortable and Nineveh was not yet overthrown, so he once again thinks it would be better to die than live. Again, this is a response of great immaturity, but also of being very passive about his circumstances.
Remember that he is just sitting there watching to see what would happen to Nineveh. You would think he might look at the plant once in awhile, and if it looked like it was starting to wither to look for the cause. If he found the worm he could have eliminated its threat very easily. Also, if it was withering in a hot wind, why not go get some water for it? Now in fairness to Jonah, the text indicates that the plant died overnight so Jonah may have been asleep and it was already withered when he woke up. However, why is the sun now beating on his head when he had already built a shelter to provide shade? Jonah seems to have become despondent, passive and stubborn even to the point of refusing to budge to do anything to alleviate his situation. I picture him sitting in the Sun next to his shelter with the withered plant next to him as he despairs of his life in complaint to God.
God now questions Jonah about the plant. 9 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.” The picture of Jonah now is not just that he is despairing of life, but that he is angry on behalf of the plant that it has been attacked by a worm and has shriveled up.
God now rebukes Jonah. 10 “Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, and [which] you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 “And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know [the difference] between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”
Jonah had nothing to do with the plant either growing or dying, yet he had compassion for it. At the same time, Jonah had no compassion for all the people and animals in Nineveh. The 120,000 referred to as not knowing between their right or left hand would be a description of young children. The total population could have been well over 600,000, but here God points out the harshness of Jonah’s selfish anger that did not even have compassion on the children. Jonah had the privilege of being a prophet of God and was even able to have conversations with God directly, but all that was squandered because of his prejudice. Jonah the prophet is best known for the rebukes he received from God which includes being swallowed by the great fish.
Conclusions
This brings up one final lesson. Being used by God and being a godly person are not the same thing. Too often I find people that want to claim to be something important because God used them, or at least they think God used them. Folks, in the book of Jonah God also used the wind, a great fish, a plant and a worm as well as Jonah and Jonah was the only one of them that was reluctant and used despite himself.
Jonah was a prophet, but he was not godly. The goal God has for our lives is not having us accomplish some grand and glorious thing – though He can certainly do that as He desires. The goal God has for our lives is that we might be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4) and be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8;29). God will do His part in having that happen for He will perfect in you the good work He has started (Philippians 1:6). The only questions will be how well will you cooperate with Him? And what will your attitude be? Don’t be like Jonah. He could have had great joy in being used by God to bring about the repentance of a great city to the glory of God, but was instead a miserable man receiving God’s rebukes. Repent from your sin including bad attitudes, then thank the Lord for His grace and mercy to you in Jesus Christ, then go and
serve the Lord in gladness with all your heart and you will know His joy in your life.
KIDS CORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – 1) Count how many times Nineveh is mentioned. 2) Talk with your parents about God’s mercy to that city and how you see God’s mercy today
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Why did Jonah sail for Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh as he was commanded? How did God used Jonah among the sailors? What happened after Jonah was thrown overboard? What swallowed Jonah? How did the Lord answer Jonah’s prayers? Why was Nineveh considered a great city by those who lived then? Why did God consider it great? What was Jonah’s message to Nineveh? How did the people respond to Jonah’s message? What was the King’s edict? Why did they respond that way? What are the marks of genuine repentance? What does God’s response to Nineveh reveal about His character? What is the basis of salvation from sin? What should you do if you want to experience God’s mercy? Why did Jonah want the Lord to take his life? God provided a plant to shade Jonah, then destroyed it the next day – what was Jonah’s response? What indicates that Jonah was in utter despair? God rebuked Jonah for his lack of compassion – who are 120,000 referenced? How can a person be used by God, yet not be godly? What determines your attitude when God uses you?
Sermon Notes
– 7/19/2009
God’s Grace on a Reluctant Prophet – Jonah 3 & 4
Introduction & Review
– Jonah 1 & 2
Instead of going to Nineveh as the Lord commanded him, Jonah went to ___________________
Jonah could not run away from God’s omnipresence, but he was trying to run away from _____________
God hurled a great ____________ against the ship Jonah was in.
The storm stopped when the sailor cast _____________ into the sea, and then they sacrificed to the Lord
Jonah was swallowed by a __________________
Jonah’s prayer describes his distress and ______________ response to his prayers
God had the great fish vomit Jonah up onto ________________
Preaching to Nineveh
– Jonah 3:1-4
Jonah obeyed God this time and went to ____________________
Nineveh was a great city in __________ and importance, but God considered it great for other reasons
Jonah is the only prophet physically sent to a ___________ city to preach against it.
Jonah’s message was, ““Yet forty days and Nineveh will be ______________ “
Jonah did not appeal for them to __________ or give them any hope averting the coming destruction
The Repentance of Nineveh
– Jonah 3:5-10
The people of Nineveh paid attention to Jonah and as a result believed in ___________
Their belief was demonstrated by calling for a fast and putting on ______________ to wear
The king issued a decree which included having the ____________ also fast
The king’s hope was in God’s mercy that He might turn and they would not _________________
God’s Grace
– Jonah 3:10
True repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of _______________
There are two kinds of sorrow, _________sorrow results in death. _________ sorrow results in repentance
God desire is that all men repent and ______________________
Salvation is based in God’s ____________ and not on our good works
Even belief in just the simplest facts of the gospel should ___________ the way we live.
Jonah is Discontent
– Jonah 4:1-4
Jonah did not want to preach to Nineveh because he did not want them to ___________________
Jonah shows great immaturity by his anger because the people __________ and were not destroyed
Jonah is Rebuked
– Jonah 4:5-11
Jonah goes east of the city, builds a _____________ and waits to see what will happen to the city.
God causes a plant to grow up overnight which provides Jonah shade which makes Jonah _____________
God appoints a worm and the east wind to cause the plant to wither which makes Jonah ______________
Jonah is so miserable that he begs that he could __________ instead of live
Jonah did nothing to either save the ___________ from withering or to get out of the Sun
God questions Jonah about being angry about the plant, and Jonah said he had ____________ to be angry
God rebukes Jonah for his lack of ________________ on the city and its animals
The 120,000 who did not know between right and left are young _____________
Jonah the prophet is best known for _______________________________________________________
Conclusions
Being used by God and being a godly person are not ________________________
Jonah was a prophet, but he was not ___________________
The godly are __________ when they are used by God. The ungodly are ______________
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