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Man's Justice (6 of 6)
Series: Jonah
D. Marion Clark
Jonah 4:3-11
Introduction
Parents, have you ever heard a version of this statement? ''My life is so terrible, I wish I were dead!'' God had to deal with such an attitude from his prophet Jonah.
Text
We saw Jonah's initial reaction last Sunday.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, ''O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jonah is upset with the Lord's mercy being shown. Though on the surface his reaction seems shocking, when we considered what Nineveh represented, namely, a pagan nation that would one day conquer and destroy Israel, such a reaction made sense. We can even sympathize with Jonah. Mercy is good, but should it interfere with justice? That is Jonah's concern, or so it seemed. The remaining text suggests that Jonah's sense of justice is not so just after all.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.''
Jonah is getting a bit over dramatic now. It was one thing to be angry because of feeling that one's sense of justice is being betrayed, but really, it is better to die than to live? Something is not right about Jonah, and God is going to bring it to surface.
4 And the LORD said, ''Do you do well to be angry?''
The NIV translates the question, ''Have you any right to be angry?'' Is there any justification for Jonah to be angry with the Lord's decision to relent and show Nineveh mercy? That is a possible understanding of the verse, and it is how many commentators understand it. But the Hebrew term translated as ''right'' in the NIV and ''well'' in the ESV is translated most often as to do something well or pleasing. And the root for the word translated ''angry' ...
Series: Jonah
D. Marion Clark
Jonah 4:3-11
Introduction
Parents, have you ever heard a version of this statement? ''My life is so terrible, I wish I were dead!'' God had to deal with such an attitude from his prophet Jonah.
Text
We saw Jonah's initial reaction last Sunday.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, ''O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jonah is upset with the Lord's mercy being shown. Though on the surface his reaction seems shocking, when we considered what Nineveh represented, namely, a pagan nation that would one day conquer and destroy Israel, such a reaction made sense. We can even sympathize with Jonah. Mercy is good, but should it interfere with justice? That is Jonah's concern, or so it seemed. The remaining text suggests that Jonah's sense of justice is not so just after all.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.''
Jonah is getting a bit over dramatic now. It was one thing to be angry because of feeling that one's sense of justice is being betrayed, but really, it is better to die than to live? Something is not right about Jonah, and God is going to bring it to surface.
4 And the LORD said, ''Do you do well to be angry?''
The NIV translates the question, ''Have you any right to be angry?'' Is there any justification for Jonah to be angry with the Lord's decision to relent and show Nineveh mercy? That is a possible understanding of the verse, and it is how many commentators understand it. But the Hebrew term translated as ''right'' in the NIV and ''well'' in the ESV is translated most often as to do something well or pleasing. And the root for the word translated ''angry' ...
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