When God’s Doings Disappoint Us
Text: Jonah 3: 10-4:1
Intro: If I were to tell you that people have disappointed me numerous times throughout my life, you wouldn’t likely be surprised. As a matter of fact, you could probably match me, account for account, with like incidents of disappointment in people. It’s simply not uncommon in this life for people to fail to meet our expectations. Sometimes people disappoint us unintentionally, while at other times our disappointment is the result of a person’s character flaw. Either way, we have all been there—we have all experienced this.
But what if I were to tell you that God has, at least on occasion, disappointed me? Would you think I was mad—that I’d lost my mind—that I was some sort of horrible person for even suggesting such a thing? I’m not saying that one is justified in being disappointed with God, but I believe that if we were honest and realistic about it, most of us would have to admit that there have been times when God didn’t respond like we expected Him to.
I find that most of our disappointment in God stems from two basic things: (1) Impatience with God’s timetable, and (2) Displeasure with God’s system of justice. The story of Jonah is a good case in point. Jonah was God’s reluctant and rebellious prophet. Even when he finally agreed to deliver God’s message of judgment to Nineveh, he was terribly disappointed with God’s handling of the Ninevites.
If we look closely enough, we may find shades of our own attitudes in this account of Jonah. Rest assured that God included this story in His Word for our edification.
Theme: What led to Jonah’s disappointment with God?
I. THE NINEVITES’ DELIVERANCE
A. Nineveh’s Judgment Reported.
Jonah 3: 1 “And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
NOTE: [1] Jonah’s message from God was brief, but bold—short, but serious. In forty days God’s judgment would fall upon the Ninevites. Amazingly, the Ninevites took Jonah’s message to heart. I wonder how America would respond if it knew it had only forty days to repent?
[2] You know, folks, judgment is something to be taken seriously. Many today see God as merciful, kind and forgiving. And He is, in fact, all those things. But it is also true that there comes a time when God says, “That’s enough.”
The following incident is vouched for by a Church of England clergyman who knew all the circumstances.
A young woman, who had been brought up in a Christian home and who had often had very serious convictions in regard to the importance of coming to Christ, chose instead to take the way of the world. Much against the wishes of her godly mother, she insisted on keeping company with a wild, hilarious crowd, who lived only for the passing moment and tried to forget the things of eternity. Again and again she was pleaded with to turn to Christ, but she persistently refused to heed the admonitions addressed to her.
Finally, she was taken with a very serious illness. All that medical science could do for her was done in order to bring about her recovery, but it soon became evident that the case was hopeless and death was staring her in the face. Still she was hard and obdurate when urged to turn to God in repentance and take the lost sinner’s place and trust the lost sinner’s Saviour.
One night she awoke suddenly out of a sound sleep, a frightened look in her eyes, and asked excitedly, “Mother, what is Ezekiel 7:8,9?” Her mother said, “What do you mean, my dear?”
She replied that she had had a most vivid dream. She thought there was a Presence in the room, who very solemnly said to her, “Read Ezekiel 7:8,9.” Not recalling the verses in question, the mother reached for a Bible. As she opened it, her heart sank as she saw the words, but she read them aloud to the dying girl:
”Now I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.”
The poor sufferer, with a look of horror on her face, sank back on the pillow, utterly exhausted, and in a few moments she was in eternity. Once more it had been demonstrated that grace rejected brings judgment at last.
H.A. Ironside, Illustrations of Bible Truth, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 31-32.
B. Nineveh’s Judicious Repentance. (Judicious: “Showing sound judgment;” “wise”)
Jonah 3: 5 “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, heard nor flock, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”
NOTE: [1] Faith always precedes repentance. That’s what happened in the hearts of the Ninevites. “The people of Nineveh believed God…” (v. 5a), in essence, believed His message of judgment. Having believed God, the whole city set about to humble itself in repentance before God. Someone has said: “If we put off repentance another day, we have a day more to repent of, and a day less to repent in” (Source Unknown).
[2] There is a very meaningful principle illustrated for us by the king of Nineveh. You see, earthly position never figures into the equation, when it comes to sin and salvation. When the king heard that God had pronounced judgment upon Nineveh, he came down from his throne. In God’s eyes, there aren’t two classes of sinners: (1) Respected sinners, and (2) Raunchy sinners. Anyone, saint or sinner, who would truly be right with a holy God, must be willing to come down off of their high horse and humble themselves before the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[3] This Ninevite king’s humbleness before God is also seen by what he did next: He removed his royal robes and covered himself in sackcloth and ashes, a sign of brokenness and humility. You see, this king saw himself as spiritually needy as the lowest peasant in his kingdom. The ground is all level at the foot of the Cross.
[4] Another thing I find significant here is that the king didn’t presume upon God’s mercy because he was Nineveh’s king. His attitude was basically, “If we repent, perhaps God will spare us.”
C. God’s Judicial Response. (Judicial: “Fair;” “unbiased”)
Jonah 3: 10 “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
II. JONAH’S NASTY DISPOSITION
A. Jonah Was Displeased.
Jonah 4: 1 “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.”
NOTE: [1] God had just spared the lives of 120,000 people, and Jonah was exceedingly angry about it. Most preachers would be overjoyed to see such an overwhelming response to their message, but not Jonah.
[2] The fact is, Jonah wasn’t unconditionally committed to God’s will. He had his own ideas about how God should handle the Ninevites. When it didn’t turn out that way, it made him mad.
B. Jonah Was Disappointed.
Jonah 4: 2 “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”
NOTE: [1] Can you believe this guy? In essence he is saying, “You see Lord, this is just what I was afraid you’d do. I knew You were a gracious, merciful and kind God (All the things that Jonah obviously wasn’t.) I knew you would let them off easy!”
Years after the death of President Calvin Coolidge, this story came to light.
In the early days of his presidency, Coolidge awoke one morning in his hotel room to find a cat burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up, asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved charm he wanted to keep.
Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet, which he had also persuaded the dazed young man to give back, declared it to be a loan, and advised the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! (Yes, the loan was paid back.)
Today in the Word, October 8, 1992.
[2] When you boil it all down, Jonah wanted God to fulfill his own ungodly prejudice and hatred against the Ninevites. You see the Ninevites were the enemies of Israel. Jonah didn’t believe they deserved God’s mercy. He believed they should be destroyed.
[3] Jonah seems to have forgotten the fact that no one, himself included, deserves God’s mercy. We are all deserving of his righteous judgment. Who do we think we are that we should presume to tell God how He should deal with others?
C. Jonah Was Depressed.
Jonah 4: 3 “Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.”
NOTE: [1] The idea here seems to be, “Lord, if you’re not going to do things the way I think they ought to be done, just go ahead and kill me.” My, what a pitifully childish attitude to have toward God, not to mention, dangerous.
[2] Perhaps Jonah thought God would change His mind after this little hissy fit. So he went outside the city to sit and sulk (v. 5).
III. JONAH’S NEEDED DISCIPLINE
A. The Delight Of Jonah.
Jonah 4: 6 “And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.”
NOTE: [1] Isn’t it ironic? God needed to correct one of His stubborn prophets, so He prepares a gourd. God is about to straighten out a knot-head with a little gourd.
[2] Have you noticed how messed up Jonah’s priorities were? We have seen that Jonah was displeased, disappointed, and even depressed over the fact that God had withheld judgment from 120,000 Ninevites. But now we find him absolutely delighted over a little gourd that serves his purposes. Do you sense an object lesson coming on here?
B. The Discomfort Of Jonah.
Jonah 4: 7 “But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.”
NOTE: [1] Notice that we have come across the word “prepared” three times in the last three verses. Verse six tells us that God “prepared a gourd;” verse seven tells us that God “prepared a worm;” and verse eight says that God “prepared a vehement east wind.” This should tell us something: Both delight and discomfort may equally be from the hand of God. He has a spiritual purpose and point for each.
[2] It’s sad to say, but sometimes God must make us uncomfortable before we can see the ungodliness in our hearts. The heat of the crucible always brings the trash to the surface.
C. The Defiance Of Jonah.
Jonah 4: 9 “And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.”
NOTE: God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” (NLT). Jonah answered by saying, “Yes! As a matter of fact, I’m so angry I could die.” You see folks, if you aren’t submitted to the Lord, and living by the principle of Roman 8: 28, you will be living a self-centered life of misery and angry disappointment.
D. The Discernment Of Jehovah.
Jonah 4: 10 “Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”
NOTE: [1] In essence, God said, “Jonah, one of your problems is that you are more concerned with the trivial and temporary than with the tragedy all around you. You care more about a plant, that came up in a night and perished in a night, than you do about the eternal souls of 120,000 people, who are lost.” The words “cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand” can be translated “living in spiritual darkness” (The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 919).
[2] Another problem God found with Jonah was that he was more concerned with his comfort than with showing compassion. Jonah was angry over the death of a plant that he did not create; but he couldn’t understand why God spared 120,000 Ninevites whom He’d created and loved.
When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.
John Newton.
Theme: What led to Jonah’s disappointment with God?
I. THE NINEVITES’ DELIVERANCE
II. JONAH’S NASTY DISPOSITION
III. JONAH’S NEEDED DISCIPLINE
