Jonah Chapter 4

Leader

Recio, Irish Samantha

Members:

Papa, Jaime

Ponciano, Ircia

Roldan, Juli

Rondolo, Sophia

Rueca, Ma. Jinky

Santos, Daphne

Sario, Andrea

Sarza, Christina
 Jonah Chapter 4

Jonah's Anger and God's Reproof

Group 4 – STEM 2103 Jonah

Introduction

If you were to forgive your enemies, what would happen? Would it be desirable? In
doing things that would benefit the betterment of all, would you be angry when God spares
people who have repented? Who has confessed to their sins? Why is it when we claim to be
God’s people when we act contradictory to his words?

One of the main teachings of the story of Jonah was compassion; a message of goodness,
and the wideness of God’s mercy. God has compassion for all people and desires that they turn
to him for redemption. He does not relish the wicked demise. Everyone would be well-served to
acknowledge their sins and turn to God for salvation.

We, his people, should want God’s mercy for us and others as well. On account of this,
we spend time serving others as people accept God in their hearts when they can experience the
mercy they so greatly seek. The book of Jonah boils down to the question, “Is it okay with you
that God spares, and loves your enemies?”

We are all sinners, like Jonah, and the Lord provides us with the chance to repent, to
become aware of our wrongdoings, and to confess our sins to Him. Because God is the only one
who can help us, we should trust and believe in Him.

Jonah becomes enraged at God, laments himself, and then blames God. Like angry people
who blame God for their difficulties and frequently stop talking to Him. Jonah became enraged
to the point of wanting to die. His experience is relatable to those who refused to speak to or
believe in God because they believed God didn't care about them. It appears that the only way
Jonah could have been delighted was if God had completely disregarded the Ninevites'
repentance. We can't blame God for being God. It is natural to express our feelings about God,
but as imperfect as we are, he does not intend to provoke us angry at him. God simply has better
plans and timing for everything to happen.
 The general message of Jonah chapter four is people's absurd selfishness. It all started when
Jonah begged God to spare the lives of the Ninevites because he knew God was compassionate.
Jonah desired the destruction of the Ninevites. When God planted a plant next to Jonah's shelter,
it makes him feel good; however, God additionally sent a worm to eat through the plant, causing
it to pass away. Jonah loses his mind once more. It demonstrates how Jonah cared for the plant
but not the people of Nineveh.

In Jonah Chapter 4, it is a story about Jonah’s anger towards God due to his compassion. In
this chapter, his mission to bring the Lord’s message of repentance to the people of Nineveh was
a success. However, upon repentance, it is inequitable how Jonah quarreled with God. He got
angry because God did not destroy the people of Nineveh. Jonah wants the people to be
destroyed. God asked Jonah, in response to his outburst, “Do you think you have reason to be
angry?” (Jonah 4:4). For him, the Ninevites were wretched people deserving of God’s anger. As
for Jonah, the Ninevites’ repentance was such a strain that he preferred not to live. Besides
putting his reputation at risk by approaching them, he knew that the warnings about what would
happen to them if they repented would not occur

1.) Context

In Jonah Chapter 4, God deals with Jonah and teaches him about His love and compassion.
Jonah desired the destruction of Nineveh. He thought he knew what would happen to them better
than God. Jonah was enraged at God and His will. Nineveh's people were both wicked and cruel.
Jonah desired their destruction because Jews generally loathed them. Jonah's wish was for them
to cease to exist entirely. However, the Lord is not obstructing his promise; somewhat, be
patient, not wishing for anyone to suffer and die, but for everyone to repent. God loves everyone
and desires that every person be saved. Jonah was deeply displeasure by the Lord's compassion
for Nineveh. Jonah was enraged at God for failing to destroy Nineveh. Jonah was neither angry
nor sinful. He allowed his rage to transform him against God's mercy. It's feasible that his
prejudice, combined with everything Jonah encountered due to the Ninevites, drove him to want
them punished. Jonah desired severe punishment for Nineveh but recognized that God was
merciful. Jonah prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own
country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful
God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment." Jonah was not the type
who would contemplate suicide, but he was in such pain that he begged God to take his life.

The Lord asked, “Do you think you have reason to be angry?”. The Lord's question is as
surprising as it is concise. It is also an enigmatic response to Jonah's desire to die; perhaps it
serves as an invitation for Jonah to reflect on his situation. It goes unanswered, and both the
request and the response are repeated. Jonah left the town and sat to the east, building a booth for
himself. Jonah appears to have traveled to Nineveh, delivered God's message, and then waited on
the city's east side. Jonah was emphatic about staying until he saw what had happened to the
town. Jonah became enraged when the forty days were up because the people received mercy
rather than destruction.

It provides a shadow over his head, supplying him with his vulnerable situation. Jonah was
pleasantly surprised to be granted the gourd's protection. Jonah had constructed a small booth,
and the gourd vine would now help him by providing supplemental shade and insulation from
the humidity. Unfortunately, Jonah was delighted to have the vine but unhappy with the people's
repentance. God used the gourd vine to teach Jonah a visual but very disheartening lesson. When
morning came the following day, God prepared a cutworm, which defiled the gourd and caused
it to perish. The lesson started with the worm and the vine and proceeded when God prepared a
sultry east wind, and the sun outscored upon Jonah's head, causing him to faint and say, "It is
better for me to die than to live." God sent a quiet but intensely hot wave of air, which Jonah
found incredibly depressing. Jonah desired to die for reasons other than the fact that the people
had repented and God had shown mercy.

Jonah was apprehensive about the gourd vine but unbothered about the people in the city.
“Do you have the right to be angry about the gourd plant?” “I have a right to be angry—angry
enough to die!” Jonah responded. The lack of compassion results from allowing sin to go
unpunished until its ability to differentiate between right and wrong appears to have vanished.
Jonah had become committed to God in his preaching, but he still had his same old angry heart.
Jonah realized that even though his gourd vine had vanished, his God remained. The Lord said,
“You are concerned over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it
came up in one night, and in one night, it perished. And should I not be concerned over the great
city of Nineveh, where there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons (120,000)
who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?” The question
cannot be answered.

The loss of the gourd saddened Jonah because it had provided him with comfort. This
number (120,000) could have referred to the group of people, but it was more likely referring to
the people's ignorance of right and wrong. While Jonah wished for the destruction of Nineveh,
God intended that all men fear and revere Him. Jonah had a lot more compassion for the plant
than he did for the 120,000 people of Nineveh. Jonah had such little regard for people that he
was upset and furious when the Ninevites repented and were accepted into the divine favor. God
provided a plant for him with no effort nor worth or value, how much more is God willing to
spare and show compassion towards the populace as they confess their wrongdoings and ask for
forgiveness? Jonah was a prophet and a great person. Nonetheless, Jonah has a significant blind
spot. He indulged the growing arrogance brought on by his belief that he was greater than others.
He acts as a deterrent to not allow our feelings to turn us into unholy beings and yet as we
profess to be God’s people.

2.) Intention & Literary Type

God justifies himself in the methods of his grace toward repentant returning sinners as well
as in the course of his justice with those who persist in their rebellion; However, some murmur at
God's mercy because they do not understand it because his thoughts and ways are as far above
ours as heaven is above the earth, he will make it clear that therein he acts like himself, and will
be justified when he speaks. The Intention of Chapter 4 of Jonah is to demonstrate the
abominable inhumanity of human selfishness and self-righteousness. Jonah lacked concern for
the lives and welfare of up to 120,000 residents of a little fishing town 1,500 kilometers away
from his home. He assumed that God planned to annihilate the inhabitants of Nineveh and did
not see any value in their lives.

Jonah demonstrates how people are prone to only caring about things that have meaning for
them or that they may gain from. Similar to the plant that God created and made flourish next to
Jonah, Jonah is overjoyed and content since the plant has made his life easier. However, when
God placed worms on the plant, it withered. Jonah grew enraged when the sun beat down on his
head because he thought he deserved God's grace and mercy yet did nothing to help it develop.
Jonah is so self-centered to the extent that Nineveh does not deserves graciousness and kindness
but judgment from God. It seems strange that a preacher would be angry that his listeners
repented of their sin, but that is exactly

Jonah’s reaction to the Ninevites’ repentance. God is a merciful God who is prepared to
provide His salvation to everyone who repents. After all, God should have judged Nineveh. God,
being benevolent, sent a warning to the Assyrians before bringing wrath. Concerning the things
of God, they are unable to distinguish up from down or right from left. God is sympathetic to the
spiritual blindness of the pagan and desires to extend His salvation to all who will repent and
turn to Him. God is a merciful God, willing to forgive all those who repent and extend His
salvation to all nations. After all, Nineveh deserved God's judgment. Even though it is stated that
there are "more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left.”

In some ways, it is their ignorance that makes the target. Dealing with them would only serve
to distract from the main point: God's compassion leads Him to gracious acts of deliverance if
Israel, or we, will only take steps in the right direction. God's compassion motivates him to
perform gracious acts, and he will not be suppressed by anyone's narrow theological constraints.
Nineveh was spared not because of his repentance, but because of God's voluntarily offered gift
of grace. On the other hand, while his grace is provided for free, it frequently comes in response
to positive actions. God's justice is not jeopardized in these acts of grace because the sin is not
forgiven; rather, the punishment is deferred. The book's main point is that God is a gracious and
compassionate God.

3.) Historical and Cultural Background

During King Jeroboam II's rule in the eighth century BC, Jonah resided and served in
Israel. I have read that Jonah foretold that Israel would increase its territory, and the prophecy
had been achieved due to the king's leadership.

Assyria's capital city was Nineveh. The best-skilled charioteers of the day were based in
Assyria. The Assyrians were violent individuals. At the time of Jonah, it had an estimated
population of roughly 100,000 people and was located in what is now northern Iraq, across the
Tigris River from the city of Mosul. Nearly 500 miles to the east of Jonah's hometown of Gath-
Hepher in Northern Israel was Nineveh. Tarshish is a city on the Strait of Gibraltar in Southern
Spain, it is in the opposite direction in the Mediterranean Sea. When Jonah heard from God and
was commanded to go to Nineveh, he escaped to the port city of Joppa, which lies on the
southern edge of modern Tel Aviv. Southern Spain's Tarshish is a city on the Strait of Gibraltar,
with the Mediterranean Sea in the opposite way. God threw a strong wind into the ocean when
Jonah disobeyed God to go to Nineveh, causing Jonah to fall into the water and be swallowed by
a big fish. After three days of Jonah’s prayer, God talks to the fish and spat Jonah out onto the
land. God commanded Jonah again to go to Nineveh, and he agreed to preach repentance to the
city. God spared the lives of people in Nineveh, which made Jonah angry and upset. Jonah is
from Israel and knows that God is compassionate and merciful he knew God would not desire a
country like Assyria. Assyria was a cruel country. Numerous Assyrian inscriptions and carved
stone slabs from this era have been found by archaeologists, and they provide insight into how
the Assyrians dealt with their opponents. They frequently tortured the aristocrats and covered
heaps of corpses with their skins.

Before beheading the soldiers and mounting their severed heads on pointed stakes around
the walls of the seized city, they first mutilated opposing troops by chopping off their noses and
ears and piercing out their eyes while they were still alive. Even the survivors did not cope very
well. Fish hooks on lines were used to pierce their bottom lips before they were led back to
Nineveh, where they were either tortured to death or turned into slaves. Jonah's deeds show the
hatred the Israelites had for the Assyrians because of their evil past.

Jonah left Nineveh, sat down on the east side of the city, where Nineveh was surrounded
by mountainous regions, from whom he could perceive the city, built himself a shack, and sat
underneath it in the shade, until he noticed what would become of the city, what fate would
befall it. Jonah left Nineveh before the exhalation of the forty days to wait for the fulfillment of
his prophecy in a shack to the east of the city, he wouldn't have been angry at its non-fulfillment
before the time arrived, nor could God have reproved him for his anger before that time. The
divine reprimand for the disenchanted prophet. As the expression in Jonah 4:1, has shown that
Jonah did not become infuriated and angry until after God had failed to carry out His threat
concerning Nineveh, and that it was then that he pumped out his dissatisfaction in a
contemptuous prayer to God (Jonah 4:2), there is nothing to force us to believe that Jonah left
Nineveh before the fortieth day.
 Jonah had no reason to be concerned about dying with the city. If he had faith, which we
cannot deny, he could be certain that God would not order him, His own servant, to suffer and
die with the ungodly, but would direct him to leave the city when the time came. But after forty
days passed and nothing happened to indicate the city's immediate or speedy fall, and he was
reprimanded by God for his anger on that account in the words, the answer from God ascertained
him to leave the city and wait outside, in front of it, to see what destiny would occur in the future
it. Jonah perceived it in accordance with his own propensity, as symbolizing that the judgment
was only postponed, not removed, and thus resolved to wait in a shack outside the city, and
watch for the outcome integrity of the entire incident.

Jonah being an Israelite, his group has had past experiences of angering God, more often than
not due to disobedience and that disobedience is the main also present in Jonah in his story.
However, his disobedience was not an act out of malice. He disobeyed God out of compassion
for the city of Nineveh as he took pity on them. He had hope that they can still change to earn the
forgiveness of God, after all, God did forgive the Israelites when they denied Canaan. In a way,
Jonah was projecting himself as being an Israelite unto Nineveh but what he did not take into
account was that Nineveh was not as compunction. In the end, it was still God’s decision to
decide what to do with Nineveh because it was He who created the city. Jonah did not have any
right to do what he did and play the hero because he was merely a servant of God and the final
decision should always be made by Him.

4.) Canonical Context

The chapter was relatively making Jonah feel Repentance or a feeling of regret in the attitude
he showed. Jonah was firstly angry. He prayed to the Lord and he said to the Lord to take his life
because he would rather die than live. The Lord questioned Jonah and asked him if Jonah was in
the right place to be angry. On the following day, the Lord gave Jonah a gourd plant, but Jonah
never lifted a finger on taking care of that plant. The plant then grew and gave Jonah comfort
from all the discomfort he felt. The Lord sent a small destroyer; a worm. The next day the plant
almost perished. The sun showed up the next day and was directly hitting Jonah which made him
feel discomfort. He whispered and again prayed for death to take him. After that Jonah was again
rage and concerned about the plant who died. The Lord was furious and made Jonah feel guilty
and made him see and feel that he showed no concern nor no care about the people of Nineveh
whilst they are dying. Jonah was greedy he only showed care for the plant and not about the
people. The Lord wanted to show Jonah or teach repentance because at that point he was very
selfish. He only cared about the plant being dead while other people are suffering as such. Jonah
did not show pity.

Repentance is a key or a way to show remorse and it is a virtue that one should have because
it will help us to grow further into better beings and it is also a way to maturely grow in the right
manner. Being selfish to other people is not right because it makes you look very egocentric. It is
not okay to look that way because the attitude you are showing to others will reflect on how you
are as a person or as a human being. It is unpleasant for other people to see or describe you as a
very greedy, self-centered person. The only reason why the Lord wants us to learn not to be
selfish is that we are all the same human beings and we should share whatever we have with
others because that’s how it is supposed to be. The lesson we learned from the story of Jonah, is
that difficulties we encountered in life are just a test of how we react to them and overcome
them. Not to point a finger or blame God, why the situation occurs in our very life.

God placed difficulties in our path to demonstrate to us that we are not the only ones who
face difficulties. People are dealing with their issues and difficulties. Because we are all the
same, we should not focus solely on our problems and blame God. To look around and thank
God that we are still blessed in comparison to others. When God places difficulties or troubles in
our path, we must trust that these obstacles are only there to strengthen us. Jonah simply blames
God for the gourd's death. He did not care if his people died. He is only concerned with himself.
Because he is ungrateful, he does not care about his people. God instilled guilt in his heart, but
he hides it.

From the Bible scriptures, there is a lesson to guide us that we should not be selfish, that we
have to show concern to our neighbors and friends, and if we made mistakes we have to accept
the mistakes and do something to correct them so it is not to be repeated and trust god that the
difficulties that are in our way will be overcome by the grace of God.

5.) Church Tradition

In Chapter 4, Jonah was communicating with God in a “prayer” where his remarks have lost
all trace of humility. He lashes out at the Lord and has sounded arrogant in his dread. (Jonah 4:2-
3), and was more like a complaint rather than a communion of spirits. He sounded self-righteous
and self-pity. The Lord showed compassion to the people of Ninevites. In sparing people who
have repented, you would typically commend him, however, Jonah confronts the Lord.

Considering that the Lord's behavior exhibited mercy and compassion for the people, Jonah's
response was incredibly startling. His mission to bring the Lord’s message of repentance was
fruitful yet, he threw a tantrum when his preaching resulted in a positive outcome.

Arrogance showed in his prayer which asserts more as a confession. Jonah disclosed the
Lord’s actions toward the Ninevites that he should have punished or destroyed. Numerous
statements Jonah did say in chapter 4 show confession to the Lord (Jonah 4:2;8). Jonah’s
confession uncovered his heart. For he did not want the Ninevites to be allowed to turn from
their sinfulness, he fled from God. He got furious as he cannot alter God’s attitude toward
sinners. As much as Jonah despised the Assyrians, he also believed that they were evil, devilish
enemies who should never, ever be condoned. This connotes that Jonah does not view the
Assyrian sinners in the same light that God does.

Receiving Holy Communion is a Church Tradition to which I can make reference in this
chapter. To begin, before receiving Christ's body, we confess our sins and acknowledge our
wrongdoings, that we sometimes became agitated with Him, and we accept repentance.
Following this, we should indeed be saved by the faith that we have received wholeheartedly as
our Lord.

Why does Jonah take offense to the gesture of grace? His issue was not with God’s goodness
but with God’s goodness to those individuals. Jonah did not turn around in Chapter 1 because of
his fear of the Assyrians. To prevent the Assyrians from receiving God’s kindness, he raced in
the opposite direction out of fear that God would be merciful to them. Jonah believed that those
who deserved judgment or condemnation should not be pardoned. As much as Jonah despised
the Assyrians, he also believed that they were evil devilish enemies who should never, ever be
condoned. This connotes that Jonah does not view the Assyrian sinners in the same light that
God does.
References:

Walton, J. H. (1992). The Object Lesson of Jonah 4: 5–7 and the purpose of the Book of
Jonah. Bulletin for Biblical Research, 2, 47-57.

Bible Gateway passage: Jonah 4 - new American bible version. Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 6, 2022, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?
search=Jonah+4&version=NIV

Laie, B. T. (2022, November 4). The book of jonah. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved
November 6, 2022, from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1170/the-book-of-jonah/

A summary and analysis of the story of jonah and the whale. Interesting Literature. (2021,
December 1). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from
https://interestingliterature.com/2021/06/book-of-jonah-whale-summary-analysis/

Wellman, J. (2015, December 23). Who were the israelites in the Bible? Christian Crier.
Retrieved November 13, 2022, from
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/12/23/who-were-the-israelites-in-the-
bible/

Wilcox, S. M. (n.d.). The 12 spies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved
November 13, 2022, from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/03/the-
12-spies?lang=eng