"Is It Right For You To Be Angry?"

Well, good morning again, you good? Glorious. All right, well we are once again in Jonah hoping to finish it out today. The name of my sermon this morning is, Is it Right for You to be Angry? So there's been a couple of months since I preached Jonah 3.

Review of Jonah 1–3 and the Setup for Chapter 4

I'll start with a quick review of the first three chapters of the book of Jonah before we finish with chapter 4. In chapter 1, we looked at the sovereign God of mercy. God calls Jonah to preach to Nineveh, a violent Gentile city, but Jonah flees in the opposite direction.

This is not mere fear as we will see today. It is rebellion. Jonah doesn't want mercy for Nineveh. God sends a great storm upon the sea to bring Jonah back to him. In the middle of this, we see that God uses even our sins for his good purposes in bringing salvation to a group of pagan mariners.

He also shows how even in the middle of apparent chaos, it's not chaos to God as he controls everything perfectly to accomplish his will. The mariners, after doing everything they can to spare the life of Jonah, this man who has put their lives in danger, commit their way to God and throw him overboard.

But God is not done with Jonah and he prepares a fish to swallow Jonah and through that ultimately preserves his life. In chapter 2, we looked at the fact that salvation is of the Lord. Jonah finds himself in the belly of a fish or as he calls it the belly of shale as he sinks further down in the ocean.

No hope apart from God of escaping with his life. He finally prays. As we were viewed, the structure of that prayer was like a psalm. He cried to the Lord and the Lord heard him. I cried to the Lord because of my affliction and he answered me.

He confesses that God is sovereign and is the one who has done this for you cast me into the deep. He places his trust in God, yet I will look again to your holy temple and he makes a great confession.

Salvation is of the Lord. As a result of this, God speaks to the fish and it vomits Jonah back to the back on the dry land. And then in chapter 3, we looked at the fact that repentance is of the Lord.

Jonah in what appears to be newfound submission and obedience to the will of God goes to Nineveh. In dramatic style, Jonah is shown to be one of the most successful prophets God has ever had. Jonah is not mocked or attacked or killed.

The whole city from the great king upon his throne down to the simplest person and even the animals are caught up in national repentance. They cry to God, put on sackcloth, sit in ashes and proclaim a fast.

They submit to God's will for them. They say, who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish. Then God who is rich in mercy saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God relented from the disaster that he has said he would bring upon them and he did not do it.

What a testimony of the power of the Spirit of God. The goodness and grace of God. The great and unbelievable mercy of God. Praise him. Praise his great name. In chapter 4, we read that Jonah rejoices in his God.

He stays many days in Nineveh teaching them the ways and the laws of God. He returns to his own nation with a wonderful testimony of God's goodness and the people of Israel rejoiced in their God, praised him for his mercy and grace and many reformed their ways and turned their hearts back to God.

Gosh, don't you just love a happy ending? Unfortunately, that's not what happened. When we came to chapter 3, the response of the Ninevites is meant to shock us. It would have shocked Israel. However, when we get to chapter 4, the real shock is waiting for us.

We see in chapter 4 the ultimate reason why God recorded the book of Jonah in Scripture. And as we will see, it is also why Jesus uses the sign of Jonah with the Pharisees in Israel specifically. So let me read our text once more.

So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery.

So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day, God prepared a worm and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened when the sun arose that God prepared a vehement east wind and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint.

Then he wished death for himself and said, it is better for me to die than to live. And then God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plant? And he said, it is right for me to be angry even at death.

But the Lord said, you've had pity on the plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120 ,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?

Jonah's Anger and God's Gentle Question

This final chapter is structured around three questions. We'll break this chapter down around these three questions and then we'll finish our time in Jonah with five points of application. The first one is here expressed after we learn Jonah's reaction to God's mercy to the Ninevites.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry. Calvin shows how displeased Jonah is when he says the two verbs used here are evidently to be construed as impersonals. The most literal rendering would be thus, and it was an evil to Jonah, a great evil, and wrath was to him or he was wroth.

Daniel Timmer says this statement is so arrogant and blasphemous that it can hardly be understood. Jonah, the Israelite who benefits in countless ways from God's past mercy towards and self-revelation to his people.

Who shows no awareness of his sin and does not repent even when faced with death. Finds a way to condemn the very God who delights to show mercy to the undeserving. In short, Jonah stands in judgment over God and arrogates to himself the right to decide who should and can fittingly receive divine mercy.

He may receive it and non-Israelites may not. And so once again we see Jonah praying. The first time was in the fish's belly at the end of himself pleading with God for mercy. Now he prays again and the true motive of Jonah's running from God is revealed.

He confesses that he knows God is merciful and even quotes God's words to Moses in Exodus 34. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

He does cut his name short, however, and leaves it as one who relents from doing harm. This is not how God declared his name to Moses. God goes on to confirm to Moses that he by no means clears the guilty.

But here Jonah is creating a straw man, as it were, to knock down. He doesn't want to acknowledge that God judges the guilty and is perfectly just. And so any mercy he shows to Ninevites is ultimately right.

He only cares that God is merciful when it suits him and his nation. But he is completely intolerant of God being merciful to anyone he does not think should be shown mercy. He knows that God is righteous and will do right, but what he wants is God to do what he thinks is right.

And he finishes his prayer with this melodramatic, therefore now, oh Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah is so distraught over God showing mercy that he would rather be dead than see God show mercy to those he counts as his enemies.

Now, the great prophet Elijah despaired of life and asked God to take it from him. And he prayed that he might die and said, it is enough now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's. 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings 19.

In this instance, however, Elijah was distraught that people were not coming to repentance and they were seeking his life. He was zealous for the Lord God of hosts and wanted people to come to him. Jonah is zealous for the nation of Israel and only wanted blessings for them.

And so we get to this first question. Then the Lord said, is it right for you to be angry? Now, this is a rhetorical question, implying the response, no, it is not right. See the incredible gentleness of God with the prophet.

Jonah here with his response is accusing God of wrongdoing by sparing the Ninevites. He knows God can do what he wants. He's learned that from the storm and the fish. But his anger shows that he thinks God is wrong.

Yet God does not rebuke him. He does not say, as he did with Job, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Again, Timmer says, after these shockingly sinful responses, the unit's last verse provides an equally surprising but radically pleasant turn of events.

True to his nature, God gently cross examines the prophet turned accuser. God's patience and mercy truly know no bounds. Let us see ourselves in Jonah. How often are we not happy with circumstances or how things are unfolding?

We may not be as bold as Jonah with God, but when we get angry with our circumstances, aren't we ultimately saying, what are you doing here, God? Some of you may remember that before I got laid off in March, I was already in a job search because I was not happy with where my company was going.

I had one opportunity that was starting to shape up and looked like I could have a job offer the same week or the week after my last day. The job looked great. I did several great interviews. It seemed like a job I could do, and it was going to check all the boxes.

Just as my last day approached, I found out that I was not going to get it. I was not openly angry with God, as Jonah was, but I was definitely harboring a strong annoyance at God. Since then, God has shown me several things.

First of all, that job was not right for me. As it turns out, I know the person who got the job. She's a friend of mine and she's a rock star, like two levels above my head. If I had gotten that job, I would have been completely out of my league.

God giving me that job would have led to a tremendous amount of pride in myself, and I was needing humbling not to be puffed up. You see, if I had gotten that job at that time, I would have been walking around being like, forget that company that laid me off.

Look at me. I got a job two seconds later.

How great am I?

And God has also used this season in unemployment to grow me in depending on him, waiting on him. And he has shown me that he might have other plans for me and that I should start to pursue them. In addition to that, he has used it in our church and relationships that we have in this church in ways I never imagined.

You see, Jonah cannot see God's larger purpose because he's consumed by his personal comforts, just like I was. I could not see how God might use this season until at its end. But I can tell you that in seeing this, I praise and worship him all the more for what he has done.

I love him more. I trust him more. I depend on him more than I would ever have if he had given me that perfect job six months ago. Whenever we find ourselves angry about the things happening in our lives, let us look to our God and wait patiently for his purposes and learn afresh that his purposes are always better than ours.

The Plant, the Worm, and the Wind

Now, as we start to move towards the second question in the chapter, let us zoom in on the events immediately following Nineveh's repentance. And I'm going to go through this verse by verse. Verse five says, So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city.

There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. Now, it's a little hard to understand what Jonah's thought process was here. But perhaps he interpreted God's question to him as, is it right for you to be angry?

I'm still planning to destroy them. Most commentators talk about when Jonah left the city. Did Jonah leave the city during the 40 days that he had declared to the Ninevites or afterwards? And why did he decide to make a shelter to see what would happen to the city?

We can't know for sure, but clearly he was hoping that God would still bring judgment on the city. We can also further see that Jonah had no desire at all for the Ninevites, as he does not stay in the city to continue to teach and preach.

But as soon as his responsibility is complete, he gets out of there. He goes to the east side of the city because it borders the Tigris on the west. So going east would mean moving up above the city and would provide him the best view.

He also makes a shelter and sat under the shade of it. Now, this is interesting because the plant that God is going to cause to grow was foreshade. This likely means that his shelter was not a very good one or was perhaps made of stones as the region is not known for trees.

And those stones only afforded him shade when the sun was low in the sky. So Jonah waits to see what's going to happen. In verse six, we read, and the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery.

So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. That very grateful there can be translated, so Jonah rejoiced greatly for the plant. Finally, a turn of good providence. And you can almost hear Jonah saying, finally, something good from this whole ordeal.

Thanks, Lord.

Jonah may have also been grateful because this good fortune from God may have signaled to Jonah that he had rightly discerned God's will and that he was still planning on judging the city. In Hebrew, the word used for this plant is kikion, and some commentators believe this was a castor oil plant.

Some believe it was a gourd of some kind. Ultimately, this plant supernaturally grew up on Jonah's shelter in a matter of hours and provided him relief from the heat and sun. We also read that God prepared this plant.

Now, its rate of growth would have indicated that it was God who did this, but the text specifically says that God prepared it. So we see God is teaching another lesson. In verse 7, God prepares a worm.

But as morning dawned the next day, God prepared a worm and it so damaged the plant that it withered. In one night, a plant grew, and then in one night the plant died. With the death of the plant comes also in verse 8, and it happened when the sun arose that God prepared of the eminent east wind and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint.

God prepared a plant, then he prepared a worm, and then he prepared a wind. I would have us note the care and involvement of our God in his wayward prophet. I would also have us notice the control and power of our God to accomplish his ends.

These things should cause us to both love and fear our God all the more. Love him because he loves us so much that he will not leave us in the state we are in, but fear him because he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise, and will accomplish all his holy will in our lives, whether we like it or not.

This brings us now to the final exchange between God and Jonah. In this book, it has a pattern of Jonah speaks, then God, then Jonah, and then God, with God getting the last word. God pushes Jonah to the point where he wishes death for himself and says, it is better for me to die than to live.

We once again see the prophet despairing over his situation to the point of desiring death rather than to have things turn out in a way he does not want. This time he does not pray, but he wishes for death.

Even though it can be said that he did not directly address God, this time, nevertheless, God was listening, as this is the interaction that he's been setting up for Jonah. Then God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plant?

Once again, a rhetorical question meant to be answered, no, it is not right. But Jonah does answer, and he says, it is right for me to be angry, even to death. One commentator says, at this lowest of all the low points in the book of Jonah, God comes to Jonah yet again with the intention of delivering him from his self-caused, sin-riddled angst.

God's words echo his earlier question to Jonah in 4 .4, is it good for you to be angry about the gourd? Incredibly and apparently with more belligerence than in 4 .5, when he simply walked away, Jonah not only affirms to God that his anger is good, but that it is so intense that it drives him to seek relief from it in death.

Now, this sets up two contrasts that we are meant to see here, a contrast between Jonah and God and Nineveh and the plant. But the Lord said, you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up at a night and perished in a night.

And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120 ,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? God first speaks of the insignificance of the plant.

Plants are less important than animals, and animals are less important than people. Even more than that, he speaks of the fact that Jonah did not grow the plant, right? A farmer has great care for the crop that he has invested his labor in.

But in this instance, Jonah did not labor at all. Ultimately, what God is pointing at is that Jonah doesn't care about the plant. He cares about his own comfort. He is angry about the plant because it was providing him shade.

The contrast here is with a great city of men that contains thousands of people and much livestock. Many commentators highlight that the phrase, who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, is referring to young children, likely seven and under.

They talk about if that is true, then the actual population of Nineveh was likely much larger than 120 ,000, perhaps over half a million. So we have a contrast between a plant and a man feeling a little faint on the one hand, in a city of hundreds of thousands and much livestock on the other.

The absurdity of the contrast is meant to strike us as absolutely ridiculous. Calvin says of this, Jonah grieved for the withering of the gourd because he was deprived of its shade, and God does not create men in vain.

It is then no wonder that he wishes them to be saved. We hence see that Jonah was not unsuitably taught by this representation. How inhumanly he conducted himself towards the Ninevites. He was certainly but one individual.

Since then, he made such an account of himself in the gourd only. How was it that he cast aside all care for so great and so populous a city? Ought not this to have come to his mind, that it was no wonder that God, the creator and father, had a care for so many thousands of men.

Though indeed the Ninevites were alienated from God, yet as they were men, God, as he is the father of the whole human race, acknowledged them as his own, at least to such an extent as to give them the common light of day and other blessings of earthly life.

And then finally, we're meant to see the contrast between Jonah and God. God says, and should I not pity Nineveh? Before we think too harshly of Jonah, remember who God is showing mercy to. These are the Ninevites.

They have been called a terrorist state. They don't just conquer people, they torture them. They make spectacles of their suffering. They go out of their way to be cruel. Aren't they only really repenting here to save their own skins?

This is the mercy of God. Lest we act like Jonah, let us not too quickly make light of it. It is why we are all here, isn't it? I'm reminded of Corrie Tenboom. You guys know the story. She was the Dutch Christian who was in prison for hiding Jews during World War II and was speaking at a church about God's forgiveness.

Afterwards, a man came forward who she instantly recognized. He had been one of the cruel guards at Ravensbrook concentration camp where her sister Betsy had died. The man told her he had become a Christian.

He stretched out his hand and asked, will you forgive me? Corrie wrote that in that moment, every part of her recoiled. She thought of her sister's suffering and she said she felt like Jonah looking at Nineveh, angry at the thought of mercy for such a man.

But she prayed silently, Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness. She reached out her hand and as she did, she felt the love of God flood her heart. This is the mercy of God. I would imagine Erica Kirk probably felt this way.

This past week, we are also to see this final question is left unanswered. It is once again a rhetorical question begging the answer, of course, God should pity Nineveh. The whole story ends here with this final question.

It becomes clear that the question isn't just asked to Jonah, but to all who read this story. We can all stand in awe of God's mercy. But just like with Corrie, God doesn't want us to intellectually understand his mercy.

He wants us to know it. This story is left with a cliffhanger because we're meant to apply it to ourselves. Who are the Ninevites in your life? And what if God decides to show them mercy? Will you be like Jonah or like Jesus?

Application of Jonah to Israel, the Church, and the Heart of Jesus

Now, I want to conclude our time in the book with five points of application. First of all, the application of Jonah. And what I mean by that is, why did Jesus use it? The heart of Jonah, and there I mean the heart of Jonah versus the heart of Jesus.

The plant of Jonah, what plants do we have in our lives? The salvation of Jonah. Is Jonah truly saved? And then finally, we'll look at the God of Jonah. And John Newton will help us with that. Now, let's look at the application of Jonah.

And what I mean by that in Jesus' use of this story in the Gospels. We reviewed this as an application from chapter two, looking at the sign of Jonah. But today I want to look at it at another angle. Why Jonah?

Why did the Lord decide to use the story of Jonah three different places in the Gospels? I think it's because Jonah's heart is similar to Israel's heart in Jesus' day. Jonah resents mercy going to Nineveh.

He wanted judgment, not salvation for Israel's enemies. The Jewish leaders in Jesus' day had the same heart. They resented Jesus' mercy towards sinners, tax collectors, Gentiles, and outsiders. They wanted a Messiah of judgment, not mercy.

Jonah sits outside the city, angry at God's compassion. The Pharisees stand outside Jesus' table fellowship, angry that he eats with sinners. The Pharisees also want a political leader who will restore the glory of the nation of Israel.

They don't care about mercy or grace or our problem with sin that is the true mission of the Messiah. The pagans in the story of Jonah, both the Mariners and the Ninevites, repent when faced with God and his message.

The Israelites in Jesus' day killed the Messiah. It is not just that Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish's belly. But it is the contrast that is shown between this Israelite prophet and the pagans.

Israel, even in Jonah's day, already cared more about the land and their nation than they did about God and his ways. In Jesus' day, Israel and the leaders of Israel no longer care about God and his ways.

They care about their own comforts and exaltation. God asked Jonah, is it right for you to be angry? Jesus asked the Pharisees, many good works I have shown you from my father. For which of these do you stone me?

The book of Jonah highlights the mercy of God and the hardness of Israel towards those who are not like them. These same things were true in Jesus' day. And so it is not just because Jonah spent three days and three nights in the fish, but because Jonah represents all that Israel is and will do.

They are angry, unto death, and seek to kill God. I think this book has application for us today as the church. Have we forgotten, or have we gotten so comfortable in our place as God's people that we're setting up idols as Jonah did?

Do we expect God to act towards others and us in the ways we expect? And when he doesn't, do we get angry? I wonder if we need to examine ourselves within the church as well. So often the biggest judgments we make are against other Christians who are not acting as we think they should.

Let us remember the mercy of God and how gentle he is with even his wayward prophet. So let's look at the heart of Jonah in contrast with the heart of Jesus. Here we see this prophet who has experienced great success in Israel.

He is preached during a time of relative peace and prosperity. Israel has experienced kingdom advanced and the borders pushed back to the days of David. He believes that the blessing of God was upon Israel because of these outward successes.

He loves his nation and believes that they are blessed of God because of who they are as descendants of Abraham. And that because of that they are God's people. Whether he would ever say it out loud to Jonah, it didn't matter what they did.

Whether he would ever say it out loud to Jonah, it didn't matter what they did because God had set his love on them and so in many ways had to bless them. Yet as we have talked about in the past, the true spiritual state of Israel was not good at all.

They worshiped the golden calves set up in Bethel and Dan. They were living in a time less than a hundred years from Ahab, the worst of the northern kingdom kings, where the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth was rampant.

They were living in a time less than 50 years from when the northern kingdom would be destroyed by Assyria as judgment for their idolatry. And even when we read in 2 Kings, for the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter and whether bond or free there was no helper for Israel.

And the Lord did not say he would blot out the name of Israel under heaven, but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. So here Israel is under affliction because of how they have turned away from God.

And yet even in that judgment, God has mercy on them because of his love for them and he showed them mercy. In the middle of that, Israel and Jonah are swelled with pride because of this mercy. Rather than turning to God in repentance, his mercy is taken for granted.

Now God goes to show that same sort of mercy to Nineveh, and Jonah is furious. How dare you show them mercy in the same way you've shown us mercy? The hilarious thing is Nineveh repents in the face of mercy while Israel took it for granted.

Now let's look at Jesus. Unlike Jonah who leaves the city to get away from the Ninevites, Jesus moves towards us. Matthew 9 .36, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 11 .28 says,. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Luke 19 .10 says,. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And in Matthew 23, we see the heart of Jesus when he says, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.

How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Unlike Jonah who seeks for death when his comfort is removed, Jesus suffers for us to bring us to God.

Luke 23 .34 says,. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do as he hung on the cross. Isaiah 53 declares,. He is despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And then John 10 .11,. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Unlike Jonah who considers his comfort to be of greater importance than lost sinners, Jesus will give all that he has to save us.

Mark 10 .45,. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And in Philippians, Paul writes,. In being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

In my mind,.

The biblical example that most highlights the heart of Jesus and the contrast between his heart and the heart of Jonah is the parable of the prodigal son. The Ninevites are like the younger son, despising their maker, ignoring him, and as a result using up his substance with terrible and violent living.

Yet when faced with judgment, they turn back to their maker in repentance, willing to be a slave rather than a son. God, like the father in the parable, forgives them and rejoices over those who repent.

Jesus is the father in this parable, running to the repentant, embracing them, willing to restore them at the first sight of repentance. And then Jonah is like the elder brother in the parable and like Israel in Jesus' day, judging his younger brother and believing that he is not worthy of repentance, being angry towards God for showing mercy to those who he deems as not worthy, as if they themselves are worthy of God's love.

Jonah is a story that is meant to show us not just that God is good and loving and merciful and kind to all, sending his reign on the just and the unjust. It is meant to show us that in contrast to our hearts, which are hard, unmerciful, unloving, and unwilling to see God show mercy to those we have judged and upon those who have hurt us.

You see, light is wonderful, but it is dazzling when we compare it to the long darkness of night. And darkness can feel black and blinding, but it is so much more so when you see the brilliance of light.

The book of Jonah is meant to show us just how amazing the heart of Jesus is when compared to the heart of Jonah, which if we're being honest, is our own hearts most of the time. Now, let's look at the plant of Jonah.

Idols of Comfort and the Plant of Jonah

So, Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Jonah said to God that it is right for me to be angry even to death over this plant. Why would Jonah be this upset over a plant that he had benefit for for one day?

It is because the plant represents something that Jonah has lost. He has lost his comfortable existence where things make sense to him. God blesses us and curses our enemies, and I live in peace and prosperity.

How often do we find ourselves upset over something we have lost or a turn of circumstances that we just don't like? We lose a job, we have our reputation take a hit, we lose a status, or our health is lost.

Something that defines who we are changes and we get angry. Martin Luther said in his larger catechism that upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your God. He talks about how idolatry is not external but internal.

You can sit in church and sing hymns, but if your heart clings to wealth, reputation, control, or comfort, that is your God. John Calvin says in his Institutes of the Christian Religion that man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.

Calvin saw that we don't need to be taught idolatry. We produce idols naturally, constantly, and endlessly. For example, a farmer may idolize his crops, a scholar his learning, a parent their child. None are evil in themselves, but the heart makes them ultimate.

So Jonah may not have bowed down to the golden calves that Israel had set up in the northern kingdom, but his personal comfort had become his God. Jonah was grateful for the mercy from God that the plant represented, but Jonah's heart turned that plant into an idol that when it was lost, he had more grief for it than for all the people in that pagan city.

In this day and age, we don't tend to give too much thought to idolatry, do we? I mean, I'm careful to have self-control with lust and anger. I'm careful not to lie or steal. But I don't know about you, but I don't often give too much thought to idols that I may have.

Yet we, like Jonah, all have them. And when they are threatened, that is when we have the greatest potential to commit terrible sins against one another. And the fact that we do have them is breaking the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

So what are the plants in your life? If God were to place his hand on and take away, it might cause you to explode in anger or dissolve into depression and anxiety. And to our fourth application, the salvation of Jonah.

The Salvation of Jonah and the Mercy of God

One question that's often been asked is, was Jonah saved? When we look at him in an unfavorable light, certainly an argument can be made that he was not. In chapter one, he runs from God. He shows no regard for a situation that is endangering the lives of other people when he was asleep in the boat.