Exegetical Paper on Jonah 4:1-11 Hanna Ganther Biblical Hermeneutics Professor Brew November 30, 2010 Box Number

3009

Main Idea and Outline In Jonah Chapter four the main character, Jonah, is complaining to God about how God saved the Ninevites and how they did not deserve it. I. Jonah is mad at God for saving the Ninevites. (Verses 1-4) a. toward such sinners at the Ninevites. (Verses 1-3) b. II. God asks Jonah what right he has to be angry. (Verse 4) Jonah prays to the Lord asking why He is so gracious and compassionate

God provides the vine and then takes it away. (Verses 5-11) a. Jonah goes out of the city and makes a shelter to see what will happen to the

city. (Verse 5) b. The Lord provides a vine to give shade to Jonah and take away some of his discomfort. (Verse 6) c. d. e. Jonah is pleased by the vine and is happy that is it there. (Verse 6) God sends a worm to chew at the vine so it withers. (Verse 7) God sends a wind to blow away the vine and a blazing sun on Jonahs head. (Verse 8) f. Jonah grows faint from the sun and says that it would be better for him to die than to live. (Verse 8) g. h. The Lord asks Jonah what right he has to complain. (Verse 9) Jonah replies that he is angry enough to die. (Verse 9)

i.

The Lord tells Jonah off. He says that Jonah has no right to complain since he did not do anything to tend for the vine and to help it grow and stay healthy. And that he should care for Nineveh more than the vine because there a many people who need to be cared for. (Verses 10-11) Introduction

Jonah is one of those men that people just dont understand. He constantly disobeys God and isnt grateful for the things he has been blessed with. People often dont comprehend how Jonah could be so focused on himself. He was a prophet of God after all, so shouldnt he be more focused on the people than himself? No, that apparently is not the case. He worries more about the weed that grew up and gave him shade than he is concerned for the Ninevites. His actions make people wonder if he really had a heart for the Lord or how strong his faith was. He did not obey the Lord when he was told to go to Nineveh and he complained when the Lord saved the people even though the Lord had saved him from the giant fish. People a lot of the time dont like to think that they are like Jonah. They like to think that they would obey the Lord and do it joyfully. But people might be surprised if they were put in the same situation that Jonah was in. They might do the same exact thing he did because they are focused on themselves and the Lord and his plan for their lives. Context The author of this book isnt for sure Jonah. There is the possibility that it is, but we as readers cannot be a hundred percent sure. This book is written in third person which could mean two things. Jonah could have written this book in third person about himself, which is something that wasnt uncommon in those days. Or this book could have been

written by someone else who knew Jonahs story. But there is not clear indication one way or the other. This book is mainly for the purpose of history. It is an account of one the prophets and how he interacted with the people of the age and how he interacted with the Lord with the instructions that were given to Jonah. The literary context of this passage is that it is the end of the story of Jonah that we all know. Before this chapter a great many of events happened to this main character. First off God tells Jonah that he need to go to Nineveh to help save the people there from their sins. But Jonah scared of what might happen to him if he went runs in the other direction. Thinking that he could get out of Gods sight and not have to do what he had been told. Then when Jonah was on the ship in the other direction a great storm came about. There were waves crashing up against the ship and the sailors were afraid for their lives. Then they cast lots to see which one of their gods were upset and the lot feel on Jonah. After a while they threw him over bored and the seas grew quiet. Then the Lord brought along a big fish which swallowed Jonah and he was in the belly of that fish for three days and three nights. Then Jonah repented for not listening to Lord and said that he would do what the Lord told him to do. So the fish spit out Jonah and Jonah went to Nineveh and told the people to confess their evil ways and change their deeds. Hearing this the whole city repents and begins to follow the Lord. That is the events that happened before the passage in which Jonah is angry and wishes for the city to not have repented. And after this section the story just ends, there is no clean ending or a happy ever after. It just ends with God rebuking Jonah. Then it goes on to the next book which is Micah. Content

Jonah is mad at God for saving the Ninevites. He feels that they shouldnt be forgiven from all their evil deeds that they have done in their lives. He feels like that God shouldnt give these people mercy and love. That they cannot change and they will forever be an evil city. Jonah is angry at the Lord. He feels that he deserves far more than the Ninevites because he has followed and served the Lord for a long time. Even though Jonah disobeyed the Lord, he feels like he is worth more. The Lord asks Jonah what he has to be angry. And Jonah does not give a reason why or why not he has a right to be angry. Then Jonah goes out of the city to watch what might happen. He still has a hope that the city will be destroyed for all the evil things that they have done. It is super-hot outside the city in the dessert. The Lord provides a vine to give him shade and comfort in the weather. Jonah just sits back and enjoys all that the vine provides from him and doesnt try to do anything to keep the vine alive. Then the Lord sent a worm to chew at the vine so it withered away. Then the wind was sent and it blew the vine right away. Then sun became hotter than before and it was scorching on Jonahs head. As a result of the sun being so hot Jonah grew very faint and cried out that it would be better for him to die right there, than it would be for him to live. Then the Lord calls Jonah out, telling him that he has no right to complain at all. That he did nothing at all to care for the vine. He did nothing to help it grow and stay healthy. Then the Lord proceeds to tell Jonah that he should care more for the people of Nineveh than a simple vine. Because they are people who live and breathe, who have feeling just like Jonah. God created the Ninevites just like he created Jonah and all the other people,

so Jonah should care for them in the way that the Lord loves all his people. There are worth more than a vine that just grows in the dessert. Most people today do not understand the way Jonah thought. They cannot comprehend how Jonah could be so full of himself that he would care more a vine than a whole city full of people. But if you really think about it I dont think people today are that different than Jonah. People dont realize much like Jonah they really are. People today care about their own needs and what makes them comfortable. They tend not to think of people who are less fortunate than themselves. Sure they might give a thought to them every once in a while. But they dont do anything to change it. People today dont look at the group of people and say I want them to be saved. They only think of their own wellbeing and how they dont want to leave that comfort zone. If people really looked hard they would see that they are not really that different than Jonah. Jonah was looking out for his comforts and not looking at what the Ninevites needed. He cared about the vine when it withered because went the vine died so did his comfort. He just wanted to be comfortable while he watched the city. He like a lot of people today just wanted to be at ease and was self-centered and only cared for the needs of himself. So in reality people have not really changed that much since the time of Jonah. Even though today when people focus more on themselves they dont get a verbal slap in the face from the Lord like Jonah did. But there are the people that do need one. Jonah is definitely one interesting character. He isnt simply the guy that got swallowed by a giant fish that we hear about as kids. No, there are many layers to him and it is a very complex and interesting tale of history. The character of Jonah has given many people questions of who he was and why he did the certain things he did. Many people would

take it at face value and just say that he was dumb for not listening to the Lord for the first time, and then complained about the Lord saving the people that Jonah had been sent to preach the good word too. But when you really look at the story, you can see the reasoning behind Jonah running away in the first place. When most of us learn the story of a man who was swallowed by a fish we were young and didnt think much of it. It just went with all those other stories that we learned. Like David and Goliath, Ester, and all the many tales of Jesus miracles. When we were younger we did not think more into the tales, we just took them for what they were. But there is so much more to these tales than meets the eyes of little children. In Jonah there are disobedience, lying, and other types of deceit. First Jonah flees from the Lord. He thinks that he can hide from the Lord so that he doesnt have to do what he was told. Then even though Jonah repented to the Lord for his sins after being in the whale for 3 days, he still continued to disobey the Lord and be focused on himself. Jonah teaches a great many a lessons. It shows what happens to people when they dont obey the direct commandments of God. It might not be to the same extreme that Jonah was put through. It probably would come in many forms. It might come as a guilty conscience. You might always wonder what it would be like if you followed Gods will. You would be plagued with wondering What if I had done this? You would never know what it would be like to follow Gods commandment and you would not know the joy that it brings. The end of Jonah is not the typical end that we like. It just ends. There isnt a nice resolution to the story. We never find out what Jonahs reaction to the Lord chewing him out is. We never find out if Jonah changes his ways and never disobeys the Lord again. If

he followed every word

God gave him and never broke a law, or the commandments.

Most people are unsatisfied with the ending of this book. People in general want everything to be resolved nicely and when it isnt it bugs us. I think God did this on purpose so we wouldnt know. He left it a mystery to us, to show us that there are the things in life that we dont know and will never fully understand. Things like the trinity,

and how hard it is to comprehend that Jesus would die on the cross, a horrible, painful death, just for sinners like me. I believe that the end of Jonah was supposed to represent those things in life that we dont know the ending too and help us understand that we wont always comprehend the way God does it. Application There are several applications of Jonah to contemporary audiences. Probably the biggest one would to be just to follow what God says. Jonah directly disobeyed what God told him to do and that had many bad effects. Jonah disobeyed the Lord when he didnt go to Nineveh. What was the effect of that? There was a big storm that knocked the boat around and Jonah was thrown off it and then swallowed by the big fish. Jonah cared more for a vine that provided shade than the people of Nineveh. What happened because of that? A worm was sent to eat the vine so that it blew away and Jonah got a firm talking to from the Lord saying why he should care more for the people than a plant. So that is the big application of Jonah, do what the Lord tells you to do. No matter how scary or life threating it may be. Do what he tells you to do. Another application for this passage is that no one is not worthy of Gods love and compassion. The Ninevites were a rough people who did many sinful deeds. So no matter who the person is or what they have done. They still need Gods love and forgiveness. So

share the love of Christ with everyone. People who are snotty or people who you would rather not with. Share the good news with the prostitutes, the murders, the liars, and the thieves. Share it with everyone. God loves all the people that he put onto this earth, so its our job and obligation to tell them about what he did for us. That he sent his son to die on the cross for all our sins so that we may be able to live with in for eternity in heaven. Those are the practical uses of this passage.

Works Cited The MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur, John, ed. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway. 2010. "John Calvin, Commentary on Jonah." Internet Christian Library. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. <http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/m.sion/calvjona.htm>. "A Commentary on the Book of Jonah - Cooper Abrams." Bible Truth Web Site 1996-2009 - Sermons, Articles on Current Christian Subjects, Bible Studies, Bible Questions Answered, Baptist History, Much More. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bibletruth.org/Jonah.html>. Jonah - Matthew Henrys Commentary - Bible Commentary." Christ Notes: Bible Search & Bible Commentary. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. <http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=32&com=mhc>.