JONAH 4
1 But it displeased Jonah
exceedingly, and he was very angry.
This word
“angry” means to burn and glow with white hot anger.
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.
Exodus 34:6-7: And the LORD passed by
before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear
the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon
the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
The whole
reason Jonah ran was because down deep he knew they would repent when Jonah
wanted them to pay for all the evil they had done to Israel.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I
beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah was
still an anti-Goyite (Gentile) Bigot, so much so he wanted to die.
Ibn Ezra and
Radak tells us, “Jonah felt from the start that the Ninevites would repent,
thus gaining God’s mercy – and thus reflecting bad upon Israel. Now he prayed
that he would not live to see Israel’s destruction.”
To purge
this bigotry out of Jonah he sets up an object lesson with a shady gourd as big
as a small tree that lived and died in one day. Having his skin bleached by the
fish, his skin was probably very sensitive and he for health and comfort he
probably required shade.
4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well
to be angry?
“What good
will it do you to be angry about the whole situation.”
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.
After
begrudgingly fulfilling his duty Jonah skipped town, he didn’t even stay for an
altar call. He climbed a nearby hill outside of town where the sun was behind him,
and waited to see the fireworks of brimstone from the sky! He wanted to see a
modern day Sodom and Gomorrah before his very eyes.
Gen. 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon
Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
When the
pyrotechnic show didn’t happen Jonah was ticked! He knew it wouldn’t but
nevertheless hoped God would change His mind.
Jonah had
built himself a small Sukkah, a hut or booth so shade him. Being bleached by
the great fish’s stomach caused Jonah’s skin to be very sensitive to the sun.
He probably burned very easily.
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.
Some
translations say it was a Castor plant. Rashi said this was a leafy shady
plant. Legends of the Bible tell us that the plant was a Kikayon plant.
Wikipedia
says, “The word kikayon is only referenced in the book of Jonah and there is
some question as to what kind of plant it is. Some hypotheses include a gourd
and a castor oil plant. The concurrent Hebrew usage of the word refers to the
castor oil plant.”
Legends of
the Bible goes on further to say that it had 275 leaves each a span long and
was more than enough to shade and comfort Jonah.
7 But God prepared a worm when the
morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Same word
“prepared” as used with the fish. It is not known what worm it was, but
obviously some species of plant eating worm.
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.
The east
wind was “prepared” too, as if to bitterly remind him that the shading gourd
was dead; all an elaborate plan of ADONAI to reveal Jonah’s selfishness and
bigotry.
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.
I believe
partial reason for Jonah’s anger is that he saw this Castor plant and a way to
relieve and even heal his skin which was bleached and burnt by the acid in the
fish’s stomach. It was and in well know that Castor oil can be produced from
the Castor plant and such oil has amazing healing properties.
10 Then
said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not
laboured, 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?
Legends of
the Bible says, “He began to weep and wish for death to release him from his
troubles. But when God led him to the plant, and showed him what lesson he
might derive from it – how, though he had not labored for the plant, he had
pity on it – he realized his wrong in desiring God to be relentless toward
Nineveh, the great city, with its many inhabitants, rather than have his
reputation as a prophet suffer taint. He prostrated himself and said; “O God,
guide the world according to Thy goodness.””
God loves
the Ninevites just as He loves the Israelites. They are both His creation, both
his children. He chose one to be caretakers of His Torah but does not love one
above the other. Think in terms of a parent, just because Johnny punches and
hurts Sally doesn’t mean we love Johnny any less or will punish Johnny the way
Sally would like to see him punished. The Ninevites were all sons of Adam, sons
of Noah, He created them too.
The Stones
Tanak says, “God showed Jonah how wrong he had been by being apathetic to the
horrible fate that could have befallen a great city with its huge population.”
The whole
episode with the gourd showed just how selfish Jonah was, the shameful flaw of
this prophet, more shameful than him being falsely accused of being a false
prophet.
This verse
tells us that God will remove anything and everything that stands in our way,
like an idol, from performing His will.
Preconceived
expectation, misplaced priorities, a humanistic flawed sense of justice, all
came to a head and poured forth in an irrational way with a much exaggerated
verbal display; like that of an unexpected volcanic eruption. A tantrum and
irrational words you’d expect from a child gush forth from Jonah like an open
flood gate; such a gamut of bi-polar type of emotions, from fearful faith and
thanksgiving in chapter two, to blind rash rage and disappointed anger in
chapter four.
Like what we
call today an “intervention,” God, through miraculous circumstances forces
Jonah against his will to fulfill His Divine will. Like forcing our child to
take out the trash when their attitude, body language and voice protest, even
if they sloppily do the job we don’t care, the point was not to let the child
get away with saying, “No,” to us.
Jonah had
one divine let down after another, extreme events orchestrated to play back
like a video security tape in Jonah’s mind to show how ridiculously selfish and
childish the prophet had conducted himself; to contrast his selfishness and his
apathy toward others. If Jonah did write this “tell all” memoir, for him to pen
this for all to see testifies to his change of heart, his repentance from his
bondage of selfish bigotry and the development of the manly character of
transparency.
Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary comments, “The natural tendency of human writers
would be to obscure and hide such a character. But the Spirit of God presents
valiant heroes along with petty people to illustrate truth, no matter how weak
and unpleasant these characters may have been…”
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?
And that is
how the book ends, like a French film, what the heck kind of ending is that!?
But we are
left with the silent point:
Jonah 4:11
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?
“By not
including Jonah’s response to God’s question in this verse, the book ends with
an effective challenge to each reader to consider whether their priorities are
in conflict with God’s priorities. Some would suggest that the phrase “discern
between their right hand and their left hand” refers to the spiritual ignorance
of the pagan inhabitance of Nineveh. Others say it refers to young children who
were not old enough to make rational decisions…” – Key Word Study Bible
Like a “Feed
the Children” commercial, this last stinging and echoing line of the LORD was
meant to pluck at Jonah’s heart strings.
As mentioned
at the very beginning of this book, Jonah is read during Yom Kippur because the
book is all about repentance and atonement.
Basically,
God is merciful, compassionate and just. He desires all mankind to repent, no
matter who they are or what they have done. So too for us in the season of Yom
Kippur, we are given that last chance to make things right with God and man.
Lev. 23:26
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh
month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto
you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto
the LORD. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of
atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For
whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be
cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work
in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye
shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest,
and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from
even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Let our
hearts break over our fallen and frail human condition. Let all pride,
prejudice die within us, let all the filth and cankerous rank surface in our
lives that we may face it, deal with it and that we may be purge of all sin and
iniquity in our lives; so that we may be a people ready for God to use to
change the world.
During the
10 days of Awe prior to Yom Kippur we are lodged, trapped in the corrosive
belly of sin. This year and the years to come may we sincerely pray the prayer
Jonah prayed:
Jonah 2:1
Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I
cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the
belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me
into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all
thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy
sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me
about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were
wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth
with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from
corruption, O LORD my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the
LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that
observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is
of the LORD.
CONCLUSION:
Many liberal
scholars and skeptics would say this story is no more than a moral fish tale,
but we have already given scientific and historical backing for these events.
Yeshua’s resurrection was not treated as an allegory by Messiah Himself as he
likened his future and literal resurrection after three days in the tomb to
Jonah’s literal three days in the belly of the great fish (Matt. 12:40). To
view the Book of Jonah as just a “fish tale” would imply the Scriptures are
fallible as well as our Messiah.
I pray you
have enjoyed this commentary and have developed a greater understanding of the
love of ADONAI for all mankind and His desire for all to come to Repentance.
