JONAH AND THE WORM
The story of Jonah is one of the most recognizable Bible stories because it works so well when telling it to children. We usually tell the “got-this-down-pat version” to the kids, but in reality there are some deep truths in this little Bible story. We all know the gist of the story … How God called Jonah to a special assignment and Jonah ran from God’s call and ended up in a whale’s belly. But there’s more to the story—The story ends exposing Jonah’s ego and a little worm that makes him really mad.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” —Jonah 1:1 (NKJV)
The Assyrians were historical enemies to the Hebrews, and many atrocities happened to God’speople at the hands of the Assyrians. God wanted the tormented to preach hope and life and repentance and restoration to the tormentor. It’s easy see why a Hebrew preacher would not want to be sent to people who abuse Hebrew people! But the real reason why Jonah ran was he knew if Nineveh repented, God would not destroy it. This a major pride issue — Jonah didn’t think Nineveh should experience the grace of God.
It’s prideful when you think you know more than God … when you run from God’s plan of loving others … when you think those who do you wrong don’t deserve God’s mercy … when you get angry when God doesn’t do what you want him to do. The story of Jonah contrasts loving nature of God with the selfish nature of humans.
The Bigger your ego the shorter your fuse
Anger springs from one source – being clueless about your own selfish nature. But how does ego cause anger? A standard definition is that ego is that sense of constantly distinguishing “self” from others. It is an intoxicating sense of selfimportance. It is when we constantly protect and compare our situation in relation to others. So the bigger the ego, the easier it will be to become angry. Someone accurately said the acronym E.G.O. stands for “edging God out.” So just like Jonah, the less of God you have in your life the more you will act like yourself.
I. Jonah became angry because God was slow to get angry
This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” —Jonah 4:1-3 (NLT)
Check yourself. Are you quick to get angry or slow to get angry? Ironically, Jonah was a prophet of God who was called by God to speak for God but wasn’t anything like God. Jonah’s character is the opposite of God’s. What you know about the nature of God should change your nature. You need more than head knowledge about God, you need heart knowledge about God. After Jonah preached his message and checked the box, he went to the edge of town to wait on God to destroy the city. But when God changed his plans and spared the city, it made Jonah upset. God asked him, “Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about this?” Whenever you are really mad about something, ask yourself “Is it right for me to be angry about this?” … “Is my indignation righteous or self-righteous?”
A. It’s not your day to be God
• Don’t seek justice, seek justification
• It’s not your calling to teach anyone a lesson, just share Jesus
B. It’s your day to be like God
• Cross the I
• Be like Jesus
• Deny self
• Be merciful, compassionate and slow to anger
II. Jonah became angry because God sent a worm and hot weather
Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” —Jonah 4:5-9 (NLT)
It’s amazing how the little things in life can tick us off the most. With Jonah, in the beginning God sent a big storm to get Jonah off the boat and then God sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah … however these huge events didn’t fully expose Jonah’s real issue. As Jonah sat on the outskirts of Nineveh waiting for the fireworks to fall, he found personal comfort from a small shade tree. But God sent a little worm to destroy the tree. God used this worm to get to the heart of Jonahs pride, anger and hypocrisy.
A. God sends the big problems to help us pay attention to Him.
• The big storm caused Jonah to want others to live
• The big whale caused Jonah to humbly beg to live
B. God sends the little problems to help us pay attention to ourselves.
• The worm killed a plant and the hot weather brought discomfort
• These little problems revealed Jonah’s selfish nature
• Jonah wanted a plant to live, but people to die (including himself)
C. Is your anger justifiable?
God again asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry like this?” Then God brings it home for Jonah … “You feel sorry about a plant not shading you from the bright hot sun … But you could care less about 120,000 human beings living in spiritual darkness.” What are you most angry about?
• Are you more upset about personal discomforts than you are about people not knowing Jesus?
• Are you more upset about God not following your plans than you not following God’s plan?
• Are you more upset about global warming than you are about people going to hell?
• Are you more upset about Houston traffic than you are about human trafficking?
The next time you have a short fuse over trivial things, take a closer look at yourself. When you are tempted to frequently fly off the handle about the little insignificant problems of life, ask God to use you to be a part of the bigger solution of changing the world for the cause of Christ. So the next time you ream out a cashier at Walmart for short changing you, think about sharing the Gospel with her to bring about life change.