What is Jonah's reaction to God's mercy towards Nineveh?

He becomes angry and feels it's wrong that God forgives the city.

Why does Jonah flee to Tarshish?

He tries to avoid prophesying against Nineveh, knowing God is merciful.

What does the plant symbolize in the story?

It represents Jonah's selfishness and temporary comfort.

How does God respond to Jonah's anger?

He questions Jonah's right to be angry, highlighting Jonah's hypocrisy.

What is the main lesson of Jonah 4?

It teaches about the scandal of God's grace and the importance of compassion.

Who is central to the story of Jonah?

The story reveals God's character, focusing on His grace and compassion towards everyone.

How does the story relate to contemporary issues of forgiveness?

It challenges viewers to reflect on their own prejudices and the broader implications of loving one's enemies.

What does the speaker suggest about our 'enemies'?

He proposes that our enemies may serve as tools for personal growth and self-reflection.

What is meant by the phrase 'the dark side of God's mercy'?

It refers to the challenge in accepting that God's grace applies to those we may consider undeserving.

What does the concept of 'the gift of the enemy' signify?

It indicates that enemies can reveal our flaws and offer opportunities for growth.

5. When God Loves Your Enemy - Amazing Jonah - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

00:50:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IUwsfZdT3E

Summary

TLDRThe video delves into Jonah's resentment towards God's mercy shown to Nineveh, illustrating deeper themes of grace, hypocrisy, and the struggle with forgiveness. Initially, Jonah runs from God's command, fearing the Ninevites would receive mercy. His anger escalates when they repent, revealing his self-centeredness. A plant that provides him shade symbolizes temporary comfort, highlighting his selfish nature. God uses the plant's fate to teach Jonah about compassion, challenging him to consider the value of human lives over petty grievances. The discussion extends to contemporary issues of loving one's enemies and recognizing our shared humanity.

Takeaways

😡 Jonah's anger reveals human hypocrisy.
🌱 The plant symbolizes Jonah's self-centeredness.
🙏 God's mercy extends to all, even enemies.
⚖️ The balance of grace vs. judgment in faith.
🤔 Reflect on personal biases towards those we dislike.
❤️ True compassion challenges our prejudices.
📖 Jonah's story teaches about divine character.
💔 God's grace can be scandalous and hard to accept.
💬 Enemies can help us identify our flaws.
🛤️ The road to forgiveness often begins with self-reflection.

Timeline

00:00:00 - 00:05:00
Jonah becomes angry after God shows mercy to Nineveh, as he knows God is gracious and compassionate, and he feels it is unjust that they are spared.
00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Despite Jonah's fury, God questions him about his anger, highlighting Jonah's lack of understanding of mercy and compassion he is so quick to demand for himself but rejects for others.
00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Jonah builds a shelter outside Nineveh and waits to see if God will destroy the city; God provides a leafy plant for shade, momentarily making Jonah happy.
00:15:00 - 00:20:00
The next day, God sends a worm to destroy the plant, leaving Jonah feeling faint and angry again, prompting another question from God about the legitimacy of his anger regarding the plant.
00:20:00 - 00:25:00
God uses the plant as a lesson to Jonah, contrasting his concern for a mere plant with God's profound concern for the people of Nineveh, highlighting the absurdity of Jonah's self-centeredness.
00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Gordon Wilson's story of forgiveness serves as an example of the challenge of extending grace to those we see as enemies, paralleling Jonah's refusal to accept Nineveh's repentance.
00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Jonah's story illustrates the hypocrisy within religious beliefs and the human tendency to feel superior over others, forgetting our shared fallibility and breaking of divine laws.
00:35:00 - 00:40:00
Ultimately, God shows that He cares for everyone - even the lost and misguided - using Jonah's self-interest to challenge him into recognizing the broader scope of divine compassion.
00:40:00 - 00:45:00
The message encapsulates that true spirituality involves loving our enemies and recognizing our shared humanity rather than retreating into self-righteous anger and despair.
00:45:00 - 00:50:04
The overarching theme challenges individuals to confront their prejudices against those they despise, indicating that through confronting our own issues, we grow as people and learn to extend grace.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

What is Jonah's reaction to God's mercy towards Nineveh?
He becomes angry and feels it's wrong that God forgives the city.
Why does Jonah flee to Tarshish?
He tries to avoid prophesying against Nineveh, knowing God is merciful.
What does the plant symbolize in the story?
It represents Jonah's selfishness and temporary comfort.
How does God respond to Jonah's anger?
He questions Jonah's right to be angry, highlighting Jonah's hypocrisy.
What is the main lesson of Jonah 4?
It teaches about the scandal of God's grace and the importance of compassion.
Who is central to the story of Jonah?
The story reveals God's character, focusing on His grace and compassion towards everyone.
How does the story relate to contemporary issues of forgiveness?
It challenges viewers to reflect on their own prejudices and the broader implications of loving one's enemies.
What does the speaker suggest about our 'enemies'?
He proposes that our enemies may serve as tools for personal growth and self-reflection.
What is meant by the phrase 'the dark side of God's mercy'?
It refers to the challenge in accepting that God's grace applies to those we may consider undeserving.
What does the concept of 'the gift of the enemy' signify?
It indicates that enemies can reveal our flaws and offer opportunities for growth.

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Subtitles

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00:00:03
but to Jonah this seemed very wrong and
00:00:06
he became angry he prayed to the Lord
00:00:09
isn't this what I said Lord when I was
00:00:12
still at home this is what I tried to
00:00:14
foretell forestall by fleeing to
00:00:16
Tarshish I knew that you are a gracious
00:00:19
and compassionate God slow to anger and
00:00:22
abounding and love a God who relents
00:00:25
from sending calamity now Lord take away
00:00:28
my life for it is better for me to die
00:00:31
than to live but the Lord replied is it
00:00:34
right for you to be angry Jonah had gone
00:00:37
out and sat down at a place east of the
00:00:39
city there he made himself a shelter sat
00:00:43
in its shade and waited to see what what
00:00:46
would happen to the city then the Lord
00:00:48
God provided a leafy plan and made it
00:00:51
grow up over Jonah to give shade for his
00:00:53
head and to ease his discomfort and
00:00:56
Jonah was very happy about the plant but
00:00:59
at John the next day God provided a worm
00:01:01
which chewed the plant so that it
00:01:03
withered when the Sun rose God provided
00:01:07
a scorching east wind and the Sun blazed
00:01:10
on Jonah's head so that he grew faint he
00:01:13
wanted to die and he said it would be
00:01:16
better for me to die than to live but
00:01:19
God said to Jonah is it right for you to
00:01:22
be angry about this about the plant it
00:01:24
is he said I'm so angry I wish I were
00:01:28
dead but the Lord said you have been
00:01:31
concerned about this plant though you
00:01:33
did not tend it or make it grow it
00:01:36
sprang up overnight and died overnight
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and should I not have concern for the
00:01:41
great city of Nineveh in which there are
00:01:43
more than a hundred and twenty thousand
00:01:46
people who cannot tell their right hand
00:01:48
from their left and also have many
00:01:50
animals all right what's up you guys
00:01:58
you done these front rows look so
00:02:02
comfortable look at you you have arm
00:02:05
rest some of you what this is great
00:02:07
anyway we usually avoid the front row
00:02:10
because I sometimes bit
00:02:12
I was bit anyway so I'm sorry I first
00:02:14
bit on you guys but at least you're
00:02:15
comfortable while I do it so anyway good
00:02:18
to have you guys here and here we go so
00:02:20
our final week in the Book of Jonah yeah
00:02:22
that's that's rock and roll that's what
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that is
00:02:25
so we we've been heading out to what I
00:02:30
called the VeggieTales factor rights
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this this this mediation of the Bible
00:02:36
stories to us through children's media
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as it tends to kind of make them all
00:02:41
bland and about being a nice person
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something like that and so what we've
00:02:45
been discovering which I know at least
00:02:47
myself have been rediscovering kind of
00:02:49
studying and working through the book
00:02:50
again is this is not a children's story
00:02:52
by any means of course children could
00:02:54
grasp the basic outline of the story but
00:02:57
the themes of the story are so profound
00:03:01
you very much have to be an adult to get
00:03:04
them dealing with themes about religious
00:03:07
hypocrisy and exposing spiritual apathy
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and the devastating effects it has on us
00:03:12
and other people and about the the ways
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that God can use pain and suffering in
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our lives as a severe mercy to wake us
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up themes of judgment divine judgment
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and divine repentance he explained that
00:03:27
to your three-year-old you know I mean
00:03:28
so there's very much these are themes
00:03:30
that are meant for adults and that's
00:03:32
because this this story as all of the
00:03:35
scriptures it's aimed at revealing God's
00:03:37
character to his people that's the
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purpose of Scripture not to entertain
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kids but to reveal who God is his
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character and his purposes and what he's
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up to
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in the world and so today I will Joan at
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chapter 4 we we conclude the story with
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this ridiculous apparently sunburned man
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sitting at the east of Nineveh who wants
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to die he would rather die than live
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with a god like Yahweh and how does this
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speak God's Word to us tonight let's uh
00:04:09
let's let's dive in so remember the big
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the big storyline you have his prophet
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religious man of God who run who hates
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his God and runs from his God in the
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opposite direction it leads him to hit
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bottom it brings ruin on himself and all
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these other people his spiritual apathy
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but gods
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makes this brush with death that all
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this seemed like it was the worst thing
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that ever happened to him but actually
00:04:31
becomes a severe mercy that's the best
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thing that's ever happened to him and it
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wakes him up at least for a moment and
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he physically then obeys and goes on
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this commission to confront the
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wickedness of city of Nineveh and last
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week we talked about all of that and xog
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cool archaeological pictures you know
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depicting how horrible the the Assyrians
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in the Ninevites were and so he preached
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this five word sermon in Hebrew yeah so
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it's eight words in English five words
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sermon in Hebrew and the whole city
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turned repents and turns to God and and
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you would think if you're a prop from
00:05:05
Israel this is a great line on your
00:05:08
resume like notorious is like Sin City
00:05:11
you know and and you can you know you're
00:05:15
a days preaching in and five words in
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and the whole city you know has this
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radical transformation and you would
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think most any of the other prophets of
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Israel would be like work yeah that's
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right
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dope and well how does Jonas feel about
00:05:27
this how does Jonah look at the last
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sentence of chapter three it's verse ten
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God saw the the repentance and the soft
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hearts of the Ninevites and so chapter
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three verse ten God saw what they did
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how they turned from their evil ways and
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he he relented he forgives them and he
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didn't bring on them the destruction
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that he'd threatened any other prophet
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of Israel would be like mission
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accomplished
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God's shows grace his reputation is
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honored and so and what does Jonah's
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response to all of this he is ticked he
00:06:03
is he's livid with anger look at his
00:06:05
response but to Jonah this all seemed
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very wrong no what no no no this is not
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what's supposed to happen this is so
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very wrong he became angry and he prayed
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to the Lord and when you see Lord there
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in all capital letters its Yahweh in
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Hebrew he prayed to Yahweh and he
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proceeds to to to to God out big time
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now this might be a new category of
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Prayer for some of us apparently you can
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pray and just let God have it and but we
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did series in the Psalms over the summer
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and you saw lots of people letting
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Sabbath and vending and it was a form of
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Prayer so look at what he says he you
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can just imagine he has clenched teeth
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you know he's hot with anger he prayed
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to Yahweh isn't this what I said
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Yahweh when I was still back at home
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this is why I was so quick to flee to
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Tarshish
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so you remember Israel as vital
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Mediterranean Sea what direction is
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Nineveh East
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so on my backwards map it's over here do
00:07:08
I have that right for you guys yes okay
00:07:09
swap it up here so is this and what
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weighs tarnish the Far West as you could
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humanly go right it's the edge of the
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known world it's heard for ancient
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people and the far coast of Spain way
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across the Mediterranean now why did he
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flee did he flee because he's scared
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that the Ninevites might kill him though
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he's scared because he hates minifides
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excuse me how scared he runs because he
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hates he hates identified he knew that
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this is what was good so he says he says
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I knew that you're gracious and
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compassionate God
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I knew that you're slow to anger I knew
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you're abounding in love
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I knew that you're a God who relents
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from sending calamity
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now Yahweh take away my life it'd be
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better for me to die than live her so
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you can just see the the heat of his
00:08:00
other's anger I mean this seems
00:08:02
ridiculous to us and the levels of irony
00:08:05
go away way deeper look at verse 2 do
00:08:07
you see these descriptions here the
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words it uses to describe God so he says
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your gracious compassionate slow to
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anger abounding and love you see sound
00:08:17
familiar to anybody you kind of heard
00:08:20
these subscriptions before maybe
00:08:21
swimming goggles
00:08:22
sound the Bible wish something good
00:08:24
Bible II so yes that's true
00:08:26
that's true so this is this phrase right
00:08:28
here gracious compassionate God slow
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dang or bounding laws it's kind of like
00:08:32
the the John 3:16 which is the famous
00:08:34
verse in the New Testament it's kind of
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like that equivalent in the Old
00:08:37
Testament this is one of the most
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repeated descriptions of God over a
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Defen times throughout the Old Testament
00:08:42
and what Jonah is actually doing here
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this is so great you kind of have to be
00:08:47
a Bible geek to know it but he's quoting
00:08:48
from a book in in the Torah of the first
00:08:52
five books of the Bible he's quoting
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from the book of Exodus and actually
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he's quoting from a quotation of what
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God says about himself and after Exodus
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34 verse 6 and it's a story about how
00:09:03
the Israelites we're sitting at the foot
00:09:04
of Mount Sinai and God revealed the Ten
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Commandments to them and the first Ten
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Commandments was don't have any gods
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before me the second one was don't make
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any idols all right so so God is not an
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object among the creation that you can
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depict him with the piece of wood or
00:09:20
stone something like that and so they
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weren't to make any idols to depict him
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unless they kind of fixate their
00:09:26
attention on the wrong thing and and so
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and what's the first thing they do have
00:09:29
for days go by and the cloud is still
00:09:31
over the mountain where the Israelites
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doing where Moses gone well let's make a
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golden cache yeah that's a good idea
00:09:38
yeah to represent Yahweh and so they do
00:09:40
and then they have this this sexual
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fertility ritual too so it's ridiculous
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it's crazy what they're doing right here
00:09:46
at the foot of the mountain and so God
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is going to bring judgment and dump his
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people that he rescued out of Egypt
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Moses intercedes and what does God do he
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forgives them and renews the covenant
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with them and then in Moses says holy
00:10:00
cow like why are you doing this who are
00:10:02
you Yahweh and Yahweh says well I'm
00:10:04
Yahweh
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I'm gracious compassionate slow to anger
00:10:08
abounding and loving-kindness in other
00:10:10
words Israel exists as the people of God
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because God is this way and here what
00:10:17
Jonah does is he takes these very words
00:10:19
of God and thrills them back in his face
00:10:21
and is like I knew you were like this
00:10:23
you've always been like this you've been
00:10:24
like this since day one and what's funny
00:10:27
is he wouldn't exist as an Israelite if
00:10:28
God were not like this but he's so
00:10:31
irrational and hot with anger at this
00:10:33
point he's just throwing these words
00:10:34
back you I knew you're going to do this
00:10:36
you love to forgive people who don't
00:10:37
deserve it
00:10:38
you love to do this kind of thing I knew
00:10:40
this was can happen that's why I ran you
00:10:41
made me come here in the first place
00:10:43
yeah and so he's so he's so angry now we
00:10:46
might read this and be like whoa this is
00:10:49
so crazy like this he's he's criticizing
00:10:52
God he's like sending hate mail to God
00:10:54
because God is too gracious for being
00:10:58
too nice and forgiving people who don't
00:11:00
who don't deserve it and
00:11:03
he's clearly Jonah chapter four he loses
00:11:05
it he's the comical kind of ridiculous
00:11:07
figure and I'm guessing there very few
00:11:09
of us in the room who are like
00:11:10
sympathizing with Jonah right now going
00:11:12
like yeah that's right you know we're
00:11:13
like no we're laughing at him going dude
00:11:15
you wouldn't exist if it wasn't for
00:11:17
these great traits that you're
00:11:18
criticizing God for yeah but but he's
00:11:21
like this laughable figure and it does
00:11:23
seem ridiculous to us but what Jonah
00:11:27
four is all about is it's exposing what
00:11:30
I call the it's like the dark side of
00:11:32
God's mercy and grace it's it's the
00:11:35
scandal of the liberality of God's grace
00:11:38
the wideness in His mercy because of
00:11:41
course I'm quite happy if I come to
00:11:44
realize you know the of what a
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screwed-up person I am and I turn to
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Jesus and and he shows me his grace
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sweet that's great but then there's this
00:11:55
other complex thing that happens is the
00:11:56
Christian when you realize yeah Jesus is
00:11:58
like that to me and he also was like
00:12:00
that to the person that I despise and
00:12:02
hate and then I'm kind of whoa that's
00:12:05
what they don't deserve do you know what
00:12:06
they did to me you thought you and so
00:12:09
here we go here we go the motivation for
00:12:12
for Jonah criticizing God's grace it's
00:12:15
actually it's actually pretty
00:12:17
understandable to us and if we were in
00:12:21
the same situation we would probably say
00:12:23
the same thing for example let me let me
00:12:28
show you a picture of a man named Gordon
00:12:31
Gordon Wilson
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Gordon Wilson is the Irishman he's
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passed away now but he lives in the town
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of Enniskillen Northern Ireland and in
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1987 in think late 80s Northern Ireland
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with what's going on at that time most
00:12:52
of you or some of you most of you should
00:12:53
know by maybe only some of you do so
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this was at the height of the conflict
00:12:58
between the British who was still
00:13:00
basically a colonial power over the
00:13:03
Irish and then you have the Irish who
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were resistant against British rule and
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so on as a common story in the 20th
00:13:11
century in many countries around the
00:13:12
world and so do you remember the name of
00:13:14
the essentially the resistance
00:13:16
against the British alright the IRA the
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Irish Republican Army and so Gordon
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Wilson he was Irish Irishman who's a
00:13:26
follower of Jesus and he did not endorse
00:13:29
the IRA and he was not behind them the
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town of Enniskillen had a little town
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square and he he worked in the kind of
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the downtown era he ran the drapery
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business families like drape and window
00:13:42
dressing business and Britain has a
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equivalent our Memorial Day called
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Remembrance Day it's in November and
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it's the way of honoring the British
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soldiers who died in the two world wars
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and so Gordon Wilson went with his
00:13:56
family to the town square of NS Kelvin
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and unbeknownst to him and all the
00:14:01
people there IRA had sent people to
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plant bombs in different buildings
00:14:06
around the the public kind of the town
00:14:09
square
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and during the Remembrance Day ceremony
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those bombs went off and you'll see some
00:14:15
of the pictures here a number of the
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buildings around the town square kind of
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collapsed and walls caved in on the
00:14:21
groups of people that were there and
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among them were Gordon Wilson and his
00:14:27
family and he and his daughter were
00:14:29
caught underneath a wall that collapsed
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and were there for many many hours and
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after a number of hours they were both
00:14:37
kind of they were they were like trapped
00:14:41
next to each others both pretty injured
00:14:43
and they were able to talk during that
00:14:46
time they were rescued they were pulled
00:14:48
out and Gordon's daughters did not
00:14:51
survive through the night but Gordon did
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and about two days later after he was
00:14:58
kind of aware and could talk the BBC
00:15:01
came and did an interview with different
00:15:03
of the survivors and the interview with
00:15:05
Gordon Wilson if you google this you can
00:15:07
go like find it still online you can
00:15:10
listen to it um
00:15:11
the interview with Gordon Wilson it just
00:15:14
it all hit the news and just went went
00:15:17
viral he says viral as it could be
00:15:18
before YouTube in the 80s right and it
00:15:22
caught the attention of the whole world
00:15:23
because of what he said and William
00:15:26
curry who recounts this story he
00:15:29
after zit this way he said no one who
00:15:31
heard Gordon Wilson will ever forget
00:15:33
what he said in that interview his grace
00:15:37
towered over the miserable justification
00:15:41
of the Bombers speaking from his
00:15:43
hospital bed Wilson described his last
00:15:45
conversation with his daughter quote she
00:15:49
held my hand tightly and she gripped me
00:15:52
as hard as she could she said daddy I
00:15:55
love you very much those were her last
00:15:59
exact words to me and those were the
00:16:01
last words I ever heard her say William
00:16:06
Murray comments he says to the
00:16:08
astonishment of listeners Wilson went on
00:16:10
to add quote but I will bear no ill will
00:16:14
I will bear no grudge bitter talk is not
00:16:19
going to bring her back to life I will
00:16:22
pray to night and every night for the
00:16:25
men who did this that God will forgive
00:16:27
them no words in more than 25 years of
00:16:32
violent in Northern Ireland had such a
00:16:35
powerful emotional impact and the story
00:16:39
gets even more amazing a year after to
00:16:42
commemorate the Enniskillen bombing
00:16:44
Gordon Wilson held a of a public event
00:16:49
where he invited publicly
00:16:51
representatives of the IRA to come meet
00:16:53
with him and he invited news crews to
00:16:56
all show up there and in it because of
00:16:59
his faith in Jesus Christ he announced
00:17:01
the heave forgave his daughter's
00:17:04
murderers and he begged the IRA to stop
00:17:06
the violence and these tactics to
00:17:09
forward their agenda and this hold is
00:17:12
doing this whole year just catapulted
00:17:14
him he became a senator when the Irish
00:17:16
gained independence and made the Irish
00:17:17
Republic he he became a senator and so
00:17:19
on and this towering figure it's still
00:17:22
today in Irish culture because of his
00:17:24
commitment to Jesus to forgive his
00:17:26
enemies now this is where the story gets
00:17:29
very interesting one of other later
00:17:31
presidents of the Irish Republic Mary
00:17:33
McAleese talks about the legacy that he
00:17:36
left and she puts it this way is so
00:17:38
interesting she says Gordon words they
00:17:41
shamed us all
00:17:43
and caught us off guard they sounded so
00:17:45
different from what we expected and what
00:17:48
we had all become used to
00:17:50
they brought a stillness with them and
00:17:53
they carried a sense of the transcendent
00:17:55
into a place or to become so ugly we
00:17:58
could hardly bear to watch
00:18:00
but Gordon had his detractors and
00:18:02
unbelievably he even received bags of
00:18:05
hate mail how dare you forgive people
00:18:09
demanded what kind of father are you who
00:18:12
can forgive your daughter's killers It
00:18:15
was as if Gordon had spoken those words
00:18:17
of forgiveness for the first time in
00:18:19
human history as if Christ had never
00:18:21
uttered the words Father forgive them
00:18:23
they don't know what they're doing
00:18:25
one outspoken critic who was a Christian
00:18:29
said to me about Gordon Wilson surely
00:18:32
the poor man must have been in shock as
00:18:34
if offering love and forgiveness is a
00:18:38
sign of mental weakness
00:18:40
instead of spiritual strength so you see
00:18:44
this here so we you know people name
00:18:47
their daughters Grace and we think songs
00:18:49
about grace or whatever and we think
00:18:50
it's this beautiful thing but there
00:18:51
actually is this real scandalous side to
00:18:54
it when grace the wideness of God's
00:18:57
mercy begins to include people that we
00:18:59
hate begin to include people that we
00:19:01
despise or that have wronged us or that
00:19:03
we think don't deserve it and then we're
00:19:05
it's really really disturbing
00:19:08
this whole grace thing this is what
00:19:10
Jonah 4 is about it's not so crazy that
00:19:13
Jonah he's depicted as ridiculous yes
00:19:16
but the motivations that are behind
00:19:19
Jonah's critique of God's grace are the
00:19:21
same that motivated Gordon's detractors
00:19:24
and what would you how would you respond
00:19:25
in a similar situation it's very
00:19:28
understandable and so what God is going
00:19:31
to do through the rest of you out of 4
00:19:33
is he's going to he's going to try three
00:19:36
times to bring Jonah LaVon to help him
00:19:40
understand his grace in a new way so
00:19:43
let's let's dive in verse 4 this is a
00:19:47
plea God's first God's first try with
00:19:50
Jonah will go first for the Yahweh
00:19:52
replied you need a straight up ask the
00:19:55
question let's talk about this Joan
00:19:56
sounds like a therapist so is it right
00:19:59
for you to be angry Jonah I mean you're
00:20:02
angry at me showing grace to the
00:20:04
Ninevites
00:20:04
I mean it's that legitimate Jonah and
00:20:07
what does Jonah's response just
00:20:11
Stonewall I happy to succeed is just
00:20:13
ignore him right Jonah went out of the
00:20:16
city and he sat down at a place east of
00:20:19
the city there he made himself a little
00:20:21
shelter old tent and he sat in its shade
00:20:24
and waited to see what would happen to
00:20:27
the city so first of all he just ignores
00:20:31
God altogether which is not the first
00:20:33
time in the story he's done that right
00:20:34
and so so this clearly this didn't work
00:20:37
gods like let's let's engage about this
00:20:39
Jonah is this legitimate that you're
00:20:41
angry and he's just like I don't want to
00:20:42
talk about it ah hey leave and so he
00:20:46
goes outside the city and he makes the
00:20:48
shelter which means he plans on being
00:20:50
there for a while and he's waiting to
00:20:52
see what's going to happen to the city
00:20:54
now what is this about what does what do
00:20:57
you think he thinks is going to happen
00:20:59
to the city does it sounds good
00:21:02
what does what do we know for sure he
00:21:04
wants to happen to the city you know I
00:21:07
mean so he wants fire from heaven
00:21:08
something that's what he wants right and
00:21:10
this just raises for us this whole other
00:21:13
his five word sermon I told you this
00:21:14
would come back because there's more
00:21:16
there's more to it there's a lot more to
00:21:17
it he's angry for many reasons not just
00:21:20
because of God's gracious but because
00:21:21
God's played a trick on him he's played
00:21:24
a really really brilliant trick on him
00:21:26
go back to chapter three you might need
00:21:28
to flip flip the page back go back to
00:21:30
chapter three remember this five word
00:21:31
sermon what was this five word sermon in
00:21:34
Nineveh look at chapter three verse four
00:21:36
he went today's journey and the city
00:21:38
proclaiming forty days and Nineveh will
00:21:42
be overthrown that's it and so we
00:21:48
remember I tried to raise this last time
00:21:51
like this is very odd because we know
00:21:54
that he was commissioned to preach
00:21:55
against the wickedness of the city and
00:21:57
what does he not mention all anything
00:22:00
about the city's wickedness or what
00:22:02
they're doing wrong he's sent to tell
00:22:05
them why you know prophets usually
00:22:07
explain why this is happening thank
00:22:08
no reason he doesn't give any reasons
00:22:10
why and who did he not mention at all he
00:22:13
doesn't even mention Yahweh the clouds
00:22:15
that he's supposed to be representing
00:22:16
that is very strange this is very
00:22:18
strange and it gets even better and I
00:22:20
didn't tell you last week because I want
00:22:21
to save it for the final week other
00:22:23
series this is the mind this is the best
00:22:25
part of the book this is this is bro
00:22:27
absolutely brilliant and kids would
00:22:28
never get this kids would never forget
00:22:30
this okay
00:22:31
so here's here's Jonah's the last word
00:22:33
of Jonah's something you have forty days
00:22:36
and Nineveh will be overthrown and NIV
00:22:38
what others if you have overturn some of
00:22:42
you any others overturned or overthrown
00:22:48
that we've got in the room that's great
00:22:49
those the two standard translations ok
00:22:51
here's what's great so this is Hebrew
00:22:53
geekiness so forty days and Nineveh will
00:22:56
be hop hop hop hop won't you say it with
00:22:58
me
00:22:58
how this is great so hot pot like
00:23:01
many words many words in English have a
00:23:03
basic meaning and then depending on the
00:23:05
context you use it in can have different
00:23:07
nuances or something so you could say
00:23:09
like I destroyed my car and that would
00:23:12
be the physical destruction of my car
00:23:14
but you could also say like I destroyed
00:23:16
the world record for Oh the world record
00:23:20
for how many redheads are gathered in
00:23:22
one place got destroyed here in Portland
00:23:24
a few weeks ago did you see this
00:23:25
the record world red new world record
00:23:27
for amount of redheads in one place
00:23:29
Pioneer Square just two weeks ago anyway
00:23:30
so the world record was destroyed which
00:23:33
is that a bad thing no that's awesome
00:23:36
that's really cool that that happened
00:23:38
and so it's the same word but with a
00:23:39
different nuance so this is language
00:23:41
language works like this all the time
00:23:42
same with hop talk so the basic meaning
00:23:44
of hot pot is just to turn something
00:23:46
over you just turn it over so for
00:23:49
example the Prophet Hosea in the
00:23:50
metaphor but he you describes Israel
00:23:53
like a piece of baked bread that has not
00:23:55
been hot pot no words is ruined it's got
00:23:58
baked both sides of the bread but it's
00:24:00
one side too long oh that's ruined you
00:24:02
throw it out right so this is anyways
00:24:04
Hosea very clever metaphor actually so
00:24:06
it's just basic meaning to turn over now
00:24:08
if you take a city that's really bad and
00:24:11
it gets hot pot you get a very you can
00:24:14
understand like ice like we're really
00:24:15
negative sense the pop rocks so for
00:24:17
example in lamentations
00:24:19
the sin of my people is greater than
00:24:21
that of Sodom
00:24:22
you know Sodom archetype of human evil
00:24:24
in the Bible and Sodom was hopped in a
00:24:28
moment without a hand to help so this is
00:24:30
an overturning that's clearly negative
00:24:32
like destroyed or overturned or
00:24:35
something like that but topic can also
00:24:38
mean something turned over from bad into
00:24:41
good something from good is bad or bad
00:24:43
into worse or something from good into
00:24:45
bad like in Psalm chapter 30 God you
00:24:49
have hot pot to my grief and mourning
00:24:52
into dancing you've removed my sack
00:24:55
cloth and clothe me with joy so it can
00:24:58
be something as bad that's transformed
00:25:00
into something good now here's what's so
00:25:03
brilliant which meaning do you think
00:25:05
Jonah intends as he walks around Nineveh
00:25:07
yelling his five word sermon which
00:25:10
meaning do you think he intends clearly
00:25:12
number two which meaning do you think
00:25:15
God intends and of course which actually
00:25:17
happened come on that's funny that's
00:25:22
funny though Jonah think it's funny
00:25:24
no he's picked right he's sick so look
00:25:28
at look at with God won't let Jonah get
00:25:31
away with anything in this book right he
00:25:33
tries to run away yep that didn't work
00:25:35
so he tries maybe all this go to Nineveh
00:25:37
and engage in what I calls prophetic
00:25:39
sabotage give them as little information
00:25:41
as possible so it ensured that they're
00:25:43
going to get fired from heaven and that
00:25:44
you the map doesn't work good God using
00:25:47
the words against him right just like
00:25:48
Jonah Houston's words against him maybe
00:25:50
it's all of brilliance this is
00:25:51
brilliantly told the story and so of
00:25:53
course he's livid with anger because God
00:25:56
has used even what he intended for evil
00:25:58
to turn into good to bring people into
00:26:01
repentance and to find grace in life he
00:26:03
is picked off and you might add maybe
00:26:05
you would be picked off too I don't know
00:26:07
if it's justified really so he clearly
00:26:09
somehow he's hoping he's going outside
00:26:11
of the city he's going to wait out those
00:26:13
forty days and like maybe though repent
00:26:15
of the repentant you know something he's
00:26:17
hoping something horrible but just might
00:26:18
have meteorite come from the sky
00:26:19
something so he's out there just doing
00:26:21
he's picked he's ticked so God is going
00:26:25
to engage him another time the direct
00:26:27
question and reasoning either didn't
00:26:29
work is it right for you to be angry
00:26:31
Jonah about me showing grace
00:26:32
while he gets the hand so he's going to
00:26:35
try a different technique the small
00:26:38
plant tactic were six or six solely over
00:26:42
six is such a good part of the story so
00:26:44
Yahweh God provided a leafy plant and
00:26:47
made it grow up over Jonah to give shade
00:26:51
for his head to ease his discomfort and
00:26:55
Jonah was extremely happy about the
00:26:59
plant this is the only time in the whole
00:27:02
story that he is happy all right now I
00:27:05
should I should I didn't mention this
00:27:06
for I'll mention it now I've heard some
00:27:08
very creative misinterpretations of the
00:27:11
leafy plant that brings ease from the
00:27:13
discomfort right so anyway don't go
00:27:15
there you're just you're trying making
00:27:18
the Bible become your pet when you do
00:27:19
that right that's what you're doing so
00:27:21
don't go there and yeah but nobody knows
00:27:23
what the leafy plant is so people think
00:27:25
it's a gourd or a castor oil plant I'm
00:27:26
dead serious that I've had someone you
00:27:29
use this verse to try and show that to
00:27:31
make anyway so it's what it doesn't
00:27:34
matter what the plant is except for that
00:27:35
kind of plant that's clearly out of the
00:27:37
question but whatever the point is the
00:27:39
point is is it just something that
00:27:40
provides shade that's the only point of
00:27:42
the leafy plant we keep going he's very
00:27:45
we want to die I'm angry I want to die
00:27:49
now he's very very happier but it done
00:27:52
but the next day God provided a little
00:27:55
worm Oh woods Selassie God provides a
00:27:59
huge storm a huge fish a medium-sized
00:28:02
leafy plant and then a tiny worm it's
00:28:04
like a whole spectrum right and in the
00:28:06
store a teeny little worm and it chewed
00:28:09
at the plant so that it withered when
00:28:13
the Sun rose God provided a scorching
00:28:15
east wind and the Sun blazed down on
00:28:18
Jonah's head and he grew faint he wanted
00:28:21
to dog and he said Oh would be better
00:28:24
for me to die than to live here like
00:28:26
wait I thought you were just happy he's
00:28:28
like no I want to die now I'm very happy
00:28:29
no one I want to die seen this is you
00:28:32
guys this is so comic you guys get the
00:28:34
comic feel of the story here this is
00:28:36
another another way that's expressed in
00:28:38
the storytelling and probably this is
00:28:40
just this is the way I filter reality
00:28:42
now the moment I read the story I think
00:28:44
of my two-year-old son and the
00:28:45
store checkout aisle anybody but it do
00:28:49
you know or maybe you've seen someone
00:28:50
else's two-year-old in the grocery store
00:28:51
checkout aisle holy cow
00:28:53
so I am convinced that people who design
00:28:57
modern grocery checkout I have is their
00:29:01
goal to make parents of little kids
00:29:02
miserable I mean it's the worst it's
00:29:04
always bad it's never good it's very
00:29:06
good expense especially for little boys
00:29:08
because what are my options on the Left
00:29:10
I have all these glossy magazine covers
00:29:12
of women scantily clad so I'm directing
00:29:15
his attention this way clearly and but
00:29:17
what am I making him look at over here
00:29:19
just a wall of sugar a lot of sugar and
00:29:22
so he still needs to go to the goldmine
00:29:24
of butter fingers or whatever and so
00:29:25
what are my options he might be in this
00:29:27
cart but he's too now so his arms are
00:29:29
long and so we can grab some mints or
00:29:31
gum or something
00:29:31
and so then I'm the bad guy you just -
00:29:34
he's really happy oh my gosh it's a
00:29:35
different I was just take it away from
00:29:38
him and cuddle on the floor and he's
00:29:40
writhing in my arms as we leave as he
00:29:42
screams and so on yours like this I
00:29:43
can't win I can't win the long
00:29:46
digression but this that's what happens
00:29:48
in my head when I read this because he's
00:29:49
like I want to died rather die than live
00:29:52
with a god like you all but just plant
00:29:53
oh my gosh that's the best thing ever I
00:29:55
want to die again it's so look so here
00:29:58
we go this is crazy
00:29:59
and we're like this is so strange why
00:30:01
does the story about here's what it's
00:30:03
about verse 9 God's said to Jonah and he
00:30:08
just repeats his question again but with
00:30:10
a little twist
00:30:12
God said to Jonah is it right for you to
00:30:16
be angry about the plant so he couldn't
00:30:21
get Jonah to own up to this question of
00:30:24
is your anger that I'm showing grace to
00:30:26
your enemies is that legitimate Jonah
00:30:28
just gave him the hand so try the small
00:30:30
plant tactic is your anger unto death
00:30:33
about a plant legitimate that's great
00:30:37
that's good good question
00:30:39
hope this should shake him out of his
00:30:41
irrationality right and what is his
00:30:43
response of course it's right for me to
00:30:46
be angry right I'm so angry I wish I
00:30:47
were dead and yours like wow this PISA
00:30:50
he's beyond reason I carefully at this
00:30:52
point he's a goner but God doesn't give
00:30:55
up he doesn't give up because he's
00:30:58
gracious he's
00:30:59
passionate you slow to anger the bound
00:31:01
and loving-kindness he's committed to
00:31:03
Jonah he's going to work this out so the
00:31:07
Lord said again this is the third time
00:31:08
new tactic
00:31:10
the Lord said listen John you you've
00:31:15
been concerned about this plant some of
00:31:18
your translations might have you shown
00:31:19
pity on this plant you've had compassion
00:31:21
on this plant the pole point is you've
00:31:23
had all this extreme emotion very happy
00:31:25
very sad about this plant and listen
00:31:29
Jonah you didn't care for the plant I
00:31:32
mean you didn't even make it grow you
00:31:34
can't claim to have an emotional
00:31:35
attachment to the plant because it came
00:31:37
up over and I and died overnight it
00:31:38
hasn't even been in your life for very
00:31:39
long yeah so so let's just say Jonah
00:31:43
that your emotion for this plant is
00:31:47
legitimate verse 11 should shouldn't I
00:31:51
be able to have that kind of same strong
00:31:54
emotion and concern for something a
00:31:56
little more significant like a huge city
00:32:00
full of human beings like Nineveh in
00:32:04
which there are more than 120,000 people
00:32:07
who can't tell their right hand from
00:32:09
their left and also many animals this is
00:32:19
like then then this is the Bible so
00:32:23
strange you guys the Bible is so strange
00:32:25
this is such a great story what on earth
00:32:29
is that what is that so first of all if
00:32:34
this story where I left like web does
00:32:36
Jonah respond and what does that
00:32:37
question even mean in the fruit what
00:32:39
does it mean they don't know the right
00:32:40
and from there left so this is so
00:32:43
brilliant what God's doing so he tried
00:32:45
first to expose how foolish it is that
00:32:48
Joan is angry at showing graces and
00:32:50
Nineveh that didn't work so he says
00:32:52
let's get at Jonah's anger another way
00:32:54
and try and help him understand how
00:32:57
ridiculous it is let's do this whole
00:32:58
thing with a plant and so he's super
00:33:00
stoked on the plant and let's expose his
00:33:02
anger about the plant is your anger
00:33:04
legitimate and that didn't work at all
00:33:06
either and so now he's trying to
00:33:08
different text it God's not going to try
00:33:10
expose his anger he recognizes here's a
00:33:12
Jonah's stoked on something for the
00:33:14
first time in the whole story he's happy
00:33:16
and he cares about something other than
00:33:18
himself do you see this and granted it's
00:33:21
something that provides comfort for him
00:33:23
but this is the first time he gives
00:33:25
there's a little corner of his heart
00:33:27
that cares about something other than
00:33:28
himself and gods like we can work with
00:33:30
that we can work with that and so God's
00:33:33
gracious and accommodating and he says
00:33:35
okay you've got the soft spot in your
00:33:37
heart of emotion and care for this
00:33:40
little plant okay for this little plant
00:33:42
now let's just grant you the legitimacy
00:33:45
of that strong emotional attachment you
00:33:47
have to plant Jonah and we're all
00:33:49
laughing at you you're quite ridiculous
00:33:50
right now
00:33:51
but listen I'll just give that to you
00:33:52
okay all right that's a good thing that
00:33:54
you should be concerned about something
00:33:56
other than yourself good for you Jonah
00:33:57
so let me just compare compare that
00:34:01
wouldn't it be okay is it okay with you
00:34:04
Jonah if I were to have a strong
00:34:07
emotional concern about something other
00:34:10
than myself and and if it that concerns
00:34:13
quite similar to yours maybe something
00:34:15
more significant you might grant me like
00:34:17
the lives of thousands upon thousands of
00:34:18
human beings who are made in my image
00:34:20
and not only that look at the
00:34:22
description of this 120,000 human beings
00:34:25
what does it say this is very
00:34:26
interesting what does it say about the
00:34:27
new device they can't tell their right
00:34:30
hand from their left I always think of
00:34:33
oh I don't 1990 or something Kevin
00:34:37
Nealon Saturday live mister no depth
00:34:39
perception anybody remember that one it
00:34:41
wasn't his best known skit anyway it's
00:34:43
pretty funny you can google it and it's
00:34:45
not like it's going on walking into
00:34:46
walls all the time something they don't
00:34:48
know both and so they don't know the
00:34:50
right hand from their left is clearly a
00:34:52
little Hebrew turn phrase or something
00:34:54
like that it doesn't it can't mean that
00:34:56
they don't know right from wrong at all
00:34:58
because God clearly expects them to know
00:35:01
right from wrong
00:35:01
he brought a word of judgment on their
00:35:03
behavior and they responded accordingly
00:35:05
because he knew that they should know
00:35:07
better so it doesn't mean they don't
00:35:09
know right from wrong it seemed it seems
00:35:12
to be this idiom that they're misguided
00:35:14
like the human beings we we ought we
00:35:18
have some intuition morally spiritually
00:35:20
of the way that we should go but we
00:35:21
should we should go awry but we
00:35:23
constantly go left right we should be
00:35:25
going left when we
00:35:26
we don't know which way to go we're lost
00:35:29
and misguided morally and spiritually
00:35:31
and this is a common description of
00:35:34
human beings in the Bible usually it's
00:35:37
connected with sheep stupid sheep they
00:35:39
go astray this is that idea here now
00:35:42
God's not excusing the Ninevites he's
00:35:44
not saying oh they didn't know better
00:35:45
that's why they just happened to
00:35:47
slaughter thousands of people you know
00:35:49
no they're very accountable for their
00:35:51
behavior but they're lost and misguided
00:35:53
that's where their their injustice comes
00:35:55
from and he says listen Jonah you are
00:35:59
all working up about your little deal
00:36:00
and your little plant and good for you
00:36:03
that's great but can't you can't you see
00:36:06
that I might just happen to be concerned
00:36:09
about something more significant like
00:36:12
thousands of human beings and also their
00:36:15
pets there are animals right and you're
00:36:18
supposed to laugh just like you did at
00:36:19
the end you're supposed to laugh because
00:36:20
what did the cows do in Chapter three
00:36:23
they repented in sackcloth and ashes too
00:36:25
so God spares them as well and so the
00:36:28
last word of the book is is animals cows
00:36:30
literally it's cows cow than all their
00:36:32
cows and so what is what is Jonah Ford
00:36:37
doing to us we're like how does Jonah
00:36:39
respond what is well what did he say I
00:36:41
want to know what he said but that's to
00:36:43
miss the point of the whole book because
00:36:45
this story was never about Jonah in the
00:36:46
first place was it who is this book
00:36:48
actually about it was about you it's
00:36:53
about you and the real question is how
00:36:57
this story is a word from God to his
00:36:59
people and the real question we should
00:37:02
be asking is how am i living the
00:37:05
response to God's question because
00:37:07
that's what's happening right here
00:37:08
that's what's happening here
00:37:10
Jonah is this ridiculous caricature of
00:37:13
people who grasp the scandal of God's
00:37:17
grace and that God loves your enemy as
00:37:20
much as he loves you and when that think
00:37:24
then especially when you have a fresh
00:37:26
wound from an enemy and all you're
00:37:28
struggling with issues of forgiveness
00:37:30
all this chapter packs a punch a strong
00:37:34
strong punch
00:37:36
because here's what God is trying to do
00:37:38
he's trying to get Jonah outside of
00:37:40
himself and just say Jonah clearly
00:37:42
thinks the Ninevites are the worst
00:37:44
wretched sinners on the planet but of
00:37:46
course in the story of Jonah who's the
00:37:48
most hard-hearted hateful person in
00:37:50
story is John De right and so God is
00:37:53
gently trying to get him to see like
00:37:56
Jonah don't you see what's happening
00:37:58
here like yet you're a part of the
00:38:00
covenant people and that's cool but that
00:38:03
like doesn't for a second excuse your
00:38:07
religious hypocrisy and superiority but
00:38:09
not for a second
00:38:11
you're you're just as broken and lost as
00:38:13
misguided as they are Jonah don't you
00:38:16
see that
00:38:17
shouldn't I be concerned about them and
00:38:19
their animals and there you go there you
00:38:23
go
00:38:23
and so really where this takes us is the
00:38:27
fact that God loves you enemy and some
00:38:30
of us might hear that and we might think
00:38:31
okay I think I could swallow that I
00:38:34
think I could deal with the fact that
00:38:36
God loves my enemy I am not at all sure
00:38:42
what I think about the fact that he
00:38:43
might want me to as well so I'm cool if
00:38:46
God loves me and forgives my enemy I
00:38:48
sure hope he doesn't expect me to try
00:38:50
and do that you know and and this is
00:38:52
crazy
00:38:52
because this is one of the most like
00:38:54
fundamental core issues at the story of
00:38:56
the gospel forgiveness for one's enemies
00:38:59
that's what God is doing for us at the
00:39:02
cross and so and it's exactly Jesus
00:39:05
talked about this kind of stuff all the
00:39:06
time this is what Jonah 4 is about Jesus
00:39:08
put it this way he said but I tell you
00:39:11
who hear me love your enemies do good to
00:39:15
those who hate you bless those who curse
00:39:17
you pray for those who mistreat you and
00:39:21
I think even as Christians we respond to
00:39:23
some of these teachings of Jesus in the
00:39:25
most bizarre ways sometimes we're just
00:39:27
like what what like I don't know us
00:39:31
we're just going like that's noble and
00:39:32
very admirable Jesus but I'm just
00:39:34
straight-up not going to do that if you
00:39:35
look at how we live that's just we're
00:39:37
just like no Jesus I'm not going to do
00:39:39
that you're crazy if you think that's
00:39:41
how things are supposed to go and this
00:39:44
was his whole announcement of the
00:39:45
kingdom of God is that in him a whole
00:39:49
new
00:39:49
way of living in God's world has arrived
00:39:52
were through him people are reconciled
00:39:55
to God were people who have made
00:39:57
ourselves enemies of God through our own
00:40:00
self-absorption and selfishness and
00:40:02
thinking that we're the star of the show
00:40:03
and God's a bit player in my story along
00:40:06
with everybody else right and so we go
00:40:08
through life with that and some of us
00:40:10
make more of our lives into a trainwreck
00:40:12
than others but we all do it in
00:40:14
different ways and some of us make our
00:40:16
lives a trainwreck of course by actually
00:40:18
not doing very much wrong to other
00:40:19
people but feeling quite proud about
00:40:21
ourselves for not doing very much wrong
00:40:23
to other people which in God's eyes is
00:40:24
just as equally horrible way of being a
00:40:26
human being as religious pride and so we
00:40:29
all do this and we're all participants
00:40:31
in it and we hear words like this and
00:40:34
we're just like Jesus you clearly didn't
00:40:36
have your coffee that morning like he's
00:40:37
not thinking straight okay you don't the
00:40:40
world doesn't work like that and Jesus
00:40:43
is like actually you all are the ones
00:40:45
who have it upside down this is how God
00:40:48
made us to live reckons fully reconciled
00:40:51
to God into other people and the and of
00:40:54
course none of us have to like try and
00:40:57
do this on our own we do this simply
00:40:59
because God is like this already
00:41:01
gracious and compassionate slow to anger
00:41:03
abounding and love and who who loves to
00:41:07
relent
00:41:08
from sending calamity and example number
00:41:11
a is like you and made and so the book
00:41:16
ends like with God inviting Jonah like
00:41:18
Jonah do you have no high ground to
00:41:21
stand on to start declaring who gets
00:41:25
God's grace and who doesn't
00:41:27
we've all made ourselves enemies of God
00:41:30
some of us are quite blind to that fact
00:41:32
and others of us are starting to wake up
00:41:34
wake up to that fact and that he's moved
00:41:37
towards me and grace and this is not try
00:41:41
it this is not easy I'm not pretending
00:41:43
as I'm as your pastor I recognize there
00:41:46
are stories of real pain and hurt and
00:41:49
real wounds from other people in the
00:41:51
room right now but if if there is one
00:41:55
place in the world where the train and
00:41:58
the spiral of humans wronging each other
00:42:00
and respond
00:42:01
is wrongs with other wrongs and just
00:42:02
spirals into the mess that the world is
00:42:04
if there's one place that it stops it
00:42:07
stops of the crops and the community of
00:42:10
people that form around the cross are
00:42:12
called to live differently not because
00:42:14
we think we're better but because we
00:42:16
have been shown grace and compassion and
00:42:19
we have been we have been treated not by
00:42:24
a God whose float by a guy who slow to
00:42:25
anger who's abounding in love and
00:42:27
kindness towards us and so what Jonah
00:42:30
chapter 4 is doing what Jesus often did
00:42:32
in his teachings as he's deconstructing
00:42:34
the whole idea of what an enemy is and
00:42:36
so you can see it clearly what's
00:42:38
happened in Jonah's mind the Ninevites
00:42:40
have become they've been like clearly
00:42:42
stereotyped and demonized in this
00:42:44
thinking he thinks they're the bad guys
00:42:46
it's like they had very soft hearts and
00:42:49
turned to God immediately right he's the
00:42:51
bad guy but he can't even see that and
00:42:53
so this is what happens to us with this
00:42:55
cup with our enemies an enemy is someone
00:42:58
who's in this case like Jonah's a group
00:43:01
of people an individual somebody's
00:43:02
wronged you somebody who's wronged
00:43:04
someone that you care about or you know
00:43:07
I mean we could probably broaden it like
00:43:08
someone who's just really difficult for
00:43:10
you to be around they're in an annoying
00:43:12
or toxic personality ok and that and you
00:43:15
just can't deal with them and that's ok
00:43:18
like that's totally okay to struggle
00:43:20
it's like to be around certain people
00:43:22
and and to deal with them that's not the
00:43:25
issue is what do you do with that
00:43:26
repulsion in those emotions and what
00:43:29
most of us tend to do is we tend to
00:43:32
fixate on the thing that they did to me
00:43:34
and so we take this complex human person
00:43:38
who has a family of origins in a crazy
00:43:40
store and probably people that they've
00:43:41
wronged and other people who have
00:43:43
wronged them not to excuse what they've
00:43:45
done but just saying they have a story
00:43:46
people don't just behave and screwed up
00:43:48
ways for no reason we have all of
00:43:50
stories behind the ways that we act and
00:43:52
so this person came into my life and
00:43:54
this happened and this is what they did
00:43:55
but what we tend to do as you replay the
00:43:58
movie a million times in your head as
00:44:00
you stare at your ceiling at night is
00:44:01
you tend to reduce their complex
00:44:03
humanity down to the thing that they did
00:44:05
to do and so maybe you know some lies
00:44:08
about you or something and so they
00:44:10
slowly they become the person who told a
00:44:13
lie to
00:44:14
- then they become the liar and then you
00:44:18
the movie in your head has they have a
00:44:20
forked tongue something like that you
00:44:22
know and you slowly begin to reduce down
00:44:25
their humanity to that a trait that's
00:44:27
annoying to us or to the thing that they
00:44:29
did to us and then of course because we
00:44:33
were the ones who were wronged by them
00:44:34
we tend to paint ourselves as the
00:44:35
opposite of them and then you end up
00:44:37
with Jonah chapter 4 where he's so blind
00:44:39
to the fact that the line of good and
00:44:41
evil goes right down the middle of him
00:44:42
then he thinks everyone else is the
00:44:44
problem there's just like come on and so
00:44:47
what God is trying to do and what Jesus
00:44:49
did all the time is he deconstruct the
00:44:51
whole concept of an enemy and he just
00:44:54
says listen we we are all contributors
00:44:57
to why this world is the way that it is
00:45:00
of course some people are screwed up in
00:45:02
different or more ways than others but
00:45:04
the line of good and evil goes through
00:45:05
each and every one of us we have all
00:45:08
made ourselves enemies of God that's the
00:45:10
point of the cross the point of the
00:45:12
cross and as the saying goes the ground
00:45:15
is level right there before the cross
00:45:17
every human being receives grace and
00:45:21
mercy and I do not get like prerogative
00:45:24
to stand up before the cross and to say
00:45:26
I totally okay thank you totally stoked
00:45:28
on that Jesus that person told you not
00:45:30
them yeah are you getting me them like
00:45:33
we don't that's not how it works
00:45:35
it's all or none like that's the whole
00:45:37
point and that's the point of the gospel
00:45:40
is that none of us get to declare that
00:45:42
it simply God's gracious liberal mercy
00:45:46
he's gracious and compassionate slow to
00:45:48
anger abounding in loving kindness and
00:45:51
so how Dona 4n here's what here's the
00:45:55
punch we'll conclude with this is what
00:45:58
you see is that this whole thing of like
00:46:01
who is the story really about is this
00:46:02
really about God in Nineveh now this
00:46:05
story is really about God in his own
00:46:07
people and he's trying to bring his own
00:46:10
people around and open their eyes open
00:46:13
their hearts to like how messed up they
00:46:16
are and how much they need His grace as
00:46:18
anybody else and so it's actually God
00:46:22
has intentionally brought Jonah into
00:46:24
contact with his enemy
00:46:26
not by accident but precisely because
00:46:29
you want to teach Jonah something and
00:46:31
think about this you guys how many of
00:46:33
you have a difficult person an enemy a
00:46:36
toxic person in your life and you think
00:46:38
I would be able to follow Jesus so
00:46:40
awesome if that person had never crossed
00:46:42
my path the volumes will be so great
00:46:45
without them and Jonah for just flip
00:46:47
that over and it says could it be that
00:46:50
that person is in your life precisely as
00:46:53
a divine invitation for you to grow and
00:46:57
mature in your experience of God's grace
00:47:00
not just now in receiving it but
00:47:03
beginning to show it to someone else not
00:47:06
just like mentally accenting to it but
00:47:08
actually beginning to let it flow
00:47:10
through you could it be the this is
00:47:12
actually the next step of growth for you
00:47:14
and this is what's a theologian named
00:47:19
Walter wink and I'll close with this
00:47:21
idea he calls us the gift of the enemy
00:47:23
and he puts a brilliant light here he
00:47:25
says it this way he says this is the
00:47:27
gift that our enemy may be able to bring
00:47:29
us to see aspects of ourselves that we
00:47:33
cannot discover any other way than
00:47:35
through our enemies our friends seldom
00:47:39
show us our flaws they're our friends
00:47:42
precisely because they're able to
00:47:43
overlook or ignore those parts of it the
00:47:46
enemy is therefore not just a hurdle to
00:47:49
be leaped over on the way to God our
00:47:51
enemy might actually be the way to go we
00:47:55
cannot come to terms with our own inner
00:47:57
shadows except through our enemies we
00:48:00
have almost no other access to those
00:48:02
unacceptable parts of ourselves that
00:48:04
need redeeming except through the mirror
00:48:07
that our enemies hold up to us and so he
00:48:11
does that you could recommend this
00:48:13
little exercise and I commend it to you
00:48:14
he says this week it's employment you
00:48:17
know in response to this sit down with
00:48:18
Jonah for in a blank sheet of paper and
00:48:20
get the person in your mind that your
00:48:21
enemy and write down every character
00:48:25
trait about them that you hate like just
00:48:28
get it all out there and some of you
00:48:29
like that sounds like a lot of fun I
00:48:31
like that idea
00:48:32
those just like the selfish and the
00:48:33
careless they're greedy and they don't
00:48:35
care about other people and so and just
00:48:37
get it all out there and then he says to
00:48:39
finish and stop and then pray
00:48:40
and recognize you're in God's presence
00:48:43
and then just line by line go through
00:48:46
each thing that you wrote down and just
00:48:49
ask yourself have I ever displayed this
00:48:52
same kind of behavior have I ever and
00:48:56
you know what I mean and then it's just
00:48:58
a matter of are you going to be like
00:48:59
Jonah or not oh I've never been selfish
00:49:01
before I've never been careless about
00:49:03
the needs of other people it's like
00:49:04
really
00:49:04
so the first step towards enemy love is
00:49:07
just is recognizing the common humanity
00:49:10
the common brokenness that we all share
00:49:13
that's clearly where God is leaning
00:49:15
Jonah
00:49:16
don't you see Jonah I mean shouldn't I
00:49:20
care about people who are misguided like
00:49:23
the Ninevites maybe maybe you - Jonah
00:49:28
I mean could couldn't could it be that
00:49:33
this person is in your lives
00:49:35
precisely because God's inviting you
00:49:38
into the deeper experience of His grace
00:49:40
for you could it be the end let me pray
00:50:02
you