Is your Anger justifiable? By Rev Dr John Kwasi Fosu

Amazing Grace Baptist Church, Hamburg Bible Study Material on Jonah 4:1-4

Introduction

In our previous lesson on Jonah 3:3-10, we learnt about God’s nature as being a merciful God. This lesson focusses on the last chapter of the book, Jonah 4. Rather than reflecting on the compassionate nature of God, Jonah chose to be angry with God. Some Bible commentators characterise Jonah in Jonah 1 as a prodigal prophet (running from God); Jonah 2 as a pious prophet (praying against God); Jonah 3 as pedestrian prophet (speaking for God); and Jonah 4 as a pounding prophet (angry with God).

Jonah’s anger with God

Reading Jonah 4 and learning about the interaction between God and the prophet reveals not only what has been Jonah’s problem throughout, but also what may be our problem today. Was Jonah right in being angry with God and do we have to be angry with God? It could be observed that Jonah’s problem was not about a wrong perspective about God. In fact, Jonah knew God and God’s nature. Thus it was not an understanding problem. This view can be supported the content of his prayer:

He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

After begrudgingly delivering God’s warning message to evil Nineveh, Jonah observed as God “relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.” God showed mercy, a mercy that made Jonah became angry with God. The reason  Jonah is so angry with God is that he knows God. Like his statement to the sailors in chapter 1, Jonah’s prayer in 4:2 is full of good theology. Jonah knows well the God he has run from, the God with whom he is unhappy, and the God to whom he now speaks. It’s because he knows God and God’s character, that he ran away in the first place, trying to delay what he knew God would probably do, that is, be who he is: “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” In this light Jonah did not only reflect God’s compassionate character, but he’s angry with God for having a consistently compassionate character.

The root problem of Jonah’s anger with God

It appears that Jonah’s major problem was not lack of knowledge but the problem of submission. This is evident in his desperate prayer that shows that he would prefer to die than live in a world where Ninivites’ lives are spared. The Lord, rightly, questions this logic.

The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?” Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.

God’s question to Jonah was an invitation for Jonah to re-think his anger and submit his perceived moral high ground to God’s. Thus, Jonah didn’t have an understanding problem, he had a submission problem. And that’s a problem we sometimes identify ourselves with.

Reflections and conclusion

This study on Jonah 4:1-4 brings out certain realities in our hearts. Just like Jonah became angry with God for blessing some people, so also we Christians sometimes get angry with God in the form of bitterness, jealousy and and seeing our human enemies blessed. For our reflections, do we sometimes  get angry with God? Do our actions and attitudes reflect humility and submission to God?