Forgiveness: Lessons from Jonah
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This sermon demonstrates, through the life of Jonah, how unforgiveness robs us of freedom, love and ultimately endangers God's forgiveness of us.
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Forgiveness: Lessons from Jonah
- 1. Consumed by Unforgiveness Lessons from Jonah
- 2. Consumed by Unforgiveness First Point Forgiveness and Freedom
- 3. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 1 1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
- 7. Consumed by Unforgiveness 2 Kings 14:25 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath- hepher.
- 9. Consumed by Unforgiveness There is no greater challenge than letting go of Justified Anger.
- 10. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
- 12. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 1 4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
- 13. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 1 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
- 14. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 1 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
- 15. Consumed by Unforgiveness 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
- 16. Consumed by Unforgiveness 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- 17. Consumed by Unforgiveness “Unforgiveness is choosing to stay trapped in a jail cell of bitterness, serving time for someone else’s crime.” Anonymous
- 18. Consumed by Unforgiveness Second Point Forgiveness and Love … or a lack thereof
- 19. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 3 1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
- 20. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 3 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
- 21. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 3 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
- 22. Consumed by Unforgiveness The Facts concerning Nineveh •Nineveh was a great city, but may not have been the capital city during the days of Jonah. There were 4 principle cities. •Nineveh’s “king” may have been governor of Nineveh, not necessarily King of Assyria.
- 23. Consumed by Unforgiveness The Facts concerning Nineveh •Assyria was, during Jonah’s lifetime in the 9th century B.C. in a period of decline. •All of this meant that Jonah was faced with a golden opportunity.
- 24. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 3 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- 25. Consumed by Unforgiveness 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
- 26. Consumed by Unforgiveness 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
- 27. Jonah 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
- 28. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
- 29. Consumed by Unforgiveness 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
- 30. Consumed by Unforgiveness We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- 31. Consumed by Unforgiveness There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- 32. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
- 33. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
- 34. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- 35. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”
- 36. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 10 And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
- 37. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 4 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
- 38. Consumed by Unforgiveness Third Point Forgiveness and Being Forgiven
- 39. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 2 4 Then I said, “I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.” … 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
- 40. Consumed by Unforgiveness Jonah 2 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!”
- 41. Consumed by Unforgiveness “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.” Dr. Thomas Fuller 1608-1661
- 42. Consumed by Unforgiveness Matthew 6 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- 43. Consumed by Unforgiveness Matthew 18 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
- 44. Consumed by Unforgiveness Lessons from Jonah
Editor's Notes
- Jonah 1 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
- The red arrows indicate the location of Jonah’s home town of Gath-hepher. Notice that during the reign of King Jehoahaz and King Joash, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had shrunk dramatically. Gath-hepher was lost to Israel and had become part of the “Kingdom of Syria.” in the mid-ninth century B.C., during Jonah’s father or grandfather’s life, the Assyrian King, Shalmaneser III conquered Syria and exercised control over Gath-hepher. The Assyrians own carved records tell us about the brutal ways they treated their conquered enemies.
- These images are examples of the treatment that the men and women of Gath-hepher were subjected to. Jonah was raised to hate Assyrians. No one from his town would have felt differently.
- Jonah did not just have a ministry in Nineveh. We learn that he also had a ministry of prophetic prophecy in Israel as well. Look at 2 Kings 14:25: 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.
- Shortly after his prophecy, Jeroboam succeeds in restoring Gath-hepher to Israel. Jonah and his village are once again safe from the evils of Assyria. And God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh. Do you understand his anger? Can you see why he wants to go to Tarshish.
- I think that there is no greater challenge than letting go of justified anger. Especially when the offense is great and you are dealing with a serial offender. Peter asked Jesus this very question. How many times should I forgive?
- Jonah 1 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
- Jonah 1 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. The text goes on to describe how the pagan mariners cast lots to determine who is responsible for this life-threatening storm. The lots indicate that Jonah is to blame, so they confront Jonah:
- Jonah 1 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
- Jonah 1 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
- 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
- 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- “Unforgiveness is choosing to stay trapped in a jail cell of bitterness, serving time for someone else’s crime.” Anonymous
- Second Point Forgiveness and Love … or a lack thereof
- Jonah 3 1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
- 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
- 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. Clearly, Jonah is God’s most reluctant prophet. He rejects and seeks to escape the ministry God has called him to. After he is swallowed up by a great fish and regurgitated on the path to his mission field, he begins to preach… grudgingly. But there is something else inescapable. Of all the Old Testament prophets, Jonah is the most successful. Have you ever wondered why the King of Nineveh reacts this way to a foreign prophet doling out warnings from the prophet of a foreign God? In order to understand this we need to know something about this king. And herein lies the challenge. We can’t be certain as to the identity of this king. It would be easy to assume that Nineveh is the capital of Assyria and that its king is ruler of the Empire. However, allow me to confuse you with the facts.
- The Facts concerning Nineveh Nineveh was a great city, but may not have been the capital city during the days of Jonah. There were 4 principle cities. Nineveh’s “king” may have been governor of Nineveh, not necessarily King of Assyria.
- Assyria was, during Jonah’s lifetime in the 9th century B.C. in a period of decline. All of this meant that Jonah was faced with a golden opportunity. The brutal Assyrians were not so drunk with power as they were before and would be again in a few more decades. This period of decline created a teachable moment for the king of Nineveh and his subjects. That is why God has commissioned Jonah. God knew that the fields of Nineveh were spiritually speaking “white unto harvest.” So, in the commissioning of Jonah, God expresses his love for the lost.
- Jonah 3 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
- 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Bible critics exult in criticizing this text. The God who does not change changes… he relents… he turns course. But clearly, it is not God who has made a course correction. It is the king and people of Nineveh who truly change. It is the very response that God was looking for. Let’s jump to chapter 4 and see Jonah’s response.
- Jonah 4 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. The Hebrew text of verse 1 is hard to catch in English. The word evil is used both as a verb and as a noun preceeded by the word great. The closest we can come in English sounds clunky. Jonah regarded God’s actions as evil… a great evil. Jonah is literally standing in judgment over God. God’s crimes are His grace, His mercy and His love. The very character traits that we most prize about God Jonah has come to despise.
- 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” A few minutes ago we talked about how hard it is to let go of justified anger. When the offense is real and really painful, it isn’t easy to release the offiender. But this question strikes me as a bit different. The question isn’t, “Jonah, do you have a legitimate beef?... Is your anger justified?” I think this question probes much deeper. “Jonah, do you do well to be angry?” This question forces us to face the uncomfortable truth… anger is often self-defeating. As we look at Jonah we see how much his anger has stolen from him. He has witnessed an amazing revival from the King of Nineveh on down. Even the livestock has been clothed ceremonially in symbols of remorse and repentance. This is total victory. And where is Jonah?
- 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. It’s a really sad scene. Jonah has found the ancient equivalent of a scenic overlook. He has a great view of Nineveh and his heart is filled with hope. He is hopeful that God will relent again! He hopes that God will reconsider the brutality of the Assyrians and all their pagan boasts. That God will hear the screams of the tortured and their children and decide to once again judge this wicked city, repentance notwithstanding. Jonah despises the Assyrians, he despises God and he despises his own life. He has lost all his love. I came across a great quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
- There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. I love this quote. It covers so much ground. It reminds us that love is one of the first casualties of an unforgiving spirit. We literally lose our capacity to love. We’ve all known that person and at times, we’ve all been that person who is burned over by the flames of anger. In going scorched earth they scorch their own earth. But this quote also points us towards the cure for consuming unforgiveness and anger. We need a change of perspective in order to be able to see the good within the heart of our enemies. But, let me assure you, this change of perspective does not come easily. Let’s see what God does in order to challenge Jonah.
- 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. Before we look further, I want to call your attention to the similarity of language between verse 1 and verse 6. In the Hebrew there is the same emphatic repetition… he was overjoyed with a great joy. Jonah was every bit as happy about the shade plant as he was angry about God’s decision to spare the people of Nineveh. This constant use of excessive language reveals something about Jonah’s personality … he is given to extremes. There is another important contrast in this passage. Jonah built a booth, but God built a plant. The plant that God caused to sprout up so quickly provides far more comfort than Jonah’s booth. What a life lesson this is. God’s provision for us always exceeds our best efforts – our pathetic little huts. Let’s continue:
- 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
- 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” It doesn’t take much to generate a death wish in Jonah. God’s mercy makes him despair of his life. A withered shade plant, and he wants to die. There is something I can’t miss in this text. It is true that God is doing everything he can to make Jonah uncomfortable. We woujld say that God is messing with Jonah. He brings the scorching sirocco wind from the east and turns up the heat. He gives him the shade plant, and then he literally appoints a worm to kill it. Yet, all the while, Jonah has a choice that he will not exercise. He could just leave his scenic overlook. But, its as if Jonah is imprisoned on his overlook. He would rather die than walk away from his grudge. God doesn’t want Jonah to miss this lesson, just like he doesn’t want us to miss it. So God will repeat his question to Jonah that preceded the lesson of the scorching east wind and the withered shade plant:
- 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” Here is one of the sharpest comebacks to God. Jonah reveals with these words that he has yet to learn anything. God has been pursuing Jonah. He is asking the right questions. He is undergirding those questions with object lessons. Jonah is unteachable. This is an unfortunate side effect of bitterness. It has a deafening effect on the spirit. God deals with Jonah now in much the same way that Jesus’ dealt with his disciples. When parables and object lessons don’t work, he speaks plainly. Let’s look at God’s bottom line lesson with Jonah:
- 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
- 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” There is a question in this text. Is the population of Nineveh 120,000, all of whom are regarded by God as clueless? This is possible. However, central to this narrative is the fact that the people of Nineveh aren’t entirely clueless. They are not like those whom Paul speaks of in Romans 10:14, those who have not believed because they have had no preacher. Jonah was their preacher… and they believed his message. I think that the population of Nineveh may have been larger yet, and that the 120,000 are children too young to respond in faith. God is pointing out to Jonah that in his hell-bent desire to destroy the sinners of Nineveh he has overlooked the children. The book ends with this contrast between the exceedingly small love of Jonah and the exceedingly great love of God. But there is one more aspect of forgiveness that we need to look at this morning very briefly.
- Third Point Forgiveness and Being Forgiven Up to this point I have shared extensively from Jonah 1, 3 and 4, but have drawn nothing from Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the great fish. Let’s look at a few moments in this great prayer.
- 4 Then I said, “I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.” … 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Read the entire prayer some time. It’s an amazing word picture. Sea weed is wrapped around Jonah’s head. He is wading in water in the GI tract of the great fish. He is enclosed in bars… perhaps a reference to the ribs of the great fish. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand this reference. Jonah is in the War Room, but its not an empty closet. It’s a scary place of almost certain death. Out of this place Jonah acknowledges his guilt. And he rejoices in the God who heard his prayer deep from the insides of this great fish. He ends his prayer with these words:
- 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” It would seem that the Jonah who emerges from the great fish would be a changed man. He is somewhat changed. He goes to Nineveh. He delivers his message of impending doom. He fulfills his vow to God. But he does it with a vengeful heart.
- 17th century preacher, Dr. Thomas Fuller once said, “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.”
- After teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus’ taught them how important it was to forgive others. Look at Matthew 6:14-15 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. It is a lesson which Jesus will reinforce.
- After telling the parable of the unmerciful servant who is punished for his unforgiveness, Jesus says: 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” It’s a hard lesson. And it is important that we understand that forgiving a serial offender doesn’t mean that you need to put them in a position to harm you repeatedly. Jesus is addressing a heart attitude. It’s the lesson that Jonah may have never learned because it’s hard to forgive those who’ve deeply wounded you. Once in ministry I was deeply hurt by a small group of leaders. The person who said he would stand by me joined them in this action that led to my resignation. This week that small group turned on their pastor – the one who stood aside. I was faced with the opportunity to gloat and say, “What goes around comes around.” But honestly, that is not what I felt. I knew what he was feeling, so I reached out in compassion. I don’t share this to brag. I could not have done this even a year ago. But serving you has healed me of some hurts I suffered at the end of my last tenure. Your love of me has been used by God to enable me to build a bridge back to an offender and genuinely feel compassion for him. This is a necessary step for us as followers of Christ. Let’s pray.