Jonah 4:1-4
What if you went through extraordinary obstacles and finally made it to the end, and instead of celebrating, you respond with anger?
Jonah finally did what he was supposed to do, and the people of Nineveh repented. And he didn’t like it. So Jonah got angry at God for being God.
He went to Nineveh. He preached. They repented. God relented from His wrath. And then you think it would end the story… but Jonah doesn’t stop.
“But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. Then he prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.’ But the Lord said, ‘Do you have a good reason to be angry?’” – Jonah 4:1-4 [NASB]
Do you have good reason to be angry? That’s a great question that we can think about today.
Don’t Let Self-righteous Anger Move You To Question God
Jonah struggles as we struggle in his self-righteousness. Be careful not to let self-righteous anger cause you to question God’s will and character because your self-righteousness will move you to do it every time.
It was God’s will to save Nineveh. Why? Because it was God’s character to show love and to show mercy. And if you want it for you, you have to accept and celebrate that it was delivered to even people like them.
Sometimes in the Bible, we can learn lessons of what we should do and what not to do. Unfortunately, this story shows us a bad example and how we should never respond as Jonah did. Jonah exposes his heart. I would call it his hardened heart against the Lord.
Jonah would have been righteously justified to be angry towards their sin and brutality. But he was wrong to be upset at their salvation through God.
Righteous indignation comes when you feel angry about a sin that you see in another, even if it’s yourself on behalf of God. Self-righteous anger comes when you get mad and leave God out of it. You get angry at God or others based on your preference and not His will.
We know it was wrong because Jonah called God evil. Would you be so angry that you call your Lord evil?
Jonah’s identity was out of balance. He saw it politically as a nationalist and didn’t want these enemies to have a second chance. National pride in our nation is a good thing, but it becomes a problem when it becomes more important than everything else.
Ask yourself where your identity lies. Self-righteous anger is a sign that it isn’t where it should be. What did Jonah have? He had a twisted heart. His love for his nation turned his heart against the God of his nation.
Be careful of your love for your nation or other things that do not prioritize God. As a Christian, your number one thing in life is the Lord (or should be), period. Only then will you have the right heart when God pours underserved grace and mercy among people.
I pray that you would never resent God for allowing previously evil people, transformed and repented, to make it to heaven. Does the idea of God’s mercy shown to a particular nation, a specific ethnic group, or a certain political party bother you? If so, you’re in danger of letting your self-righteous preferences distract you and puff you up. None of us are deserving.
Self-righteousness is unhelpful to the life of a believer. Why? Because we have no righteousness on our own. It is only through Christ that we can live in righteousness.
Don’t Let Self-righteous Anger Move You to Abuse the Word
Be warned against self-righteous thinking, as it will cause you to question not only God’s will but also His character, but it does one other thing that I think is terrible: it can cause you to abuse God’s Word. Jonah used the Word of God to attack the character of God.
He uses God’s Word to criticize Him for showing grace and forgiving character traits. Jonah used God’s Word against God. It is insane. But you can do the same when self-righteousness grows in you.
Tim Keller points out that though Jonah used Exodus 34 against God, he almost forgot about Exodus 37, where God tells us that He will not let the evil or the wicked go unpunished. We can’t pick and choose God’s Word when it’s pleasing for us and use it against him.
This type of thinking is twisted and arises from self-righteous pride, but we too can fall into similar traps when letting self-righteous anger abide in us. Tim Keller also points out how we can misuse the Bible today in a self-righteous way.
Scholars can misuse and abuse the Scriptures out of context to bring doubt, so we don’t have to obey it. Some people who call themselves Christian scholars try this nonsense today. But even the everyday simple Christian can use the Scripture against God when they use it as a weapon of judgment or hatred towards others.
Why do you read the Bible? Is it to gain knowledge? That’s empty without God. Is it to feel more righteous? Well, that’s impossible. That’s all about you.
We read the Bible to know God. It should encourage you. It should convict and humble you. The Bible is not done with you until it transforms you. It was never meant to be studied just for head knowledge alone.
Do you know who else in the Bible used the Bible against God? There’s one other. His name was Satan, and he does it in Matthew Chapter 4, where he twists God’s Word and makes an accusation against Him and tempts God in the flesh (Jesus Christ).
You do not want to be associated with Satan. So don’t use God’s Word against God.
How can you be free from self-righteous anger? It’s through the Gospel. Righteousness and salvation are from the Lord. None of us can earn it. Christ, through our repentance and faith, freely gives it.
Jesus is the righteous one, and He’s righteous for you; therefore, judgment belongs to Him.
We are all saved by His grace.
