Jonah Rages – Chantilly
October 4, 2026
Jonah 4:1-11
Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster. 3 And now, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble.[a] Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. 7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”
10 And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”
Ecclesiastes 7:9, Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.
Jonah 3:10, God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.
Jonah 4:1, Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.
Jonah Explodes. God Listens.
Jonah 4:2, He prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country?
That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.
Romans 12: 18, 19, If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord
We are God’s chosen few,
All others will be damned;
There is no place in heaven for you,
We can’t have heaven crammed.
–Jonathan Swift
James 1:20, human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
Matthew 7:3-5, Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.
God Questions Jonah. Jonah Argues
Jonah 4:3-4, …it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Proverbs 26:5, Answer a fool according to his foolishness or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.
Proverbs 15:1, A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.
Jonah 4:5-6, Jonah left the city and found a place east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
Jonah 4:7, When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.
Jonah 4:8, As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
Romans 15:13, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe…
Jonah 4:9, Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”
Jonah 4:10-11, And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.
So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”
James 1:17, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights….
1 Corinthians 4:7, What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it?
Jonah 2:9c, Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Jonah 4:2b, I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.
Matthew 12:38-41, Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching; and look—something greater than Jonah is here.
