Jonah 4:1-2 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.… I. THE NATURE OF JONAH'S DISPLEASURE MAY EASILY BE MISUNDERSTOOD. There are two kinds of displeasure. One is wrath, the other is grief. The word used of Jonah may mean either angry or distressed. Perhaps grieved is the proper idea here. Notice the impotence of mere external experience in relation to a person's inward disposition. Jonah had passed through trying experiences, yet he was the same man. II. THE INTENSITY OF JONAH'S DISPLEASURE. "Exceedingly, and he was very grieved." It was deep distress in the prospect of calamity to his own country. Sparing Nineveh involved the future destruction of Israel. The prophet may have foreseen this. No doubt the destruction of an impenitent heathen community would not have appeared to Jonah so terrible as such a thing must appear to ourselves. And if Jonah was grieved at the escape of the Ninevites from death, he was himself anxious to die. He did not desire a worse fate for them than for himself. Of some men it is said, "their bark is worse than their bite," and Jonah might have been one of these men. III. THE EXTREME DISTRESS OF JONAH FOUND EXPRESSION IN PRAYER. 1. The prayer contains a reference to a former saying of the prophet himself. 2. The prayer contains an account of his flight. 3. It contains an account of Jonah's conviction concerning the Divine character. He knew that the Lord is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness. 4. It contains a petition on the prophet's part for death. An unbecoming, as well as unusual, prayer; but the petition of a noble-minded man. He knew the sanctity of his own life too well to commit suicide. The prayer was caused by his despondency in relation to the cause of God. (Samuel Clift Burn.) Parallel Verses KJV: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. |
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