Jonah Study Notes: Chapter 4

Intro: Last week we saw God’s Forgiveness, Grace, and Mercy.

This week we come to the overriding message of the book of Jonah, “God’s Love.”
  • To Jonah
  • To the sailors
  • To Nineveh

In chapter four we see a contrast between Jonah’s hateful heart and God’s loving heart.

1. Jonah’s Hateful Heart
Jonah 4:1: "But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry."

Jonah did the right thing but with a wrong heart last chapter.
Displeased – to tremble, to be in distress.
Angry – To burn, to be kindled, to glow with anger, to be incensed.
Jonah was mad!!!
Why was Jonah so mad? He had just been used of God to save many souls.
  • Jonah hated the Assyrians

Jonah was not being petty. We must remember that these people had been evil at all nations including his own. He also knew if they were spared it would mean the end of Israel.


  • This does not make his attitude any better.

Jonah 4:2: "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.

We see clear as day that Jonah ran from fear of God’s goodness and love not any fear of the Assyrians. Jonah’s hatred had some bad effects in his life. Hatred will always have some bad effects in people’s lives.


a. It made his life hard to bear (vs. 1-3)
i. We have already seen how it made him angry.
  • His anger was only hurting himself. The Assyrians in Nineveh were busy worshiping the Lord.
  • This will be true of us or anybody, anger will affect the holder more than the one it is directed against.
  • What could Jonah do to change things? Nothing. He would have been better taking his anger to God and getting on with life.


Jonah 4:3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life."

ii. It made him want to die.
  • His trapped up anger was driving him mad and made life unbearable.
  • If we do not deal with anger and hatred in our lives it will have the same affects.

Jonah 4:4: "The LORD said, 'Do you have good reason to be angry?"

God’s question to Jonah shows us just how crazy Jonah’s hatred and anger was driving him.

b. It isolated him from others (v. 5)
Jonah 4:5: "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.

i. He was on the outside looking in:
  • He was all alone with his bitter heart. No one else was outside the city sharing his misery.
  • No one will share our misery either.
  • He could have been in the city rejoicing in the goodness of God, teaching these new believers.

c. It messed up his priorities (vs. 6-8)
Jonah 4:6-8: "So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."
i. He put himself over others.
  • Jonah was more concerned about his own personal comfort than the souls of Nineveh.
  • Hate, bitterness, and forgiveness comes from a selfish heart.

c. It put him in conflict with God (v. 9)
Jonah 4:9: "Then God said to Jonah, 'Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?' And he said, 'I have good reason to be angry, even to death."

i. He thinks he knows best
  • Jonah is here arguing with God.
  • His hatred was messing up his thinking
  • Hatred will always leave us in conflict with God.

Jonah 4:10-11: "Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

2. God’s Loving Heart
a. Jonah’s description of God’s Love (v. 2)
Jonah 4:2: "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.

Jonah describes God’s heart of love in five ways here:
  • Gracious – Giving us what we do not deserve.
  • Compassionate – A heart that feels for us and any pain we may have.
  • Patient – Slow to judge or condemn us.
  • Lovingkindness – Speaks of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.
  • Merciful – Not giving us what we do deserve.

These all describe a wonderful heart of Love. These all are seeking our highest good even when we have done nothing to earn such love.

b. God’s Love Towards Jonah vs. 1-11
Jonah 4:3-4: "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life. The LORD said, 'Do you have good reason to be angry?"

i. Loving patience with Jonah (vs. 1- 4)
  • God could have stuck Jonah down but did not.
  • We often feel God is up there waiting for us to mess up.

ii. Loving lesson for Jonah (vs. 5-8)
Jonah 4:5-8: "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.So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."

This was all a lesson appointed by God.
  • God never gave up on Jonah but wanted him to learn and grow.
  • God will appoint things in our lives to teach us.
  • God appoint both the good and bad to teach us.

iii. A Loving Rebuke from God.
Jonah 4:9-11: "Then God said to Jonah, 'Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?' And he said, 'I have good reason to be angry, even to death.' Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

The Lord rebukes Jonah here using his appointed lesson. A rebuke from God is a good thing. It will help bring us back to a place of fellowship and blessing.

iv. Loving Forgiveness
There is no verse 12, why?
I believe Jonah wanted people to focus on God not him.

c. God’s Love Towards Nineveh (vs. 9-11)
Jonah 4:9-11: "Then God said to Jonah, 'Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?' And he said, 'I have good reason to be angry, even to death.' Then the LORD said, 'You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

i. To Gentiles (All Men)
  • God was telling Jonah a Jew that He loved and cared for all men. (John 3:16)

ii. To Sinners
  • We must remember how evil these people were; yet God still loved them.

Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
  • God’s love is not based on anything we do to earn or deserve it.
  • God is hatred of their sin.
  • Do we love even the vilest of people?

iii. Great Lost
  • God saw the lost of Nineveh and its people as a great loss.
  • A loss of a human soul is a great loss to the heart of God.

Closing: The book of Jonah should bring us joy and peace, for in it we see God's amazing love and mercy. It also brings with it a strong admonishment against the selfishness and self-centredness that seems to come so naturally to all of us.