Is it right for you to be angry?

Jonah 4:1-11

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Jonah wanted God to confine his love and mercy to Israel. Let the heathen get their deserts. Far from being delighted that his message provoked such a fantastic response, he was furious. And it wasn't simply that he didn't want to look a fool. There was no spark of compassion for the people of Nineveh in Jonah's heart. And so God used a plant to teach him an important lesson. There is a subtle play on words here:  'pity' can also mean 'be sorry to lose' something. Jonah is sorry to lose the plant as God is sorry to lose Nineveh. But God's feelings, unlike Jonah's, stem from deep compassion.

Why?

Jonah thought of his position and his own people. But the Lord concerns everyone in the world. 

Jonah was angry with a plant but didn't care the so many people's lives are precious. 

We are usually focusing on our matters but did not care about the work and mind of the Lord. So we should turn our eyes to the mind and work of the Lord.

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約拿兩次的求死

非常不高興：因為尼尼微城的人悔改，神不再毀滅這城。尼尼微城40天後要毀滅，神是賜福的意念，不是降災的意念。約拿的想法與神差距甚遠。

約拿為自己的不順服找理由。因為神本來就沒有要降災，為什麼讓先知傳的話都落空了，事奉都沒有用了。最好的服事四個等級，1.討神的喜悅，2.交差了事，3.滿足自己的成就感，4.達成自己的目的、心意。我們很容易落入第2及3項。尤其是第三項。我們是為了掌聲，還是自己的心，還是打發時間呢?

服事是為了滿足神的心意。

神用一棵樹表達他還是愛護以色列人。現在為這棵樹求死。神為了約拿的抗議中，還愛他，何況還有幾十萬誠實的人。許多人在神的恩典中，說沒有神！或是向神爭辯。

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How?

We are sons of the Lord, so we should look at this world from God's perspective.