by Don Hatfield
Chapter 4
The Light in the Darkness
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
1a. I now came to realize that I was not mad at the sinners in Nineveh. I was really mad at God. I was so mad that I begin to tremble and quiver. The intensity of my anger was like a burning heat boiling inside me. I wonder if you are thinking how can you be mad at one who is so full of grace and kindness. Are you saying that you have never been there? We live our lives with our little plans while trying to keep God in our neat little boxes. We run to Him with our little plans and prayers. Then suddenly, things are not turning out the way they were supposed to. Dreams are shattered, tragedies come and plans are left floating on the ocean. Floating on the ocean of this is not the way it was supposed to turn out. You say you have never been there then share with us your secret.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray you, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and you relent from the destruction.
2a. And so I approached my God to honestly tell Him my complaint. I will confront Him with this atrocity. I, Jonah who just a few short days ago bowed on the shore after being delivered from Hell was now again finding fault with my Maker. I went to His throne in my anger and began to tell Him how wise and knowledgeable I was about His ways. I told my Creator I told you so. I told you before I even ran away. If it had not been for you I would not have fled, I would not have put myself to flight. I know all about you how you are slow to anger and how you are full of abundant kindness. I know how you show great compassion on those who repent of their sins. I only obeyed the second time because I did not think that the people in Nineveh would repent. Then you would have to slay them for their sins. But now they have repented and I am angry with you for sending me for you knew that they would turn to you. My anger is your fault. My brother as you sit there astonished at my words, take heed and search yourself for perhaps in some way you also have said to God it is your fault.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
3a. And then I, Jonah the one who cried from the depths of the darkness now stood before my Maker. And there in the sunlight I asked Him to take my life. I who refused His wishes and then begged for His deliverance now had the audacity to ask Him, to beseech Him, to demand of Him to take my life. I, Jonah said to the Potter that the clay not only wants to be crumbled but that I expected the Potter to do it. I had become my own God, my own judge and jury. I had decided the verdict and I had decided the sentence and yet I dared ask God to be the executioner.
4 Then said the LORD, Do you do well to be angry?
4a. Silence, there on that dusty road, Silence. The sun beat down upon my head and I grew thirsty and there was silence. I do not know how long I stood there or how long the silence lasted. Then a slight breeze began to tickle a shrub next to the road. I walked over to shrub and looked at it there in the silence. Then a whisper came out of it, a whisper so low that it was only audible to my spirit. “Does thou do well to be angry?” Then silence. Was that my answer Lord? Was my answer a question?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
5a. I decided that I would leave so I walked out of the city. I went up a hill on the east side of the city and there made a shelter out of the few things that I could find for it was so hot. There I sat down in the silence to watch the city. I sat down to watch, there in the heat and the silence. God would not take my life. God would not destroy the city. He is in the heavens and He does as He pleases. I am of the earth, the clay and He is of the Heavens and the Spirit.
6 And the LORD God prepared a plant, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly glad for the plant.
6a. Then He did as was His unchanging nature to do. He took pity on the helpless, the miserable, and the pitiful. As He had prepared the fish He now prepared a gourd and it grew up over my head and body. It shed its shadow over me and brought cooling shade. A slight breeze began to blow over my body and then the gourd began to drip precious water onto my hands and I drank its refreshing nectar. I was grateful how I could not be. Then this thought went through me, you are grateful when it benefits you but you are angry when it benefits others.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it attacked the plant so that it withered
7a. I grew weary, I began to get drowsy and soon I was sound asleep. Sound asleep there in the shadow of the gourd with the gentle breeze cooling me. I slept the sleep of a child, the sleep of a child in his mother’s arms. I dreamed of calm oceans and meadows filled with flowers. I dreamed of warm bread and butter. I dreamed the dreams of the contentment. I dreamed of Heaven and golden streets and crystal palaces. I was at peace and God was my benefactor.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
8a. I awoke the next morning with worms crawling on me. I jumped up and looked and there on the ground was my gourd dried up and withered. I looked up to heaven. I listened for His voice. I heard silence. I looked to the east where the sun was coming up. I looked to the skies and not a cloud showed itself. I was indignant. Do you know the meaning of indignant? It is the feeling that you have been treated unjustly. I was infuriated that I had been treated this way. The gourd was only the beginning. For as the sun rose in the east the God who had prepared the fish, who had prepared the gourd now prepared a hot and harsh east wind. The wind encircled me scorching and burning and there with the sun beating down on me. I said to God it is better for me to die than to live in this misery.
9 And God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry about the plant? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death
9a. Then the wind stopped and a cool wind began to blow. The sun went behind a cloud and a cooling mist began to cover my body. I will now repeat what I spoke before. How much we misunderstand our God. We think because He is full of mercy and forgiveness that means He has had a change of mind. We think that because our circumstances have changed that He has changed. No, that is not so, for He is God and He changes not. He asked me the same question, “Does thou do well to be angry.” Then silence. This time I answered, “Yes, I have a right to be angry because that gourd was caring for me, sheltering me, sustaining me and I loved that gourd. I am so sorry that it is gone. I have a right to be angry. Are you astonished at my self-righteousness? You who get angry because someone takes your seat in the Temple. You who get upset when someone steps in front of you. You who thinks the sun should shine on the days that you say and the rain should come when you allow it. Are you astonished at my self-righteousness? Remember, when your gourd withered and you said, I wish God would just take me.
10 Then said the LORD, You have had pity on the plant, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
10a. Then silence. I stood there in my self-righteousness with my defiant attitude. Then the soft whisper came again, came again to my spirit. You have pity on that which does not even belong to you. That which you have had no control over. That for which you did not labor. Now I stood with my shame covering me and my tears trying to quench my broken heart.
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also many cattle
11a. Then the whisper, “and should I not spare Nineveh.” You only thought of some but I thought of them all. What about the chi
ldren, Jonah? What about the young pregnant wives? Should I destroy the innocent along with the guilty? Then the silence.
That part of my story is finished and yet my life continues on as yours does. I will not tell you what happened after that for that is between my redeemer and me. I only know that He wants us to open our eyes to Him, to believe that He knows the outcome. I, Jonah will obey. Will you write your name in the following blank? I ____________ will obey.
The End
King James Bible
I would like to thank my wife Nancy for her continued support and patience in listening to me.
Don Hatfield
Copy Written 2013
