[00:00:00] Speaker A: I now can sing Since I've been redeemed I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock I faith in Christ my Redeemer King I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock the Savior has come in his mighty power and spoken peace to my soul and all my life from that very hour I yielded to his control I yielded to his is control it is wonderful it is marvelous and wonderful But Jesus has done for his soul the heart has never been told Never been told from glory to glory he leads me on from grace to grace every day and brighter and brighter the glory goes While pressing my homeward way While pressing my homeward way oh it is wonderful it is marvelous and wonderful what Jesus what Jesus has done for this soul of mine the earth has never been it is wonderful wow.
It is wonderful it is marvelous and wonderful My tears Is wonderful it is wonderful it is marvelous and wonderful Wonderful what Jesus has done for the soul.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Of.
[00:02:47] Speaker C: Do you think of yourself as a good person?
If God measured your goodness and compared it to his standard, would you still be considered a good person?
Welcome to the Voice of Hope. I'm Anthony, your host for today.
But before we get into the program, I want to tell you about several events we are holding for our listeners during the last week of October 2025.
If you would like to hear more about Heralds of Hope, I encourage you to go to our
[email protected] and click on the Events link at the top.
It's easy to look at my own life and justify my actions as good and right. And that's what Jonah did. You know, maybe we're all a little like Jonah today. Arlen Horst is going to be joining us for the sixth episode in this series on the Old Testament prophet Jonah. I think you're going to enjoy his thought provoking message.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Remember that time you were driving down the road and someone aggressively passes you and cuts in front of you? Or think about someone pulling out in front of you only to slow down and turn off in a couple hundred feet? In these moments it's hard to keep our temper controlled. We think or say to ourselves, crazy driver, what is wrong with you?
They obviously shouldn't be on the road.
I also want you to consider the times you have done something like this to other drivers. When we pull out and the other car is coming faster than we expected, or we cut someone else off, our inner monologue shifts instantly. I'm in a hurry or I'm having a bad day, or I just goofed and I didn't see the other car.
Our actions are explained, excused, and justified.
I recently learned behavior like this is called the fundamental attribution error. When someone does it to us, we tend to think they are a terrible person, clearly incompetent or malicious. But when we are the ones who perform that same maneuver, our reasoning is instantly justified.
We believe we had a good reason, we were not being evil. We might have been in a hurry, needing to get somewhere quickly, or perhaps we didn't see the other car.
Regardless, our actions are excused as reasonable or accidental. So the next time you're losing it at someone about where they got their license, remember they think they just made a small mistake, which is easily justified because of something they're going through. We humans tend to use similar dual standards when it comes to our morality, our sense of what's right.
The human tendency is to look at them, this group over here, or the people out there, and conclude that they are evil or bad to the core.
But when it comes to us, we're different. We're not that bad. We have a good reason for everything we do, so obviously we are better off.
This human tendency towards self justification leads us to the last chapter of Jonah. Chapter four is tough. We wonder what is going on with Jonah. There's a reason many children's stories just skip this part to help us understand where Jonah may have been coming from. Think about this.
How much have you been forgiven?
If I believe I'm not that bad, then how much forgiveness have I required?
Have I been forgiven just a little or have I been forgiven a lot?
How we view the scale of our forgiveness is important, and I suggest that in Jonah we see a man who felt he was forgiven a little. He did not view his own moral standing as terrible.
After all, he was an Israelite and he was God's prophet.
This belief that I have been forgiven little is far reaching. Here's why Jesus said that if you are forgiven little, you will love little. Conversely, if you are forgiven much, then you love much. Therefore, it is important for us to meditate and reflect on the forgiveness God has extended to me.
Was it actually a little thing or is it a big deal?
What is my personal view? What do I really think?
It is not that God forgave anyone just a little.
The reality of our condition is everyone's sins are huge and we all have been forgiven a lot.
When we internalize this, we can't possibly harbor the attitude we see coming out in Jonah. Here in chapter four, he seems to have forgotten we just saw the amazing work God accomplished in Nineveh. All repented and God brought salvation to this great city.
But how does Jonah react to this tremendous revival? He is furious. He is exceedingly displeased. Yet God continues to be incredibly forgiving and forbearing with Jonah.
This contrast between the limited, self righteous view of the prophet and the boundless grace of God forms the main idea for today's lesson. We will divide our discussion into two sections. The first part is the fuming, furious prophet, and the second part is the forgiving, forbearing God. Turn with me to Jonah 4, where the full drama of the prophet's complaint is laid out and I will read the whole chapter. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
So he prayed to the Lord and said, ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.
Then the Lord said, is it right for you to be angry?
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.
And the Lord prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery.
So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day, God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened when the sun arose that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself and said, it is better for me to die than to live.
Then God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plant?
And he said, it is right for me to be angry even to death.
But the Lord said, you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock.
Chapter four begins with the prophet's reaction, and it's dramatic. He is furious, so mad that he would rather be dead this is serious anger. This strong reaction sets a sober tone to the chapter and it's a huge plot twist after the good ending to chapter three in Jung's literal translation. Jonah is mad because of this great evil. Jonah is putting the blame squarely on God, implying that God's action, the forgiveness of Nineveh, was somehow a great evil. This gives us an idea of how powerful his feelings were. But why was he so upset? What made him so angry, we ask? Verse 2 explains his reason and ironically, his reasoning is spot on. His description of God is perfect. It is a popular quote often used throughout Scripture. The quote is from Exodus 34. Do you remember the context?
God was describing himself to Moses after the Israelites had the incident with the golden calf. This saying is what God used to describe himself when his own people had acted inappropriately.
Jonah quotes this perfect description and uses it to accuse God. I knew you were going to do this. I knew you were going to forgive them.
This understanding of who God is was why he fled to Tarshish.
Now he is furious because God followed through on his character.
What is tragic is Jonah seems disconnected from the fact that this gracious, merciful, loving God is the only reason he himself was alive.
It is the only reason he made it through the fish, the only reason the fish was there in the first place.
He failed to connect the forgiveness he received with the forgiveness he witnessed in Nineveh. Before we totally write Jonah off as unhinged, try to enter into his strong emotion and imagine what he might have endured.
Imagine if a father or brother had been killed by the Ninevites.
Think of him preaching to the people and soldiers in Nineveh, looking at each one and wondering, was it him? Did that man kill my family?
This would add a significant layer to his resentment. And that kind of pain would be a lot to work through.
Perhaps Jonah is giving us an honest expression of his struggle, wrestling with deep seated desire for justice.
There are times when people are wrong so severely that there seems to be no way to achieve justice.
For some wrongs, there are not enough consequences in the world to balance the scales. Consider the instances of mass shootings.
How could one possibly make the punishment equal to the crime?
What do we do with these situations? How does forgiveness look? Especially when we feel we have every right to demand justice.
We don't know if this was the case for Jonah, but this is a question worth considering.
It reminded me of the incredible story of Koori 10 boom after World War II. While she was speaking, a former concentration camp guard whom she recognized immediately approached her and reached out to shake her hand. She described a small, intense battle going on inside her. She knew she must forgive, but she felt there was absolutely no way she could.
It was a supernatural forgiveness and love that she received in that moment. She recalls that when she consciously made the choice to lift her hand and shake his, an incredible thing happened. From my shoulder, along my arm, and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
This is supernatural love. This is supernatural forgiveness possible through Jesus. Corrie Ten Boom later wrote about this experience, saying, I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on his. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives along with the command, the love itself.
Because of Jonah's furious response, I had to wonder what part of the story we don't know.
I also know that no matter what happened, Jonah's God could have helped him, just like he was there for Corrie Ten Boom and many others down through the ages.
We are left with the fact that Jonah was angry. The Ninevites were forgiven.
Jonah concludes his complaint by saying, it is better to die than to live. I imagine him thinking about going home. What would he say?
They killed your family, Jonah. Why did you preach repentance to them? How could he go back to that? Instead he was just done.
So God asks him directly, is it right for you to be angry?
Jonah offers no reply. Instead he goes outside the city, builds a shelter, and waits.
He wanted to see what would happen.
Perhaps he was expecting God to reconsider.
Maybe Nineveh's repentance was not good enough. Perhaps they didn't cross all the t's or dot all the I's.
Maybe.
Maybe they would quickly go back to their old ways and God would wipe them out.
We don't know how close he was to the city, but I'm guessing he was close enough to see what would happen.
Now take a moment to think about the missed opportunity here instead of sitting there sulking and waiting for destruction.
What if Jonah had used the time to disciple the Ninevites? Maybe the revival would have lasted more than one generation.
The repentance did not stick with the Ninevites as they soon went back to their old ways. The prophet Nahum predicts the end of the city.
Had Jonah been teaching them how to walk with the Lord, maybe history would have changed for many generations. But he didn't disciple anyone. He simply sat outside the City fuming and furious with God.
This leads us into the next section, which details God's continuous effort to reach the hard heart of this fuming prophet. The most difficult person in this entire narrative was not the pagan king of Nineveh, nor the sailors, nor the Ninevites themselves, but the prophet God had chosen.
God attempts to teach Jonah through a series of three events, each of them prepared by his hand.
This is the forgiving, forbearing God in action, trying to get through to Jonah. First, God prepared a plant and made it grow up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and delivering him from his misery. This was undeniably a good thing. It was an extra layer of protection, making his booth cooler and him more comfortable. The plant was a genuine blessing, especially considering that Jonah had just come out of the stomach acid of a fish, where his skin was most likely pale and soft, making the hot sun painful.
Jonah was very grateful for the plant. He gets excited. While he saw the entire city of Nineveh repent, he did not get happy or excited, but a plant that makes his life easier, that stirs his emotion. This incident compels us to ask ourselves, what are the things that excite me? If we discuss global revival, do I just nod politely? But when the conversation shifts to personal comfort, success, or a favorite game, does my entire demeanor change? You've seen it. The face lights up, hands start moving and waving. Everything comes alive and and people get excited.
What causes this response in you?
The things which make you excited reveal the priorities of your heart.
But the plant does not last. The next day, God prepared a worm and it damaged the plant, that it withered and dried up.
It does not take much living on earth to learn that good things can be taken away. It is a hard realization that good things and good times don't usually last forever. While Jonah responded with despair, again wishing death for himself, we prefer Job's response. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job faced far greater suffering and he retained his focus on the giver. Jonah, losing only a plant, was focused on his own misery. This act of taking away a gift is a continuation of God's patient efforts.
All this time, God is trying to get Jonah's attention.
This is the long suffering God trying to reach the hard heart of his missionary.
Then we come to the third prepared action. God prepared a vehement east wind.
The sun beat fiercely on Jonah's head, causing him to grow faint. Then God sent a hard time, and this was difficult. Let's consider how Suffering fits with our view of who God is. Does every hard thing that happens come directly from God trying to get our attention?
Not always. Sometimes hard times come from other people's choices or our own choices. But here the Bible is clear.
God prepared the wind.
For some reason, the idea that God would prepare a hard time or lead his children into a desert challenges our notion of who God is. Yet the text states plainly that God did this. And we know clearly God was doing this for Jonah's benefit, trying to get him out of his self centered, narcissistic rut.
The difficulty led Jonah to wish death for himself.
God then asked the second, more specific question, is it right for you to be angry about the plant?
The first time God asked only if it was right for him to be angry. Generally. Now God pins the anger on the loss of the plant.
Notice what the hard time revealed. Jonah was not primarily mad about the wind or the heat. He was mad at God about the plan. He had lost his comfort and he was furious about it, even to the point of saying, it's right for me to be angry, even to death.
Step back and notice something important.
Jonah's hard time revealed what was already there.
Hard times do not necessarily create new character flaws, but they expand or simply reveal what's already there. It is during times of testing the the true contents of our hearts are exposed.
In Jonah's case, this difficulty revealed his attachment to personal comfort and his anger over the loss of a good gift.
One example of this was Covid. During those difficult months, ideas and beliefs were acted on.
Most of these ideas weren't new thoughts, but it was during this unusual pressure test. Our real selves came out.
Unfortunately, it wasn't very pretty. And here we see Jonah had some work to do. He should have been working through his anger and God's question was a good place to start. But he doesn't. He answers yes and stays stuck.
The challenge for us is to deal with our issues.
If a time of testing reveals misplaced anger or exposes harmful attitudes, grab a friend and get to the bottom of it. Or go sit with your mentor and talk it through. And don't forget, this is God at work in you.
In the final verses of the chapter, God uses the interaction with the plant to make his final point.
God highlights Jonah's inconsistency.
Jonah cared deeply about a temporary material thing he did not create or work for.
Then God contrasts this with his deep care for 120,000 people and many livestock.
The description of 120,000 people who cannot discern between their right hand and their left is worth thinking about. Here are two ways I've heard it explained. In one view, it refers to their morality. The Ninevites don't know the difference between good and evil, right or wrong. They can't tell their right hand from their left. The other view starts with this.
Who are the people who do not know their right hand from their left? And usually we think of this as children who don't yet understand.
If God is referring to 120,000 children or innocent people, this would make the total population of Nineveh three or four times larger. Imagine the size of such a city.
Either way, God makes His point.
It's a vast population, and there are also many animals.
God's care extends to all life within the city.
And God is asking, how is it that you change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere plant you had nothing to do with?
Why can't I change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure? God had far more feeling and investment in that great city than Jonah had in his small plan.
And then the book ends. The book of Jonah concludes with the question.
We see God being forgiving and forbearing, patient enough to work with this stubborn prophet.
Jonah accused God of being gracious, merciful and slow to anger. And the rest of the chapter shows God being exactly that. Who among us would have been so patient with a man like Jonah?
God was incredibly forgiving and forbearing with Jonah. In conclusion, let's circle back to the starting point.
How much have you been forgiven? Have you been forgiven a little or a lot?
If we, like Jonah, view our forgiveness as a small thing, perhaps believing we're pretty good people who didn't need much forgiveness, then we will exhibit the tendencies that he showed. We will love little. We will be quick to judge, slow to forgive, and furious when God shows grace to our enemies.
But when we see our forgiveness for what it truly is, a big deal, we recognize that everyone's sin is huge, and we have all been forgiven a lot. Even if we do not consider ourselves huge sinners. The forgiveness required by a holy God is huge.
When we grasp this, we are grateful to God and we want others to experience the same grace.
The hardest challenge for Jonah was extending this forgiveness to the people he least wanted it to go to.
His Ninevites. Who are your Ninevites? Who are my Ninevites? Is there anyone you hope God doesn't save? Anyone you hope gets the justice they deserve before they are forgiven? If you are there, don't stay there.
Thankfully, we know God will be patient and slow to anger.
First, accept God's forgiveness to you, then go extend that grace to others, even to those you feel are not worthy.
Lastly, take some time and meditate on the forgiveness you've received.
This is a big deal.
We all have been forgiven much and may that understanding transform us into his children who rejoice and love much.
[00:26:05] Speaker C: Thanks Arlan, and thank you for tuning in for today's message on the Voice of Hope.
Now, thinking back to the beginning of the program, how did you answer the question about being a good person?
How many sins have you been forgiven?
And I praise God because He also redeems the self righteous when they turn to Him. As I mentioned at the beginning of the program, we're holding several special events during the last week of October in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio with a guest from India.
These events include food, music and fellowship. Go to our
[email protected] and click on the Events link at the top to see if one of these events are near you.
Space is limited, so please reserve your seat today.
You can reach us by phone at 866-960-0292.
Your prayers and support make this ministry possible and we're thankful for each one who walks with us as we share the good news of Jesus around the world.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Have you a heart that's weary Standing alone of care?
Are you a soul that seeking rest from the burden you bear?
Do you know, do you know my Jesus?
Do you know, do you know my friend?
Have you heard, you heard he loves you and that he will abide Till the end, till the end where is your heart O pilgrim?
What does your light reveal who is your call for comfort when not but sorrow you feel?
Do you know? Do you know my Jesus?
Do you know do you know my friend?
Have you heard, have you heard?
He loves you and that he will abide Till the end till the end.
