SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/13/2025 10:05 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “A Flagrant Accusation”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 4:2-3
Message of the verse: “And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land? Therefore I went ahead to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and on who relents concerning evil. So now, O Yahweh, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
I have to say that I spent most of my life trying to understand things about Jonah, and it seems that the Lord has not opened up my heart to understand that Jonah was sinful in how he was dealing with the people of Nineveh, and the reason was because of being prejudice against these Gentiles. Jonah was overcome by anger, Jonah prayed to Yahweh and said ‘Ah! O Yahweh.” Now previously, the prophet prayed because he was grateful for God’s grace as seen in 2:1, but at this point he prayed out of derision for divine mercy as seen in the discussion of 4:1, the verses we just have spent the last three days looking at. Now rather than calling out to Yahweh for salvation as he had done earlier in 2:1, Jonah vented his anger toward the Lord. Thought Jonah began his prayer with the emotional expression “Ah,” just as the repentant sailors did as seen in 1:14, the prophet was far from contrite; his tone was caustic and his heart calloused. Instead of worshiping God for His great mercy as he had don previously in 2:6, Jonah cried out “O Yahweh” in protest of God’s saving character.
As I look at what Jonah did by being upset that the Ninevites became believers in Yahweh, I have to say that I share some of those emotions on people today, especially those who hate Jews because they are Jews, but I would take time if given the chance to share from the Word of God in order to allow the Holy Spirit to work in their live in order to became a true believer in Jesus Christ, and not do the things that Jonah did in this last chapter of Jonah. I went over the things that Josh McDowell went through when his mother died and it is his belief that she was not a believer, and then his drunken father became a believer later on in his life, and McDowell was angry over that for a while, but then he was later on happy for his father’s salvation. This was written recently in my SD’s on Jonah.
John MacArthur then writes “Jonah then bitterly complained, ‘Was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land?’ Jonah was, in essence, saying that he had believed from the outset that God would be gracious to the Ninevites. Yet, the prophet’s words evidenced his self-centeredness and pride. He had prioritized his own (my) word, though Yahweh had sent him to speak God’s Word (cf. Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2). Jonah’s reference to Israel as my own land emphasized his attitude that the land belonged to him and the Israelites rather than to the outsiders or even to God. Rather than expressing gratitude for his homeland by recognizing that it was a gift from God (cf. Deut. 4:40; 5:16; 11:9; 1 Kings 8:34; 2 Kings 21:8), the prophet expressed nothing but bitterness and vitriol. Reverting to his initial insubordination (Jonah 1:1), he again spoke with defiant disregard for the Lord’s gracious prerogative. Consumed with self-interest, he was glad to embrace God’s grace for himself but unwilling to see that same grace extended to pagan idolaters.”
Spiritual Meaning for My Life today: I desire the Lord to take away the anger that I express toward those who are doing a great deal of harm in our country, and allow the Lord to do to them as He sees fit.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to continue to give my wife much grace as she goes through these cancer treatments.
11/13/2025 10:43 AM
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