SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/14/2025 10:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “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 one who relents concerning evil. So now, O Yahweh, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
We can see that Jonah’s selfishness and long cultivated hatred had driven him in his initial disobedience. He even admitted “Therefore I went ahead to flee to Tarshish.” MacArthur writes “The statement “I went ahead” denotes getting in front of something to redirect or prevent it. The prophet acknowledged that he understood what God had intended, yet he deeply resented God’s sovereign purpose. In a foolish attempt to hinder the Lord’s will, he headed to Tarshish, an endeavor that required careful planning, extensive travel, and significant expense.” “That the prophet confessed his hateful contempt for the Gentiles and disappointment in God reflected the severity and stubbornness of his anger. Instead of responding in worship and love to the Lord, as he ought to have done (cf. Jer. 18:6; Rom. 9:20), Jonah addressed Yahweh with contempt.” I have to say that one of the greatest things that ever has happened to me is when the Lord allowed me to bring someone to become a born-again believer after giving out the gospel to them. That is one of the things that has caused me to be upset with how Jonah was acting, especially in this fourth chapter.
It only gets worse as MacArthur goes on to write “Still seeking to justify his earlier rebellion, the prophet explained the rationale behind his disobedience, saying, ‘for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning evil.’ Jonah first described God has gracious, a word conveying that God is lavish and generous. The Lord is always inclined to act with favor, to do good above and beyond what is required (cf. Ps. 46:1; 103:1-5; 107:39-43; Eph. 3:20; Heb. 4:14-16). Jonah further described the Lord as compassionate, a term derived from the Hebrew word ‘womb’ and used to describe the love a mother has toward her children. Because of His compassion, God shows great interest in and sympathy toward others. The prophet continued by noting that Yahweh is slow to anger, meaning that God is longsuffering. His wrath is not quickly kindled (cf. Gen. 15:16; Exod. 34:6; Joel 2:13; Rom. 9:22; 2 Peter 3:9, 15). Jonah noted that God is also abundant in lovingkindness toward others. Lovingkindness refers to a compelling loyalty, one that faithfully keeps a covenant without fluctuation or failure. God’s lovingkindness speaks of His grace (John 1:17; cf. Exod. 34:6-8), which saves (Rom. 6:23), transforms (Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13), and empowers (Phil. 4:13) according to His sovereign will. God implements this loyalty in abundance, surpassing the need of any situation. Out of the abundance of His lovingkindness, God shows mercy to those whom He wills (Rom. 9:23), as He relents concerning evil. He does this in keeping with both His gracious character and predetermined purposes. Though He is never obligated to do so, God delights in showing mercy toward sinners, restraining His wrath and refraining from bringing catastrophic judgment on those who deserve it. This was what He did for Nineveh (cf. Jonah 3:9). Jonah recognized that the reason the city was spared was entirely because of God’s magnanimous saving character, which he described accurately. It would have been worship if Jonah had praised God for those attributes; but, instead, he shockingly responded with disdain and disgust.”
Spiritual Meaning for My Life today: I continue to be amazed at Jonah’s seemingly hatred toward Gentiles, and not even being able to praise the Lord for saving, what is probably the largest number of people at one time seen in the Old Testament, and yet was upset about it. I never want to have that kind of thing happen to me, even though at times when I look at what is going on in our country I become very angry with certain things, but most of all I am angry with how the Jewish people are treated, and it is my opinion that Satan is behind all of this.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to help me through the difficult things that are going on in my life at this time.
11/14/2025 10:55 AM
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