Good morning. It's an excellent day in the neighborhood, and that's a true story. The Bible is the word of God and all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Let's pray. Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, help us to look into your wonderful word and to understand it. We ask this through your son's name, Jesus Christ, for besides you there is no other God. Amen. And now, We're probably not going to finish. I mean, this is the last chapter of Jonah, but we'll try. And what caught me was this thing. It's astounding. I mean, it's a surprise how the book of Jonah ends. Okay? The ending is amazing. Okay? That's what's just, wow. Why is this like this? You know? And that's the thing that causes you, when you read the Bible, is to constantly be asking questions. Now look what it says, and God said to Jonah, doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? Are you doing right in being angry? And you know what's amazing? What Jonah said? I do. I do well to be angry even unto death. I says, good night. This is how the book ends. I says, Wow, you know, that's the way it, Jonah doesn't change. This is it. So it says there's gotta be something there. There's gotta be something there. So that's why we're looking at Jonah like this, okay? Now look at that word zeal and jealousy. You can interchange that word angry for zeal or jealousy. And the word jealousy, look what it says, fiercely protective or vigilant of one's rights or possessions. One's rights or possessions. God is not like us in that he's got so much rights, so many more rights than we do. We don't. But we do have, for example, the Lord says, a man that commits adultery with a man's wife lacketh understanding. And he'll say this, That word spare is have compassion. If you go there, the Lord's warning you, this is why you lack understanding if you do this. And, but look what it says here as well, in Exodus 34, 14. For thou shall worship no other God, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. Redundancy all over the place there, God says he's a jealous God. I am a jealous God, that's what God says. So, I'm giving you this as an intro, okay? And look at this, and Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 10, 22. And do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? And then he says, are we stronger than he? You don't want to do that. That's what he's telling you. Don't do that. Don't stimulate or incite. Because God is a person. He's got feelings. And if you do that, You're not strong. We play games like that in this world. We try to incite others through jealousy. You know, I say, well, I'll get them through this. I'll do this so that they can change their mind. But we shouldn't do that with God. That's what this is saying. So that was my intro. And this is the thesis, OK? In Jonah 4, 2, because we're looking at Jonah 4, it says, and he prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? when I was yet in my country. That's Israel. I said, Lord, I know you would do this. But look at this. Therefore I fled unto Tarshish. And so this is the B part that we're going to take into our thesis. For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentant of the evil. Jonah said this, I knew. That very key, very key word. I knew that thou art a gracious God. So he had knowledge, see? That's what that means. I knew that you're like this. So that's the thesis we're taking. For I knew that thou art a gracious God. So we left off here last week in Jonah 3. And so the people of Nineveh, when he got there and preached, this is what happened. The people believed. They believed God. Now that's amazing. Folks, The Word of God. The prophets in the Old Testament are the Word of God. Because they didn't have a Bible like we have a Bible. So when people listened to a prophet, they were listening to the Word of God. They were men who carried the Word of God. And so when he got there to Nineveh, it says that Nineveh, they believed God. They believed Jonah. And to me, that's an amazing thing to believe. Because to me, that's always been a question. How did I believe? I mean, for the first day when I heard this, I believed it. And I thought, to me, that's an amazing thing. I think it's amazing. I says, what cost it? What cost me to believe? And I said was somebody praying for me? But who? My parents were not Christians and I didn't know any Christians except there was a little elderly woman in the lobby there in Houston. I was working for the second largest mortgage bank company in the United States and in the lobby There was a woman, an elderly woman that had a little shop and she would sell candies. And I would always stop by to help her out. You know, I'd just buy a candy. Almond's Joy or a Mars candy bar, you know. Back then they were only 10 cents or 20 cents, whatever. Just to help her out. And we'd get a little bitty talk. We'd talk a little bit. And I thought, she's probably the one. She's probably. She did it. You know, I don't know, when I get to heaven, I wanna look her up. Were you praying for me? That's the only way, I says, how did I believe? Because look, I believed an acceptance that a statement is true. And so we're told this, Ephesians 2.8, for by grace are you saved through faith. that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast okay we're told that so because he's a gracious God it is a gift of God it's his grace and that means a divine influence upon the heart he turned the light on me and after he turned the light on me he says believe it you know he just caused me he caused me to believe it that's the influence of God and so the heart remember we looked at the heart last week the king because the king of Nineveh believed and so he told everybody he put out a statement he proclaimed he declared everybody and look what it says but let man and beast that's everybody because the king has that kind of power he proclaimed and when your soul believes when light comes into your soul your soul is the king when your soul says we're gonna believe this the whole countryside the whole empire oh wow look at the king he's saying we better believe this this is okay he's the king and that's what happens your whole life turns upside down because the proclamation comes from the king let man and beast as everybody in the kingdom believed Be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. That's what came from the king. And so that's proclaiming that your righteousness are as filthy rags. Our righteousness, and that's the first thing I found out. I says, wow, Lord. He says, yeah, you won't make it to heaven on your own. You can make it to heaven. He says, but it's already been taken care of. I covered for you. I says, good night. Nobody's ever told me this. And I was crying, folks, that night for joy, pure joy, like I just won the lottery. Now, what caused me to believe? That's what's so amazing. I was believing that, just like, boom. And I started crying. My emotions just overcame me. I said, good night. I was never told this. And you're covered. And yea, let them turn everyone from their evil ways. So repentance comes into the empire. Okay, we're turning. Yeah, we're turning, we're turning, we're changing things here. Because now, the first thing I became aware of, there is a God. He's real. He's the maker of the universe. And I'm going to give an accounting. Oh, good night. But it's already been taken care of. So at that point, there's repentance. That's what happens. So the king proclaimed that, and the whole city went into this thing. Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away his fierce anger? This is what the king is proclaiming. He's got to be angry. Because look, we were just told he's going to overturn the whole city. The whole city is going to be destroyed. So the king is making this proclamation. And so, let's turn. Let's see if God turns himself. But here's what happens with some people, God cannot change. Once God is going to do something, nothing can change that. Because God is not like us. He says, I change not. He's the immutable God. He's not only omniscient and omnipresent and omnipotent, but He's also immutable. That means He doesn't change. He doesn't learn something new. He knows everything. So what does this mean here? The king is saying maybe he can turn. Well, he doesn't turn. God doesn't turn. But the next word here, and repent. And that means to have pity. Now that's good. That's good because that word also means compassion. You know, maybe. He'll have compassion that we perish not. So let's do this. Let's put on sackcloth and repent. Maybe he'll have compassion. That's what that means. So God is not changing, but there's something else that's part of him because he told us that he is a gracious God. repent, metaneo, to think differently. And I tell people all the time, when you repent, it doesn't mean to feel sorry for your sins. It means to change direction. If I'm walking towards Houston, I'm not walking towards L.A. And if I'm walking towards L.A., I'm not walking towards Houston. I'm either walking west or I'm walking east, you know, one of the two. So if you're walking towards L.A. and you have, you know, out there at Fort Stockton, you decide, you know what, L.A.' 's too far, I'd rather go to Houston. So you turn around, that's repentance. You just changed. And pity is to sorrow and have compassion for suffering of others. And that's what the Lord does. He's going to have pity. We're going to see this. Ezekiel 33, 11 says, God doesn't want anybody to perish. He says, why? I don't have pleasure in that. Rather, why don't you just turn? from your wicked way. And so this is, and look what it says. We can rely upon this Psalm 136 one. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. So you can trust God. If you count on the fact that he's gonna have compassion, you can tell him, Lord, you're a compassionate God. And that's a good place to stand on because he is good and his mercy endureth forever. So why was he angry? Why was the Lord angry? Remember how we started. What a wicked thing were they doing in Nineveh that God says, you're going to be destroyed because God was angry. And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way. When they repented, God says, That's good. That's good. So this teaches us a lot about... I mean, this is why these stories are in the Bible after all. For our own admonition, for our own goodness. And so, God saw their ways, their works. They turned back, they repented. You know, they changed from their evil way. And it says, and God repented. There it is. God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. He did it not. Why? Because he had compassion. That's amazing. He had compassion, and he did it not. Concerning the evil he was going to do unto them, he did it not. So that is a good story. This is fantastic. You find out that because God doesn't change, that means how he acted to the Ninevites, he'll act towards us. See, that's the takeaway. That is fantastic. Psalm 86, 15 says, but thou, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, and long-suffering in mercy and truth. He puts up with us for a long time. And I can tell you in my life, good night. I'm totally amazed, folks. I'm totally amazed that he allows me to teach his book. I have no business being up here. And he says, yeah, you can do it. Wow, Lord, what kind of God are you? He's a God of the second chance and third and fourth. But there is a limit. He's long-suffering, you know. But there comes a time. He's gracious. Long-suffering. Very patient. Patient in mercy and truth. All this concerning Him. Now who knew this? Jonah. Jonah knew this. Interesting. Okay? But it displeased... Look what it says here. This is chapter 4. We're finally now starting the lesson. Okay? But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. And he was very angry. Oh good night. What is this problem? I thought he was a good guy. I thought Jonah was a good guy. This is not good. What is going on here? Okay, in the Bible, there's types and antitypes, you know, throughout the Bible. And that's why some of the stories you gotta pay attention, and they can change from verse to verse. You can see a type and then the type changes. So you gotta be right on your tippy toes. Like when you run across Melchizedek, he comes out of nowhere. Melchizedek, we're told that he was the king of Salem. And what did he do? He was bringing bread and wine to meet Abraham. And where he met him is very important too. Right there at the Kidron Valley. But if you look at the name of Melchizedek, Melek is king. Sedeq is righteousness. You put those two together and it's Melchizedek. That means king of righteousness. a double whammy because he's the king of righteousness, king of Salem. Whoa, what is that? Well, you can't have one without the other. It's like soup and sandwich. You can't have one without the other. They're both together. You know, if you want peace in your life, be righteous. you want righteousness in your life, they both go together. I mean, they both go together. And that's, so what's he? Melchizedek is a foreshadow or a forerunner of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, if it's in your life, he's always pointing to Jesus Christ. Anybody that walks up to me, like one time they asked me in Houston, would you be willing to go on television. I says, wow, Lord. I mean, I just got saved six months ago and already you want to put me on TV? I don't know anything. And they sent two people to talk to me. These people, they had 30 minutes, a slot of 30 minutes on television. And they said, we'll take 15. We have enough information for 15. Would you take 15 minutes? I says, duh, sure. And so they came over to the house, because at first we've got to get to know you. So they came over to the house, and we talked, and they wanted to know about me. And then, by the way, do you speak in tongues? I says, you mean English and Spanish, right? And they looked at each other and they said, no. And they said, well, we'll be in contact with you. I never heard of them. I never heard again. That was that, you know. Because I wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit. But actually, to be filled with the Holy Spirit is you're always pointing at Jesus. That's what Melchizedek did. What did he do? He brought bread and wine. What is that? The bread broken for us and his blood given for us. That's Jesus. So I didn't know that at the time. Otherwise, I would have told him. But I didn't. But it displeased Jonah. So that means that Jonah, at this point in time, you've got to say, OK, who is Jonah? Who is this guy? Because this is crazy. Why is he angry? So Jonah is a type. He's a type of Jesus for the resurrection. But he's another type. He's another source. So let's look at that. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. Wow, he was really displeased. That's what that says. And he was angry. zealous, jealousy, to be displeased. And I thought, and he prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying? This is where we took that thesis from, remember? Verse two, didn't I say this? I said, when I was yet in my country, I said this. This is why I didn't wanna come to Nineveh. Because look, the people changed. And he didn't want the people to change. He wanted them to go to hell. But look at this, folks. It says, when I was yet in my country, and this is what can happen to us, we start thinking that, you know what? My privileged position, whatever it is where you're at, wherever God has placed you, this is not an accident, by the way. You're here. It's not an accident. Wherever God places you in life, and he moves you. At a certain point, he'll move you. But it's not because of you. Look at this. My country. He says, my country. When I was yet in my country. Well, let's look at that country. Israel. Look at where Israel is, folks. Israel is right in the center of three massive land continents. Europe, Asia. and Africa. That's not an accident. That's the land bridge. Why are they there? There's right there, and that's specifically special place. That's why everybody wants to mess with Israel. That's the bridge. And not only that, look at this, the land itself, the very land itself, look at this, is fenced off. The Lebanese mountains to the north, the Arabian Desert to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the Negev Desert to the south. This is like, they're protected. They're very. Privileged people, they're protected. And in fact, look what it says here. Isaiah says this concerning this vine. And he fenced it, and he gathered out the stones thereof, and he planted it with the choicest of vine, the richest variety. When you go to the gardener place, you say, I wanna plant this, the best tomatoes you have. What is, give me that, the seeds. And this is what God says, the richest variety, and he built a tower in the midst thereof, that's the temple. And he also made a wine press therein, and he looked at it, that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. That word, stench. Years ago, I went to a restaurant, and I ordered a Mexican meal. And I was sitting there by myself, getting ready to tear into it. And I bit into the tamale, and I put it in my mouth, and it was rotten. I had to spit it back into my napkin. That's a good night. I almost lost it, folks. But I have a pretty strong stomach. I can pretty much eat anything. When you're single, you can eat anything. You have to. And I looked at that thing and I said, Ma'am, your tamales are rotten. He said, Sir, you're the only one complaining. Well, regardless, I don't want this. But you know what? That was such a stench. And this is what God is saying here. Because get this, folks. This plant, the gourd, it's a vine plant. Ah, now the plot thickens. The vine he brought, it's really a gourd. And goose, guess who puked out, even the fish didn't want him. Puked him on the beach. Okay, so now you know the rest of the story. So it displeased Jonah. Why is he so displeased? So, Therefore, I fled before unto Tarshish. I left. That's why. That's why I left. Because I knew you wouldn't do this. I knew it. And guess who knew this? All this information, all this knowledge is the Jew. The Jew has all this knowledge. The vine that God, the choice's vine, that's that. That's knowledge. Many people have often asked because they know how I feel about the Jew. They say, why are the Jews so special? I say, oh, well, let me tell you. Oh, good night. They're very special because they were given the Word of God. They have the Word of God. But they didn't act like it. And all of us, that's what God is saying about us. We have the Word of God. There's many people out there that don't. They're Ninevites. So look at this. The knowledge that they have is that he's a gracious God, and is merciful, and slow to anger, and of great kindness, and Repentance day of the evil. Folks, if you're feeling blue at any time, go to Psalms. Just go to Psalms and read through there. When I was mourning for my mom, that's where I lived. I lived in Psalms. It's so good, you know, but they had this knowledge. They, the Jew, had this knowledge. I knew, for I knew that thou art. They had this knowledge. Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. That's drastic. Wow. You know, you look at Jonah. Really? You have that much anger that you'd rather die? And folks, if you go to Israel, you'll see it. You know, the Orthodox Jews, they'll display it. I mean, when I went to Israel, I was looking for books. Basically, I was looking for maps. I'm concerned with the land. I wanted maps. And I walk into some antiquity shops and they looked at me like I was going in there to steal, like I was a kid going in there to steal bubble gum or something. They were following me around like, what do you want? I says, I'm looking for books. We don't have any. And so they just wanted me to leave, get out of there. I thought, these people are not so good, so kind. Don't they want to sell stuff? And he had this black robe and all this. But you know what? It's still like that. That's why Jonah, the book of Jonah, ends like that, because they're still like that. They're privileged. They're very privileged. But they think that nobody else did. Take my life from me. And I think they have such, I do believe that they have a love for God. I do believe that. Because God instilled that in them from the very beginning. God says, thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy strength, all thy might, with all, everything you got. And so they did it. They do that, but they're leaving a part out. Look what the Lord says. Then said the Lord, doest thou well to be angry? I think the Lord is saying, you're angry, I should be angry. I think that's, I mean, I can take it like that. You know, when somebody tells you, well, this is not right. I says, you think that? I've been here for a while and I know this isn't right, but I'm handling it. And he says, now look at this. Look 1027, and he answered and said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. When he was asked by that young man that says, what must I do to be saved? And then the Lord says, well, what is the Bible? What is the greatest commandment? Or he asked, what is the greatest? And the Lord told him this, love the Lord thy God, but this is the part they were leaving out. and thy neighbor as thyself. Remember when he gave that parable of the Good Samaritan? That was them. That was the Jewish people. That was the Levite. That was the high priest. They went around that man, the Samaritan. I mean, that Samaritan was the one that stopped by, and they hated it for Jesus telling them that. And that's what they were leaving out. And here you have Jonah. So we get a pretty good picture of who Jonah is a type of here in this place. They're leaving out, this is why he had no concern for the Ninevites. They have no concern for these lost people. And those lost people, the Ninevites represent the Gentiles. So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. He's not repentant. He went out and sat on the east side of the city. Interesting, the east side is where the light comes from. He sat on the east side. of the city, and the city is pointed out to us twice, that's a guarded place. Cities in those days, they had walls, so it's a guarded place. And those people think they're in safety, because they're within the wall, and that's what many people think. They think because they live in a gated community, and they have guards at the entrance to their residential place, whatever, they think they're sitting nice. But little do they know that if they have a heart attack there and they die, they go straight to hell. So the city, this place, but Jonah, look what Jonah's doing. And there made him a booth and sat under it in the shadow till he might see what would become of the city. He's just looking to see what's going to happen to the city. Because remember, he doesn't like it. He doesn't like the people they're in. And so the city is pointed out to us again. But this word, set under the shadow, that means he's living under the light. He's got light, plenty of light. He's got plenty of the real light. That's the scriptures. The entrance of thy word giveth light. And so he is sitting under the light of the word of God, but he's also sitting there. Look at this, this word, to sit, that means he's sitting as a judge. And that's, we gotta be careful. Because we have so much of the Word of God that we can easily turn it against the unsaved and become judges over them. We should discern what's right and what's wrong, but then we've got to be careful we don't overdo it and come down on people. Because they don't know, they're blind. That's what this is saying here. But he said there, And the Lord God, now look what happens here. God is gonna talk to him, okay? And we'll cover some more, let's see. And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come over Jonah that it might be a shadow over his head. The Lord is gentle and kind. And he says, I'm gonna teach him a lesson. So I'm gonna grow this thing. And so God prepared a gourd, that means to a point. And but you look at that word, gourd, as nauseous, to vomit. I thought, what? That can't be right. You know, when you're reading the word and you're looking up these words, who wrote this stuff? That can't be right. Nauseous. And I thought, wait a minute. It is right. Because Jonah was puked out. Oh yeah, okay, to vomit, but it's also a container. So that's what these, the gourds are these folks. There's these plants that have a hard shell and you can make them into containers. And they do. People do make them into containers to deliver thee from the grief. And this is why the Lord brought this plant. But you know what? It's a vine. It's a vine also. But it's not a vine of grapes. It's a vine of gourds. and these things that I can just imagine. Have you ever been so thirsty that you, I mean, I once, this guy, this man says, he was putting up a fence, and I said, I need a workout. I need to do something rough. He says, well, why don't you come over to my farm? I got work for you. I says, really? He says, yes. I got, in fact, I'm putting up a fence. You want to help come put it up? I says, yes, I need rugged work, because all my work is office. So I went out to his farm out there in Lytles someplace, and he was putting up a fence, and the fence posts were made out of telephone poles, you know. And so just cut to the, and they were putting in the, he says, I need to put a strong fence, because my bulls want to tear it down. So I need to put them down deep, about three, four feet. It was about three feet down into the ground. I says, good, this is going to be good. I need this hard labor. So I went out there and started digging the holes. By 10 o'clock in the morning or 11 o'clock, I was sweating good night. I said, maybe this is too much. And I had a little Ford tractor there where I was carrying all this stuff. And on it, I had a jug of water hanging on the tractor. And I went to drink of it, and it was hot. It was hot water, and I drank it. I said, good night. But it's better this than nothing. But I remember drinking that hot water, and I said, oh, man, it still satisfies my thirst. But can you imagine these plants, what they must have, if he drank some of this, and he must have. because God wanted him to get the point. God is wanting him to get the idea of what he's putting forth. This is what, okay, look at this. So Jonah was exceeding glad for the gourd. He found the shading of it was fantastic. Blythe, that word glad is blythe, showing a casual and cheerful indifference. for the gourd. He was just glad these things are here. They serve my purpose. And he might have gotten water from inside these plants. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. And I think this is the lesson he was given. Because these plants are made into vessels. And we do have a vessel. I mean, we are a vessel. And we have inside us, we have the living water. Living water, folks, for the people that are dying of thirst. All this. So we're going to have to stop here. But I tell you, you'll find a surprising thing. at the end of Jonah. We're going to come back here. We have a few verses and we'll stop here, okay? Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for your amazing book, Lord. Thank you for the amazing stories you have in your book. We give you the praise, the glory, and the honor, and we ask you now that you continue to just, Lord, Help us to put our hearts aright, to be prepared to listen to your man's preaching, to your voice, to your word. We ask these things through your Son's name, Jesus Christ, for beside you there is no other God. Amen. Good, good.