Why Are You So Angry?

I. THE NEUTRALITY OF ANGER

A. Righteous Anger (Ephesians 4:26)

1. The command to be angry
2. But without sinning

B. Unrighteous Anger (Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8)

1. Anger is to be put away (Ephesians 4:31)
2. Anger is to be put off (Colossians 3:8)

II. THE QUESTION OF JONAH’S ANGER

A. Consider the Source

1. The apparent source of Jonah’s anger
a. The repentance of Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-4 with Jonah 3:5-10)
b. The death of the gourd (Jonah 4:8-9 with Jonah 4:5-7)
2. The question to draw attention to source
a. “Doest thou well” (Jonah 4:4)
b. “Doest thou well” (Jonah 4:9)
c. Asked differently, the Lord challenged Cain with the question “why” (Genesis 4:6).

B. Consider the Swiftness

1. Though we do not have a certain timeframe in which we know Jonah was angry, it appears anger overcame him quite swiftly.
2. It also appears that Jonah was preparing himself to be angry (Jonah 4:2).
a. Was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
b. I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”
3. Only a fool is swift to anger
a. “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly” (Proverbs 14:17)
b. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)
c. “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

C. Consider the Magnitude

1. Not only is it wise to question what it is that is making you angry, but also what it takes to make you increasingly anger.
2. After the repentance of Nineveh, Jonah was (Jonah 4:1-3)
a. “displeased…exceedingly” (Jonah 4:1)
b. “very angry” (Jonah 4:1)
c. Certain “it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3)
3. At the death of the gourd, Jonah wished in himself to die (Jonah 4:8).

III. THE ROOT OF JONAH’S ANGER

A. Displeasure Toward the Lord (Jonah 4:2-4)

1. Jonah was displeased because God was gracious (Jonah 4:1-2).
2. He would rather die than to live on an earth ruled by a gracious God (Jonah 4:3).
3. The Lord identified the folly Jonah’s anger (Jonah 4:4).

B. Love of Self (Jonah 4:5-9)

1. Jonah prepared himself a booth for shade (Jonah 4:5).
2. The Lord prepared a gourd for Jonah to act as a shadow over Jonah’s head (Jonah 4:6).
3. The Lord prepared a worm to destroy the gourd (Jonah 4:7).
4. Jonah said that he did well to be angry, even unto death (Jonah 4:8-9).
5. In light of the Lord’s question, “Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” (Jonah 4:9), one might give consideration that Jonah was not truly sympathetic for the gourd, but that “the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted” (Jonah 4:8).