Angry Enough to Die

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Spirituality

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2022

⏱️ 38 minutes

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Summary

Jonah went into a big city like New York, and he saw a massive change. He saw repentance that was culturally transforming. The people turned from their violence and evil ways. In response to this amazing thing, we’re told, “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.” What’s going on here? How can we explain Jonah’s mood swings, his tremendous emotional instability, able to praise God in chapter 2 and a few days later saying, “I am angry enough to die?” The answer is a divided heart. Jonah believed in and served the true God, but he also believed and served a rival god. As a result, his heart was divided between worshipping two different things. Hearts divided between more than one god creates that kind of instability we see in Jonah. They create the kind of misery and drivenness of Jonah. And what we see is that it could be true of us as well. Now let’s just ask two questions of the passage: 1) What’s a divided heart? 2) How can we heal a divided heart? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 9, 1990. Series: Jonah. Scripture: Jonah 4:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Gospel in Life. The book of Jonah can appear at first glance like a simple
0:07.0	fable with an implausible high point, a great fish swells a rebellious profit. But the
0:12.5	story is about so much more. It touches on racial prejudice, toxic nationalism, and the
0:18.2	struggles believers have when it comes to obeying and trusting God. Today on Gospel in Life,
0:23.5	Tim Keller continues exploring the fascinating story of Jonah, the prodigal prophet. Now
0:28.6	here's today's message. But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord,
0:37.6	oh Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to
0:44.7	Tarshish. I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, a God who relents from sending
0:51.0	calamity. Now, oh Lord, take away my life for it is better for me to die than to live, but the
0:57.7	Lord's replied, have you any right to be angry? Jonah went out and sat down at the place, at a
1:05.7	place east of the city, and there he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see
1:11.7	what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah
1:17.2	to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about the vine, but at
1:23.7	dawn the next day God provided a worm which chewed the vine so that it withered. Then the sun rose,
1:31.4	God provided a scorching east wind and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint.
1:38.8	He wanted to die and said it would be better for me to die than to live, but God said to Jonah,
1:45.7	do you have a right to be angry about the vine? I do reply Jonah, I am angry enough to die,
1:53.2	but the Lord said, you have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it
1:58.9	grow, it's spring up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot
2:08.0	tell their right hand from their left and many cattle as well, should I not be concerned about that
2:15.2	great city. Here ends the reading of God's word. We've been looking most of the summer at the book
2:24.1	of Jonah and we're in the last chapter and we have a couple more weeks left because this is a
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