The Lesson of the Plant

Jonah 4:5–11

Why Does God Ask Questions?

Why does God ask questions? Is it because He lacks knowledge? When God asked Adam, “Where are you?... Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Gen. 3:9, 11), was it because God did not know what had transpired in the garden? Likewise, when God asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” (Gen. 4:9), was it because God did not know about the first murder of the human race?

Far from it. God’s questions, writes Peter Williams, “are meant to teach us something, or to expose to us our inner selves when we are guilty of sin or disobedience…So whenever we read the Bible and come across God asking a question, we ought to ask ourselves, ‘Is God addressing that question to me, and if so what am I meant to learn from it?’”(Peter Williams, Jonah – Running from God: An Expositional Commentary, Exploring the Bible [Epsom, Surrey, UK: Day One, 2003], 95).

Big Idea: God sovereignly uses both comfort and discomfort to confront our sin and conform us to Christ.

Point 1: God Gives Comfort to Reveal His Goodness (Jonah 4:5–6)

The Story

Jonah leaves Nineveh, still angry at God’s mercy toward the city. He sets up a booth “east of the city” and waits, watching to see what God will do. His shelter is flimsy, offering almost no relief from the sun’s heat. Then, in a remarkable act of grace, God appoints a plant to grow and shade Jonah’s head. Scholars believe it was likely a castor-oil plant or gourd, which grows rapidly and produces broad leaves.

Jonah, who had been “angry with a great anger” over Nineveh’s salvation (4:1), now rejoices with great joy over his personal comfort—a plant. This is the only time Jonah is genuinely happy in the entire book. The irony is striking: Jonah celebrates a minor, temporary gift while grieving and resenting God’s far greater act of mercy in sparing thousands of lives. It is both a comic contrast and a profound spiritual lesson: Jonah’s heart responds more readily to personal comfort than to God’s mercy on others.

What This Reveals About People

Jonah’s response exposes the self-centeredness that can easily infect God’s people. He isolates himself, enjoying shade and a sense of control while hoping for Nineveh’s destruction. Notice his spiritual pride: he positions himself as morally superior, imagining that his disapproval can somehow balance God’s mercy. He treats God’s salvation like a consumer good, valuing it only for himself and those within his narrow circle of concern.

This is a problem we all face: our joy is often tied to personal comfort rather than God’s glory or the good of others. We may find ourselves frustrated or indifferent when God shows mercy to people we deem “undeserving.”

Jonah’s attitude renders him spiritually useless. While he isolates himself, he cannot participate in God’s mission of salvation. God can judge and save without our help, but He calls His people into the work. Jonah should have been walking among the Ninevites, encouraging them, teaching them, and participating in their transformation. Instead, he sits in the sun, seething, and misses the chance to glorify God in his vocation.

Truth About God

God gives good gifts not as ends in themselves, but as vehicles to teach us about His heart. James 1:17 reminds us: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” Even a plant shading Jonah is a reflection of God’s sovereign kindness and grace.

God’s gifts are meant to expose our misplaced affections. They reveal what truly motivates us: Are we grateful for God’s mercy extended to others, or only for comfort directed at ourselves? This mirrors a wider biblical principle: God often uses ordinary blessings to reveal the extraordinary condition of our hearts.

Even in this small episode, we see God’s patience and purpose. He could have left Jonah in discomfort or anger, but He intervenes graciously, giving a gift to expose both his self-centeredness and the inadequacy of his vision.

Gospel Connection

Jonah’s joy in the plant is temporary and shallow; it points us to a deeper reality in Christ. Jesus embodies the ultimate gift of God’s comfort, not for personal indulgence, but for eternal salvation. Unlike Jonah, Jesus enters the city, loves the undeserving, and bears the heat of God’s wrath on our behalf (Galatians 3:13; Philippians 2:6–8). He rejoices in sinners being saved (Luke 15:7) and shows perfect compassion for all, not just for a narrow circle of personal concern.

In Christ, we receive an eternal refuge from the scorching heat of judgment—a shade that will never fade. This gift reshapes our hearts, teaching us to delight not only in mercy for ourselves but also in God’s mercy toward others.

Application

• Identify your “plants.” What comforts make you exceedingly glad—phones, grades, social approval, sports victories?

• Examine your heart. Do these gifts lead to gratitude to God and concern for others, or do they foster selfishness?

• Take action. Practice redirected gratitude: when you enjoy God’s gifts, ask, “How can this point me toward the Giver and the people He loves?”

• Step into mission. Are there people God has placed around you who need to see mercy? Don’t isolate yourself like Jonah—engage, encourage, and serve.

Point 2: God Takes Comfort Away to Expose Our Hearts (Jonah 4:7–8)

The Story

God’s gracious provision of the plant was only the beginning. The next morning, God appoints a worm to attack the plant, causing it to wither. Then He appoints a scorching east wind, and the sun beats down on Jonah’s head so that he becomes faint. Jonah’s misery spikes—he declares, “It is better for me to die than to live” (4:8–9).

God’s sovereignty is visible in every detail, just as in Jonah 1, where God “hurled a great wind” and appointed the fish (1:4, 17). Here God appoints the plant, the worm, and the wind. Nothing is random. Even small elements—shade and heat—are under God’s control and serve His purpose: to teach Jonah about his own heart and about God’s patient, sovereign grace.

What This Reveals About People

Jonah’s response exposes the depth of human self-centeredness and fragility. He moves from rejoicing over a plant to despair when it is gone, showing how easily our happiness is tied to fleeting comforts. Phillips notes that Jonah’s spirit had become “reduced to the level of the plant, easily withered under the slightest assault.”

Beneath Jonah’s personal despair is bitterness for the Ninevites—he cannot rejoice in God’s mercy toward those he sees as enemies. Phillips writes: “Jonah’s path to the loathing of life began with his loathing of Nineveh… God’s grace for his enemies was the worm eating at his soul.”

This mirrors how many Christians can become consumed by trivial complaints—“the color of the carpet, their standing in the church, minor details of the musical performance”—while losing sight of the gospel mission. Self-centeredness produces unhappiness, limits joy, and makes us spiritually ineffective.

Truth About God

God’s sovereign appointment of the worm and wind demonstrates both His control and His patient grace. He does not abandon Jonah, despite repeated displays of self-centeredness and spiritual blindness. God bears with our weaknesses, guiding us toward growth in grace. Like a loving parent or patient teacher, He uses circumstances—not arbitrary punishment—to correct hearts, teach humility, and enlarge perspectives.

By giving and then taking away the plant, God teaches Jonah that life is not about personal comfort but about aligning one’s heart with His purposes. The lesson is twofold:

1. Self-centeredness is fragile—our spirits collapse under small pressures if our focus is narrow.

2. God’s perspective is eternal—what seems trivial to us may be part of a larger lesson to reshape our hearts toward compassion and mission.

Gospel Connection

Jonah’s reaction highlights our need for the gospel. We are prone to measuring life by comfort and self-interest rather than God’s mercy and mission. Jesus, unlike Jonah, entered the heat of our broken world, endured suffering, and bore the judgment we deserved. He teaches us to rejoice in God’s grace, not just for ourselves, but for all people. Through Christ, the trials and scorching winds of our lives become instruments of growth, sanctifying us, refining our perspective, and conforming us into His image.

Application

• Consider your own “plants”: comforts you cling to. How do you respond when God removes them—frustration, despair, or trust?

• Identify your “worms”: small trials or annoyances that reveal selfishness or pride. How can these teach us to depend on God?

• Shift perspective: Are you consumed by trivial concerns or by God’s mission? Could the gospel recalibrate what matters most to your heart?

• Practice patience and gratitude: When life removes comforts, intentionally thank God for shaping you, not just for the comfort itself.

Point 3: God Confronts Sin to Expand Our Hearts (Jonah 4:9–11)

The Story

God now presses Jonah with His third and final question:

“You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (4:10–11).

God reasons with Jonah from the lesser to the greater. Jonah had compassion on a tiny, fleeting plant—a “perishing little nothing,” as Phillips calls it—something that required no effort on his part and existed only briefly. In contrast, Nineveh was a vast city filled with 120,000 souls, image-bearers of God, morally and spiritually ignorant, stumbling in darkness. How much more should Jonah (and we) pity them? Even the animals had more inherent value than Jonah’s precious plant.

God is exposing Jonah’s distorted priorities and small-heartedness. His compassion extends not just to Israel, not just to Jonah’s comfort, but to the nations—even to enemies.

What This Reveals About People

Like Jonah, we often cling to comforts, preferences, and familiar tribes, rather than lifting our eyes to the vast scope of God’s saving mission. Jonah’s self-consumed misery blinded him to the greater glory of God’s mercy. Phillips puts it sharply:

“The way out of our self-consumed misery is to lift up our hearts to glory in the great scope of God’s salvation, entering into his compassionate concern for the lost.”

Left to ourselves, our hearts shrink rather than expand. We focus on trivial inconveniences while ignoring the eternal realities of lost souls. Phillips reminds us that “a Jonah lurks in every Christian heart,” pulling us toward smug prejudice and narrow vision.

Truth About God

In contrast to Jonah’s pettiness, God’s compassion is expansive, global, and merciful. His pity rests even on those trapped in moral ignorance and spiritual blindness. The same God who judges sin also pities sinners and seeks their redemption.

God’s mercy:

• Extends beyond the “in-group” to the “out-group.”

• Includes spiritual salvation and temporal well-being (“and also much cattle”).

• Reveals His heart for all nations—anticipating the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20).

Gospel Connection

God’s pity for Nineveh anticipates the cross of Christ. Where Jonah resisted, Jesus embraced the Father’s mission. Standing under greater heat than Jonah ever knew, Jesus bore the judgment of God so that enemies could become sons and daughters. On the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

The gospel is the ultimate answer to Jonah’s small-heartedness and ours. In Christ, we are not only forgiven but given new hearts—hearts enlarged by His Spirit to love God’s mission, not just our comforts. The more we glory in the cross, the more we will tear down our “little booths” and enter into the world with holy love, making God’s cause our cause.

Application

• Check your priorities. What are your “plants”? Comforts you value more than God’s mission?

• See the bigger picture. Does your life reflect God’s heart for the lost, or just your comfort zone?

• Join God’s mission. Small steps—sharing Christ, serving, praying—expand your soul and align you with God’s heart.

• Marvel at the gospel. Jesus endured the scorching wrath of God so that you could be brought into His family. Let that widen your heart toward others.

Conclusion: The God of Jonah

As we close our study of Jonah, we step back and see the glorious portrait of God revealed throughout this remarkable book. Jonah’s story is not ultimately about a plant, a wind, or even Nineveh—it is about the sovereign, holy, mighty, and merciful God who reigns over all. The book of Jonah reveals four key truths about God.

1. God is sovereign. From beginning to end, God’s hand is at work. Jonah could run to Tarshish, flee from the city, and sulk under a plant—but he could not escape God’s purposes. The storm, the fish, the plant, the worm, the scorching wind—all appointed by God—reveal that nothing in life is random. Even hardships and comforts shape us into Christlikeness (cf. Isa. 46:10–11).

2. God is holy. God’s holiness drives both judgment and mercy. He sent Jonah to warn Nineveh because their sin could not go unchecked. The storm and the scorching sun were pictures of God’s holy judgment, yet His patience endured. Those spared by His mercy are called to a holy life (1 Pet. 1:16).

3. God is mighty. God’s omnipotence is displayed over creation, human hearts, and even animals. The great fish obeys His command, the king of Nineveh rises to repent, and the city responds to God’s Word. No trial, sin, or city is beyond His reach.

4. God is merciful and gracious. Jonah shows a God whose mercy is boundless and inclusive, wider than Jonah’s narrow worldview, wider than the borders of Israel, and wider than the sin of the Ninevites or Jonah himself. The ultimate expression is in Christ on the cross, where mercy and justice meet.

Phillips writes:

“Looking at the eyes of God’s Son gazing out from the cross, how can we not look on the lost with a similar pity? Let us, for pity’s sake, love the world in his name, offering to any and all sinners the mercy and grace that God has shown to us.”

Application

• See life through God’s eyes. Comforts, trials, annoyances—He appoints all to shape your heart. Will you respond in selfishness like Jonah, or with trust in His sovereign plan?

• Expand your heart toward mercy. God’s concern extends far beyond yourself. Pray for their salvation, rejoice in their repentance, and let His mission shape your daily life.

• Live in awe of His power and holiness. Your obedience matters, and the God who commands is faithful to empower. Enter boldly into His mission.

• Glory in the gospel. The cross shows the true width of God’s mercy. Marvel at Christ’s sacrifice, and let your heart overflow with compassion for others.

Big Idea Restated: God, in His sovereignty, uses our comfort and discomfort to conform us into the image of Christ. From Jonah’s shade to his scorching sun, from his anger to God’s compassion, we see the pattern repeated in our lives: God allows both good and difficult things to teach us about Himself, reveal our sin, and enlarge our hearts for His glory.