The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 101

..,ne falleth on the ground" without him. 6. He would have them preserved from cruelty and needless destruction (Exod. ix. 19). 7. It is God-like to care for the lower animals. •He prayoth well who loveth well Both man, and bird, and beast. He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small a For the dear God, who loveth ns. He made and loveth all." G.T.O. Vers. 6-8.-171e gourd, the worm, and the east wind. Jonah was not faultless after ~is ~~yor and p~nitence. He undertook his wo~k, and boldly proclaimed his message 111 Nm~veh .. His success was beyond expectation. The whole city was moved, and all the mbab1tants fasted, repented, and prayed. And in the mercy which is ever his delight, God averted the threatened disaster. "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and be was very angry." He was indignant that bis message should appear to b~ nnfulfill~, and angry when be found _that he had been the means of saving from destruct10n the most dangerous foes of his own country. Any one who reads the history of Europe at the beginning of this century will understand this feeling. It was with an a,~•[ul sense of dread. that our grandfathers heard that Napoleon had swept into Russia at the head of six hundred and fifty-seven thousand veterans, expecting to return flushed with victory to complete his work of devastation. When the news came that of all that great host only eighty-five thoUBand men bad escaped from the horrors of war and frost and famine, a jubilant shout of thanksgiving went up to Heaven, led by the Christian Church I Sinful though Jonah's feeling was, it was not unnatural, and he sat himself down within view of the city, hoping and praying that at least some smaller disaster would befall it. Our text shows how graciously God sought to bring him to a better state of mind. The withering of the gourd, like the witbering nf the fig tree, was intended to be an epitome of human experience. Let us learn from it- I. THAT ALL OUR EABTHLY COMFORTS .A.ltE OF GoD's PROVIDING. When J"L,uah set himself to watch what wonld become of the city, be macie for his shelter a booth, formed of the interlaced branches of trees, which imperfectl_y kept off the heat of the sun. And God pn,pared a gourd, whose bro:•.d. leaves spread over the booth till good protection was given from the scorching beat, which even seasoned Arabs dared not brave; aud Jonah was exceeding glad of it. There was never more danger than there is now of the non-recognition of God's band in nature and in history. 'l'be clearness with which we see natural phenomena tends to make less credible what is only spiritually discerned. But happy is the man who ftnds every blessing sweetened to 1im by the thongbt, "God gave me this." The great purpose of all his dealings with 11s is to bring us to thought about himself. Sometimes he turns us back to du~y, as J onab was turned, by a st-0rm ; and sometimes be brings us back to a right mind, as Jonah was brought, by a blessing-strangely coming, and then as strangely going. IL THAT OUB EA.BTHLY BLEBBINGB ABE OF SHORT DURATION, Their brevity is as much God's appointment as their existence. Notice the emphatic declarations in our text: "The Lord prepared a gourd;" "The Lord prepared a worm;" " The Lord prepared a vehement east wind." In other words, the blessing and the cause of its removal both eman&ted from him. 1. The gowrd withered when Jonah reckoned mod confidently on en;"oying it. It is so with our blessings too. Examples: The wealth amassed with such difficulty seems secure at last, but unexpectedly it vanishes, The child nursed through all the perils of a weakly childhood dies in the fulnese of man- hood's strength, etc. 2. The gowrd withered from a small and secret ea-. A worm ,t the root killed it. Little things, preveutihle things, as we think them, often cause 11ur losaes. We may be ruined by some one we never saw, and of whom we never neard. A noble reputation may be blasted by a silly slander. Yet there is no awful "<te blindly striking hither and thither; there is no hostile power supreme over human ~vents. (Jf every loss we may 1!8.Y, "The Lord gave, and the Lord bath taken awa_y; 1.1.tsll{,,d be the Name of the Lord." •• OH, IV, 1-11,] THE BOOK OF ,JON AH. 99