Christ Jesus, the Worm of Our Salvation
11/25 Reading Portions: 1 Chronicles 21; 1 Peter 2; Jonah 4; Luke 9
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
11/25 Reading Portions: 1 Chronicles 21; 1 Peter 2; Jonah 4; Luke 9
Jonah 4:8
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
PREPARED
God appointed a worm. The KJV translates the word “appointed” as “prepared.” It’s the Hebrew word, מנה (ma-NAH), used 28 times in the Old Testament, and 4 times here in Jonah— “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah” (Jon 1:17); “Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah” (Jon 4:6); “When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah” (Jon 4:8); and in our text today (Jon 4:7). Which English translation is the best of the Hebrew word— prepared or appointed? My answer: yes. They are both correct, and both should be applied. Appointment is appropriate because, in the whole of Jonah’s story, we must see Yehovah God as sovereign in His workings and dealings. Yes, Jonah fled the command of God. Yes, the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. And yes, Jonah was angry over the population’s repentance and reprieve from God. Nevertheless, God is, was, and evermore shall be sovereign. In Jonah’s comfort under the shade of a plant, God was sovereign. In Jonah’s discomfort by the death of the plant and heat of a scorching east wind, God was sovereign. Yet in God’s sovereign appointments, He was preparing Jonah to understand the majesty of His mercy:
“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?” Jonah 4:11
In the midst of Jonah’s entire story, and especially in this last chapter, Christ Jesus was there. The Lord Jesus would be the appointed Worm (Psa 22:6), whose sufferings would be a sword in our hearts to remove the peace of our creature comforts (Matt 10:34; Luke 2:35), so we may be prepared by a sovereign God to embrace His grace and mercy, with thanksgiving, in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! What a sovereign Savior!
The appointments of our sovereign God
Exist to show us Christ,
While we sojourn upon this sod
For He alone is Life.