Good Theology doesn't Guarantee True Worship

Why did Jonah run from the presence of God? 1:3,10

1. Jonah had good theology.

He knew God as creator. 1:9

He knew God as savior. 2:9

He knew the gracious character of God. 4:2

1. Jonah had a heart problem. 

The “good Hebrew” was an idolater of the heart. 

Idolatry:  any  falsely placed confidence. Any shallow thinking about God. 

“Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols. . . . Man’s mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity; as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an empty appearance as God.” (Institutes, 1:108)

1. God revealed Jonah’s idols by forcing his anger to the surface. (4:4; 9) 

Our emotions reveal our deepest loves. Jonah loved his own agenda, his comforts, his expectations. 

1. The book of Jonah tells us the truth about idols.

Idols are vain (2:8) They lie. They deceive. They do not deliver. 

You can not “pay regard to” (give your attention to, watch over) an idol and hope in the steadfast love of God. These are polar opposites. You must choose where you will place your hope, where the orientation of your heart will be. 

1. We can counter idolatry by treasuring the steadfast love of God. (Ps. 136; 32; 36:7; 90:14)