Jonah Runs

v. 1 “The Word of the Lord” a prophetic message.

God chooses Jonah to be the man for this mission. It is not a suggestion. Jonah is called by God for a specific purpose.

Jonah was not chosen because he was particularly special.

Jonah is not given the opportunity to refuse the assignment.

Jonah does not appear to be prepared for the assignment.

“came to Jonah”. His name means “dove”. His father’s name is given as “Amittai”. This lends to the historicity of the story.

Jonah was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God came to him with an assignment.

v. 2 Here we see the assignment:

Arise- Stop doing whatever it was he was doing. Leave your present business. The work of God is always more important than any other work.

God has interrupted many from their profession:

Shepherds like Moses

Tax collectors like Matthew

Fishermen like Peter

They were all called to arise from their present occupation and follow God.

“Go”- He is to go to Nineveh.

This is the occasion in Scripture where a prophet is called to go to a foreign country an pronounce God’s judgment. Other prophets prophesied against different people groups. But none were called to go to that country while doing it. Jonah stands alone in that regard. We may even call him a pioneer in foreign missions.

This may help to understand his reluctance. This call was unique. It wasn’t a normal call even for prophets.

Nineveh is described as “that great city”.

This probably refers to the size of the city. It was located on the banks of the Tigris River and over 500 miles north of Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people lived there.

This very old city was a chief city of Assyria and even served as the capital for years. Some historians believe it was the largest city in the world at that time. While Assyria’s power may have been weakened at the present time, they were known as a world power for many years before the occasion of the book of Jonah and afterwards.

Idolatry was celebrated in Nineveh. They worshipped Dagon, the fish god and Nanse, a goddess whose father was the god of fresh water. The idolatry of these people fits into the story. Jonah’s God is in control of both the water and the fish. He causes a storm to eject Jonah from the boat and saves Jonah with a fish.

“Call out against it” Jonah was not to simply travel to Nineveh. He was to confront it. God has seen their evil. Jonah was to tell the people to turn from their evil ways and to the God of Israel.

We are not told details of their evil. We do have archaeological evidence of it, however.

Assyrian leaders were known to have the lips and hands torn from their enemies. Some leaders skinned their enemies alive. They were evil in their treatment of their adversaries in war. The evidence of these crimes was on the walls of their palaces. They even had tablets that recorded all the methods they used. They often allowed some of their victims to roam the streets without eyes, hands, feet, etc. as a warning to anyone who may challenge the empire. They were vile, violent, idolatrous people.

Jonah’s hatred of these people can be understood.

v. 3 “But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish” That makes sense now doesn’t it?

Notice Tarshish is used three times in verse 3. Makes it clear where Jonah intends to go. It was West. Nineveh was East. Notice what he is fleeing from:

“the presence of the Lord” This doesn’t mean Jonah believes God is not omnipresent. His theology as fine. The point is he wants to get away from god’s calling on his life.

Maybe it means he wants to leave the faith altogether. He doesn’t want to do what God told him to do. We might ask why he doesn’t just stay where he is?

In his land his people knew who he was. Perhaps he no longer wanted to be identified as a prophet.

In his land was a reminder of his God. The Ark, the, priests, the sacrifices, the festivals, the sabbaths, etc. Israel was a special place. Everywhere was a reminder of the God of Israel. He was abandoning his calling, his people and his God.

In his mind he could not go to Nineveh, and he could not stay where he was.

He went down to Joppa. This was a seaport of Jerusalem. There was a ship headed to Tarshish.

He paid the fare.

He went down in the ship.

Let me share with you a few thoughts:

1. When God tells you to go one way the devil will have a boat ready to go the other way.

Jonah had the money to pay the fare.

Jonah had a boat ready to take him where he wanted to go.

Many would believe that must be the will of God then!

Often the devil’s way is easy, and God’s way is hard. Don’t believe you are in God’s will because things are easy.

2. God has called His people to a difficult work.

Scary- the message is “Repent!” It’s like telling someone they are ugly. No one wants to do that.

Arise- cannot be stationary

Go- where lost people are

Cry (call out)- “Qara” proclaim, pronounce, invite, plead.

3. God’s commands are never without reason.

Jonah could not see what God was doing. All he knew was he didn’t want the Ninevites to be saved. Ultimately you will benefit when you obey God.

God wants to involve you in a great work. (No greater privilege than winning souls)

God wants to warn the wicked of coming judgment. (They had about 1 ½ months left.)

God wants you to experience ongoing life change. (Personal illus. of family change).

4. There is always a price to pay for disobedience.

Note the willingness of Jonah to pay the price. He didn’t care. How much did it cost? Doesn’t say probably because it didn’t matter. He was willing to pay the price.

As Jonah sailed out of the port, it is likely part of him was happy. He wasn’t thinking about all he left behind:

His country

His family

His friends

His calling

His religion

He was just thinking “At least I don’t have to obey God.”

Maybe he had a Titanic moment and shouted, “I’m the king of the world.”

But notice the play on words in the text:

Down to Joppa (3)

Down in the boat (3)

Jonah is going down spiritually speaking. Things are not getting better for him.

The will of God is hard, but you will never regret it. The way of the world is easy, but you will eternally regret it.