You Can Run But You Can’t Hide

There are many people who has been called of God to do something and have obeyed. There are many people who have been called of God to do something, and ran from Him, instead of doing His will.

Jonah was one who ran from his assignment, like many of us.

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1. REQUIREMENT OF GOD (Verses 1-2)

Jonah 1:1–2 “1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.””

Now, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire during a period of Assyrian dominance throughout the ancient Near East (ca. 703–612 bc). For this reason, it figures prominently in biblical literature. From the ninth century until Assyria’s fall to the Babylonians in 612 bc, Nineveh was an important Assyrian city.

The Bible frames Nineveh as a thoroughly evil city, right up there with Sodom and Gomorrah and to top it off they were an enemy of Israel.

Jonah 1:1–2 “1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.””

As we begin our journey today, In Jonah 1:1-2 where we find Jonah the prophet called by God to go and convince the people of Nineveh to repent of their sinful ways. The book of Jonah describes Nineveh, its entire populations and its king as so evil that God threatens to completely destroy them if they do not repent.

However, Jonah wasn’t man enough to face God and refuse the assignment. He did, however, have his own plan.

2. REBELLION OF JONAH (Vs. 3)

Jonah 1:3 NASB95

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Ass you can see, he ran instead of obeying God’s assignment for him. Does that sound familiar

3. RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE(Vs. 4-17)

Jonah seemed to forget that God knows all, sees all, He is after all omnipresence. But you will realize the issues as we walk through verses 1:4-17 …

A. When we run from God, as Jonah did:

1. It affects others. - (Vs. 4-5)

Jonah 1:4–5 NASB95

4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.

What Jonah decided to do, not only affected him, but it also affected the passengers, the crew, the cargo, and the ship.

They were all affected by God’s judgment of Jonah’s sin.

So what else happened …

2. It affects our testimony.- (Vs. 6-10)

Jonah 1:6–7 NASB95

6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Let me explain the “casting of lots’

In the Old Testament, lots were cast for very important decisions: the distribution of priestly offices in the Temple was divided by casting lots (I Chronicles 24) as was the division of land among the twelve tribes of Israel

Continuing at verse 8

Jonah 1:8–10 NASB95

8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Then Jonah, the prophet of God, had to identify himself, and admit his own sin.

3. Your Sin affects you too. (Vs.11-16)

Jonah 1:11–13 NASB95

11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.

Notice what happens next .. the crew called out to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jonah’s God, not the ones that they were worshipping just a few minutes ago….their idols.

I believe that we as believers are warned in Exodus 20:1-5 about worshipping idols

Exodus 20:1–5 NASB95

1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Idols, .... idols are anything or anyone whom you worship instead of the ONE TRUE GOD, the Creator of the Universe and everything in it. Let me stop here for just a moment, we have a man who is running for king and has the support of many people a lot smarter than me. They are supposed biblical scholars but if you pay close attention to what they are saying, well… This man is not the second coming of Christ, he is an idol of too many believers, now I may be wrong but he may just own a Kool-Aid company. And it seems that he may just know your favorite flavor.

Seriously, how can I stand here in front of you and say that? Well turn with me in your Bible to Mark 13:32 and 33.

Mark 13:32–33 NASB95

32 “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 33 “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.

Now, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NASB95

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Now, as I’ve said many times, I may be wrong, BUT,

you either believe the entire Bible or you believe none of it, you can’t pick and choose the parts you want to believe

and toss the rest into the trash.

So, maybe I’m missing something but my bible tell me what will happen when Christ does return. I don’t think I missed it, nor does it say that when Christ returns that He is going to spend some time flying around the United States on his person jet.

Anyway back to Jonah…. verse 14

Jonah 1:14–16 NASB95

14 Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.” 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Here’s what I know, Spiritually Jonah was out of fellowship with God. He slept when he should have been praying. (Psalm 66:18)

Psalm 66:18 NASB95

18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;

Physically Jonah experienced God’s judgment. That’s how he ended up in the belly of the great fish. As we see in Verse 17

Jonah 1:17 NASB95

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

As I close, I want you to think about this for just a moment. Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights in the stomach of a fish. Yet, the fish never digested him, again this shows you the power of our God. He stopped the fish from digesting Jonah and at the same time provided nutrients to sustain Jonah, while he was in exile.

What a mighty God we serve.

One final point …

There is always a cost to being disobedient.

We know this by turning to 2 Samuel Chapter 11

Here we find David’s attention turning to Bathsheba, a married woman. That his flesh lead him into a lot of trouble

· Adultery (2 Samuel 11:1-5)

· Murder (2 Samuel 11: 15-26)

· God sends Nathan to rebuke David. (2 Samuel 12:1-7)

· Because of David’s sins the child born to Bathsheba lost his short life. (2 Samuel 12:18)

When we think that we are hiding things from God, as believers we have to remember that

the God we serve knows all, sees all, He is after all omnipresence.

We may not have to answer for our disobedience right away but know one thing for sure, your punishment is going to catch up with you.

Here is a story I ran across ...

Elisabeth Elliot, at Urbana 76, told of her brother Thomas Howard. Their mother let him play with paper bags she'd saved if he put them away afterwards. One day she walked into the kitchen to find them strewn all over the floor. Tom was out at the piano with his father singing hymns. When confronted, he protested, "But Mom, I want to sing." His father stated, "It's no good singing God's praise if you're disobedient."