On the Run: Gatekeeping God's Mercy

Why are you running? (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah 1:1–3 ESV

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai,

We don’t know very much else about this Jonah the only other place he is mentioned is in 2 Kings 14:25. In that passage it describes how Jonah prophesied God’s blessing on Israel in spite of the wickedness of their king at the time, Jeroboam II. This was an act of God’s mercy, which could simply be defined as not giving bad people the punishment that they deserve. We see though, that God’s mercy in this case also included a blessing that these people didn’t deserve. Other than this, we don’t know much about this Jonah.

saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and call out against it,

God called Jonah to go to Nineveh. Today, the ruins of Nineveh sit within the country of Iraq, but Nineveh was one of the largest and most-influential cities of the Assyrian empire. At one point, it was the capital city of Assyria. However, this command is a bit odd because no other Old Testament prophet that we know of was commissioned to take a message to non-Jews.

The use of the Hebrew word translated “Arise” communicates a sense of urgency when it is combined with other commands like it is here. This message needed to be carried to Nineveh quickly. There was no time for delay. God told Jonah to go immediately and proclaim a message against the Ninevites.

for their evil has come up before me.

This is the reason that God gives for this command. Of course God knows everything and is aware of all evil in the world at all times. He communicates this way with Jonah to emphasize the severity of the Ninevites’ evil. The stink of their sin had risen all the way to Heaven and God was not pleased.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Now if you have read the Bible much, you expect God’s prophets to obey Him. In fact the Bible authors love to use parallel phrasing to communicate this obedience. So, when we see God tell Jonah “arise and go to Nineveh”, we expect to read next “Jonah rose and went to Nineveh”. Instead we read “Jonah rose” (he got that part right). But he didn’t arise to go to Nineveh. He intended to go to Tarshish. The exact location of Tarshish is unknown, but everywhere else in Scripture that it is mentioned it is described as to the west of Israel. Nineveh is to the East of Israel. So, it’s not really important where Tarshish was located. The important thing is the direction is was in. What am I saying, Jonah was heading in the opposite direction.

There’s also another significant phrase here: Jonah was attempting to “flee . . . from the presence of the Lord.” As a prophet of God Jonah would know about God’s omnipresence. He didn’t believe he could actually go to a place where God was not. So, what does this mean? Well, biblically Israel, and particularly Jerusalem were associated with the presence of God. God was present there is a special way. It was the place where God chose for his name to dwell (Deut. 12:5, 11). This wasn’t true of anywhere outside of Israel. There are a few different theories about what Jonah was trying to do here, but it seems to me that Jonah no longer wanted to experience this special presence of God. He believed that if he could get away from God’s special presence, God would no longer use him as a prophet. Essentially he was quitting. He was saying to God, “I’m out, find somebody else.” Unfortunately for him, he greatly underestimated God.

He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

I want you to notice hear the trajectory of Jonah’s life. God called him to “Arise”, to go up, yet repeatedly we see Jonah go down. He went down to Joppa; he went down into the ship. Jonah is moving away from God’s calling and in the process he is continually progressing downward.

What could possibly motivate this defiance? Why would God’s prophet living in the land where God’s special presence resides during one of the most prosperous eras of the nation’s history be willing to disobey like this? Well, the text doesn’t tell us at this point, but later in the book, Jonah reveals his reason for doing this.

Jonah 4:1–2 ESV

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Jonah didn’t want to preach to the Ninevites because he knew that if they repented of their sins, God would be merciful to them. Maybe this was just nationalism: he viewed his nation as the best. Perhaps he thought that the Ninevites were worse sinners than those in Israel and therefore undeserving of mercy. Either way, Jonah enjoyed the privileges of living in a nation which had received God’s mercy, but he didn’t want that mercy to be given to the Ninevites.

Now we see how God responds.

Jonah 1:4–5 ESV

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

This was not a storm that just happened to come about. This was an act of God expressing wrath toward Jonah. Look at the language here, God hurls a wind at Jonah (similar to how a warrior hurls a spear). This causes a storm to arise on the sea, and the ship threatens to break up. That last phrase is interesting on its’ own. Ships aren’t people, so they can’t threaten anything. The choice of words here is intentional though. It poetically portrays the wind, the sea, and even the ship which Jonah is resting in as allies of God against the rebel, Jonah.

And all of this did get somebody’s attention, but it wasn’t Jonah. The sailors start crying out to their false gods and tossing cargo overboard in an attempt to save themselves, but Jonah was sleeping. He is completely apathetic to the seriousness of his sin at this point. If you know your Bible, there is an interesting parallel to this in Mark chapter 4. Jesus also was asleep on a boat during a storm. The difference is Jesus could sleep because He had complete faith in the protection and provision of God the Father, while Jonah is sleeping as he runs away from the same protection and provision. God is trying to get his attention, but he is sleeping.

How many times are we in the same situation? We aren’t following the call of God for our life; we aren’t obeying the clear commands He has given us; and still we completely miss the warning signs that God is not pleased with us. Or worse yet, maybe we don’t care.

I’m not sure which it was for Jonah, but notice once again that Jonah had gone down and had lain down. His life is still moving in the downward direction.

Jonah 1:6 ESV

So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

The captain of the ship is in complete shock as to how Jonah can be sleeping, but notice what he says to him. He gives him two commands: “arise” and “call out”. Sound familiar? These are two of the commands that God gave Jonah at the start of this story. Even in the bottom of a ship headed in the wrong direction, Jonah cannot escape God’s call on his life.

Jonah 1:7–9 ESV

And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Since calling out to the gods didn’t work, the sailors now turn to casting lots in an attempt to figure out what’s going on. They realized this is no ordinary storm. Historically, casting lots was a Jewish thing. Other cultures did not normally use casting lots as a way to hear from the gods. So, the sailors are desperate and in this case God answers them.

Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

Now that the sailors know who has offended one of the gods, they pepper Jonah with questions in an attempt to identify which God has been offended. They would like to know if there is anything that they can do to appease this deity and escape death in the storm.

And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah introduces himself now as a Hebrew and one who fears the Lord. You’ll notice in your Bible that Lord is in all-caps here and you know what that means. This is God’s covenant name YHWH and it’s a bit ironic that Jonah describes himself this way while he is on the run from the Lord. What is more significant than that, though, is that Jonah calls YHWH the God of heaven and the one who made the sea and the dry land. The first title would contradict the sailors belief in a Phoenician god named Ba’al Shemem, the Lord of heaven. Jonah reveals YHWH as the true God of heaven. The second title would have confirmed the sailors worst fears that they were not dealing with a regional god. They were dealing with a God of tremendous power

Jonah 1:10–12 ESV

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

In contrast to Jonah’s supposed fear, the sailors were “exceedingly afraid”. This is why they can’t understand Jonah’s behavior. “What have you done?” they say. If Jonah truly feared God as he claims, he would never have disobeyed and certainly wouldn’t have recklessly and selfishly endangered the lives of others with his rebellion. Again it is ironic that gentiles express a true fear of the Lord, while the Lord’s messenger doesn’t.

Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

The sailors are unsure how to appease YHWH’s wrath, so they ack Jonah what can be done to satisfy His anger. Meanwhile the storm was intensifying. They were running out of time and options.

He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Jonah’s suggested course of action is a bit bizarre. Why does Jonah ask the sailors to toss him into the sea? Why couldn’t he simply just jump overboard if that would settle the issue. It is because Jonah now sees himself as a useless weight simply weighing down the ship just like the cargo which was thrown overboard earlier. There’s still another interesting question though. Why didn’t Jonah just repent and ask the men to turn the ship around? There are so many places in Scripture which demonstrate that when sinners repent and turn to God for mercy, He graciously gives it to them. In fact, later in the book of Jonah we see this exact scenario play out. So why doesn’t Jonah just repent? It seems that Jonah would rather accept God’s judgment, than receive His mercy if it means preaching to Nineveh. I believe that Jonah expected to die in the sea and he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. But Jonah will soon learn that God cannot be manipulated or controlled by human beings.

Jonah 1:13–14 ESV

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

The sailors ignored Jonah’s suggestion. They refused to simply throw him in the sea to drown. They tried the only other thing that they had not yet attempted. They tried to row back to land, but the storm only intensified so that they couldn’t. God’s pursuit of Jonah was relentless.

Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”

Now the sailors do what Jonah refused to do. They call out to YHWH by name, now that they know who they are dealing with. They ask for two things. They ask that God not punish them for having Jonah on their ship, and they ask God to forgive them for throwing him into the sea to die. There’s significance also in the last phrase of their prayer. That last phrase could actually be translated, “for you are YHWH, you do as you please. In spite of Jonah’s rebellion and disobedience, God still used him to reveal truths about himself to these pagan sailors.

Jonah 1:15–16 NASB95

So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

The sailors throw Jonah overboard and the sea finally relents. This signals that God is no longer pursuing. But before telling us what happens next to Jonah, the author turns our attention to the sailors. They now greatly fear YHWH and worship him. By no means, does this mean they have been converted to worshipping only the true God, but it certainly indicates that this episode has put them on the path toward that. Once again, despite Jonah’s unwillingness to preach to non-Jews, God was still able to use him as a tool to reveal Himself to the men on this ship.

Now what does all of this have to do with us?

God wants to reveal His mercy to all people.

We are often reluctant to share God’s mercy with all people.

Jesus obediently gave His life so all people could experience God’s mercy.