Running From God

Jonah 1:1–12 NKJV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 So 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.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. 12 And 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 this great tempest is because of me.”

Like this story, sometimes the evidence of the bad choices that we make in life are very apparent. Other times they are not. Today we are looking at a guy who made some bad choices in his life. Jonah

To understand the book of Jonah you must first understand it’s background and context:

Jonah, we read, was the son of Amittai and was from Gath Hepher (close to Nazareth in Northern Israel). He lived during a time of relative peace in Israel. For many years the people of Aram to the North East (present day Syria - Damascus) had been fighting with Israel. During the time of Elisha there was constant war with the Arameans under 2 rulers: Hazael and Ben-Hadad. Israel was greatly reduced in size and it seemed sure that it would be destroyed.

At the end of Elisha’s life Jehoash becomes king in Israel for 16 years (798-782) and the tables begin to turn. (story of Elisha and striking the arrows on the ground). Under his son Jeroboam II who reigned 30 years (783-753), Israel is able to push back the Arameans and Israel enjoys, for the first time in many years, a time of peace. The northern kingdom had not enjoyed such great material prosperity since the time of David and Solomon.

During this time Israel believed that God had delivered them and that God would destroy all the nations around it. This was not the real reason. God sent the prophets Amos and Hosea to warn the people that God would not spare them but that Israel would be destroyed.

The true reason for the peace and prosperity in Israel was that the Assyrian empire in the north was growing and Damascus was being destroyed by Shalmaneser IV in 773 BC. The Assyrians armies were brutal. Massive armies were well armed and equipped with the world’s first great siege machines manipulated by engineers. Psychological terror was their most effective weapon. Corpses were impaled on stakes, severed heads were stacked in piles and captives were skinned alive. After destroying the Arameans, Israel would be next to face this great army.

The capital city of Assyria was Ninevah which was known as the “great city”. It was very old - originally built by Nimrod (grandson of Noah). It is in this context that God speaks to Jonah and tells him to go and warn Ninevah that the hand of God was against them.

Jonah 1:1:12

Jonah is called the "disobedient prophet" and is typical of someone who is running from God. Sometimes this is called backsliding. It is one who has fallen back from a previous position, like someone on a slippery hill. This story tells us why running from God is not a good idea:

1. Running from God is FAITHLESS

God told Jonah to go East, so Jonah went West. He went in the opposite direction of God’s calling. Why do you think he did that? The basic answer is that Jonah questioned God’s plan. He disagreed with God’s direction. He lacked faith that God knew what He was doing.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. It was located on the Tigris River and part of the fertile crescent that connected the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean (today Mosul, Iraq). The Assyrians were known for their brutality and evil. To even travel there was risky enough. To preach God’s judgment would mean certain death. And even if he wasn’t killed and they did repent, Nineveh would be saved from God’s wrath and Israel would still face destruction. To Jonah it seemed like a lose/lose/lose situation.

Remember when Israel was lead out of Egypt by Moses and they complained the whole way? First it was that the Egyptian army would get them, then it was no water, then it was no food, then it was that the people in the promised land were too powerful. At every turn they doubted God’s plan

Has there ever been a time in your life when you questioned God’s plan for your life? Perhaps you faced what seems like an unsolvable problem, a death or some other tragedy in your life that made you question God’s plan for your life.

God’s call is UNPREDICTABLE. God doesn’t call us according to our own timetable or schedule. Has there ever been a phone call or doctors appointment or event that changed your life forever? You were going in one direction and suddenly everything changed? Life is like that. It can change in a moment.

God’s call is UNCOMFORTABLE. God is concerned about our character, not our comfort. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. It had a reputation for being a very bad place.

They were bloodthirsty, cruel idol worshippers. God does not promise that everything He asks us to do will be easy. I have seen this to be true in my own life. E.g. being called to go into missions.

God’s call is INCOMPREHENSIBLE. Understanding God’s will for your life is not always as clear as we would like it to be. Often when hardships come or things do not work out the way we believe they should we begin to question whether we heard God correctly. Maybe Jonah just heard God wrong? Maybe he just needed to get out of town and sort things out?

Even though we may question God’s plan for our lives, we need to have the faith and courage to say that God is good and therefore His plans for us must also be good.

But we often get angry, get bitter, let fear consume us and become useless if things are going smoothly and the way we feel they should be going!!

2. Running From God is USELESS

We learn from Jonah that we can’t run or hide from God.

Jonah tried to run to the farthest place he could get a ticket. Often people think that they can run away from their problems. They have difficulties in their marriage so they decide they will just run out on their spouse and find a new one. Their church is going through a tough season so they just leave and find a new one. This does not work because often the problems we face are not a result of our surroundings but from within us – which we take wherever we go. Until we deal with ourselves, they remain.

God knows us and sees us wherever we go – whether that is in the bottom of a ship or in the belly of a BIG FISH. Sometimes people try to hide from God, but they can’t. We CAN’T outrun God and we CAN’T hide from Him!

3. Running from God is DANGEROUS

God loves you and wants what is best for you. Saint Augustine once wrote “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” We have within each one of us a God shaped hole that cannot be filled by anything other than a personal relationship with Him. Running from God always leads to grief.

CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST/GOSPEL

The safest place to be in the universe is right in the center of God’s will. If that is true, then the opposite is also true. The most dangerous place to be in the universe is in opposition to God’s will.

What are the consequences of running from God?

a. To Ourselves

When we run from God our fellowship with Him is broken. We loose the benefit of all the positive influence He can bring to our lives through worship, Christian fellowship, reading the Bible or prayer. We cut all the positive input into our lives and replace it with negative. Running from God puts us in a struggle with Him. Like Jacob learned, you cannot wrestle with God and expect to win.

David understood this truth;

Psalms 32:3-4 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Notice that phrase “your hand was heavy upon me.” Have you ever experienced that in your own life? Trying to avoid dealing with an issue and God making things very uncomfortable. No backslider is a happy person. God will pursue you and use your conscience and circumstances to bring you to obedience.

Running from God hurts us emotionally, physically and spiritually. When the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant, they experienced this truth;

1 Samuel 5:6-11 The LORD's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. 7 When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." 8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?" They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. 9 But after they had moved it, the LORD's hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people." 11 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, "Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people." For death had filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy upon it.

b. To Others

Running from God not only puts you in danger but also everyone around you. Jonah was not only a danger to himself but to everyone on the ship. Backsliders can not only destroy themselves but they can destroy others along the way ESPECIALLY CAN DAMAGE THE CHURCH! Sin does not just affect us, it also hurts those around us. So many people think that their actions are only hurting them. Wrong. Just ask the children of the couple who gets a divorce. DRUNKARD, DRUG ADDICTS, Sin hurts everyone around us. Everyone who loves us.

Perhaps the saddest thing about running from God is that it grieves the Holy Spirit of God. God can be grieved. It hurts Him to see His children that He bled and died for, whose sins He forgave, turning away from Him down the slippery slope of disobedience. All loving parents hate to see their children in pain and God is no different.

Are you running away from God? Like Jacob found out, if you place yourself in a battle against God you have to understand that it is a battle that you cannot win. Are you at a place with Him that you know that you are not suppose to be? Let the Spirit of God bring you back to him today.

In order to save the ship, the sailors understood that Jonah had to be sacrificed. To me this is a picture of salvation. In order for the ship to be saved - one must die. One must be sacrificed. We can try to save ourselves - we can try to row to shore - we can try with all our energy - but those efforts are futile. You cannot save yourself - in your own efforts you cannot reach the shore of salvation - it will not happen. Only God can save you. Only the sacrifice of the One can calm the sea. Only the sacrifice of One provides safety. He must die that we may live.