Jonah - 3
The Man Who Ran Away
We continue to discover together the lessons to be learned from the book of Jonah in the Old Testament of the Bible. I've called this talk "The Man Who Ran Away". We read in verse 3 of Jonah chapter 1, "But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.” We discovered last time that God had commissioned Jonah to go and preach to the wicked city of Nineveh, but "He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for Tarshish. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for that port to flee from the Lord.” Jonah had been told by God to go five hundred miles to the east, instead he headed for Tarshish in Spain which was in the opposite direction.
Now Jonah knew very well that he could not really hide from God or go where God would not see him or know where he was. We see this in verse 9 where he says: "I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” Jonah knew in his heart that wherever he went he could not flee from God's presence. David makes this same point in Psalm 139 verses 7 to 12. Verses 7 and 8 say this: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Friend, do not think that you can hide from the Lord for He is omnipresent, that is, He is everywhere. And because what you do is not seen by others do not be deceived into thinking that God does not see. God saw what Jonah was doing as he boarded that ship to go to Tarshish.
So what does it mean then that "Jonah ran away from the Lord"? In Genesis chapter 4 we read concerning Cain, after he had murdered his brother Abel and had been seen by God, that "He went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, or wandering, on the east of Eden.” Cain was distressed and said to the Lord, "I will be hidden from your presence.” This was the sense in which Jonah tried to run from the presence of God. As long as he was in Israel he would be continually faced with the word of God that he must go to Nineveh. Imagine the inner conflict that Jonah would have to face every day that he resisted that commission. Unlike Cain, who wanted to remain in God's presence, but was banished because of what he had done, Jonah, who knew the presence of the Lord, wanted to get away because he did not want to obey God's word to him. He prefers to go to an alien culture, wherever it may be, in some pagan society far away; away from all the blessings and comforts of home to endure the heartaches and hardships of exile; he would prefer to do all that than face up to the reality of God and His call.
Jonah's attempt to run away from the presence of the Lord is a sad picture of those who are Christians but who are not prepared to obey the word of the Lord. It is a picture of those who have the opportunity to serve the Lord but they turn away and backslide. They have a controversy with God as Jonah did. The way of the backslider is a hard way. He has known the joy of the Lord, the sweetness of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the comfort of the Scriptures, but now all that has gone and there is an emptiness in the soul. As Jonah made his way to the port of Joppa it must have been with a sense of banishment. Is this your situation? Have you resisted the word of the Lord to you in some way? Have you tried to get away from the promptings of the Holy Spirit? If so, turn back to the Lord right now and seek his forgiveness and He will abundantly pardon you and restore you. Obey his command to you and you will again know His presence with you.
All this leads us to ask another question. Why was the commission of Jonah so painful and so unacceptable? There are two basic reasons and we have them in verse 2 of Jonah chapter 1. First, Nineveh's greatness and second, Nineveh's wickedness. The greatness of this city is referred to at least three times in the book of Jonah. One historian, writing in the nineteenth century, said "Such a city none has ever built since. There is probably not on record an account of such a city. It had large gardens and even fields within its walls.” We read in Jonah chapter 3 verse 3: "Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go all through it.” So how could a mere man stand alone in that vast place and preach against it?
From a human standpoint the task was hopeless and absurd! How could he communicate with people like the Ninevites by just preaching about their hopeless, lost condition and about the holiness of God? But how did Peter see people repenting of their sins in the great city of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost? Or how did Paul see conversions in Athens and later in Rome? All these cities were great in religion and culture and power, but great spiritual need calls for great compassion. The Lord Jesus Christ wept over a city. We read that Paul was greatly distressed to see the city of Athens given over to the worship of idols. The people of these great cities were all challenged by the preaching of the gospel. They were convicted by the presentation of God's word that warned them of judgement to come, but also told them of the grace and mercy of God towards those who would repent.
Jonah was commissioned long before the time of Christ, long before the birth of the church at Pentecost, but he did not want to take this message to Nineveh. May we who are Christians, who have been commissioned by the Lord Jesus to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel", not be afraid or unwilling to take this message of salvation to a lost and dying world. It is the simple, faithful preaching of the cross of Christ that is the power of God for salvation to those who believe. Let us not be daunted by the size of the task, but rather let us play our part in obeying the commission in the place where the Lord has put us.
The second reason for Jonah's wanting to run away was the wickedness of the city of Nineveh. It was a place full of idolatry and immorality. It was a very corrupt society known for their extreme cruelty. It was known in the nations around it for its evil character. One hundred and fifty years later Nathan the prophet described the final destruction of this city which its repentance in Jonah's day had postponed. The closing words of Nathan's prophecy sum up the situation for us. He says, "Nothing can heal your wounds, your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you, claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty.” You will find a graphic description of this wicked city and its final judgement in the prophecy of Nahum.
Was this, then, that caused Jonah's heart to faint as he considered not only the greatness of Nineveh but also its awful reputation? Was it that he felt that these wicked people did not deserve the chance to turn from their evil ways and seek the mercy of God? No doubt he felt very inadequate for the task the Lord had called him to do. Perhaps you feel in adequate to fulfil the commission that God has given to you. We are, all of us, in our own strength, unequal to the task. But the Psalmist reminds us, "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Are you ever tempted to run away from God's will for your life? The task is so great, the workers are few. Are you perhaps running away from a full surrender to the Lord Jesus? Are you fully serving Him, even in the small things? Are you faithfully serving the One Who died for you on the cross? O may the Lord help us to be obedient and faithful to our blessed Saviour. May we not run away as Jonah did from the privilege of being God's messengers to a world that needs to hear His word.