Running

Running from God’s Call (Jonah 1:1-4, 11-17, 2:1, 10) Jonah’s name is connected with the word “Dove”, which signifies a messenger. His father’s name was Amittai, which means “My Truth”. Put the two together and we find that Jonah, by name, was to be a messenger of the Truth! (Alternative meaning of Jonah: “Complainer”) God called Jonah in a “clear and unmistakable way” to go to Ninevah and preach a message of warning and a call to repentance. Does God still reveal his will to in a “clear and unmistakable” way as He did to Jonah? If so, how? Jonah’s Flight Tarshish was believed to be approximately 2,000 miles in the opposite direction to which God was sending him. To fail to comply with God’s call is a sin (Num. 32:23, Heb. 10:38) You can never run far enough to escape from the presence of God (Ps. 139:7-10) The alternative to flight: obedience in faith with prayer Relying on man’s “best” is a poor substitute for being in God’s grace Phoenician’s had the best ships & crews, yet this ship was foundering in the storm. They could not escape God’s storm (Jonah 1:13) Why did Jonah run from God’s call? Fear? Ancient historians say that Ninevah was the largest city in the world at that time, an important capital of a fierce empire, therefore, definitely an intimidating place to go. So Jonah may have had reason to be afraid. But Jonah was apparently no coward as he was willing to sacrifice his life to save the sailors (Jonah 1:12) Prejudice/Hatred? (Jonah 2:9) Prior to Jonah, God had never sent a Jewish prophet to preach to a Gentile nation. In Jeremiah 18 God promises that if a prophet brings a message of impending doom to a nation, but that nation repents of its evil, God will avert his anger. (see also 2 Pe. 3:9) Jonah probably wasn’t fond of the idea of helping to save hated enemies. How would you respond if God asked you to go and preach to Saddam Hussein & his Revolutionary Guard or Osama Bin Laden & El-Khada?

God does not always do what we might consider to be “fair” (e.g. Matt.20:12-15, Luke 15:1132) or said another way, God is often merciful when we would not be (but we should be, Luke 6:36, Matt. 5:44) God often allows us to experience at least some of the consequences of our own wrong choices God allowed Jonah to be thrown into the raging sea (Jonah 1:15) Our wrong choices can affect others Jonah’s conduct put the entire ship’s crew in peril, but it also led the crew to a knowledge of the true God (Jonah 1:14-16) God gives us opportunities to repent God preserved Jonah’s life in the belly of the fish (Jonah 1:17, Matt. 12:39-40, Luke 11:29-30) Could that really happen? British seaman named James Bartley, was thrown into sea while hunting a sperm whale near the Falkland Islands in 1891. He disappeared. Just before nightfall the dying whale came up. Its blubber was cut off and its stomach removed. Men noticed the stomach moving. They cut into the stomach and fond an unconscious Bartley. He was in a comma for two weeks. After a month he was able to recall being thrown in the air, seeing a great mouth open up and then being swallowed. He had been inside the stomach for 15 hours. His hair fell out and his skin was bleached white. He lived 18 more years thereafter. When we repent, God assists us After Jonah prayed, God delivered Jonah from the belly of the fish, at a time and a place consistent with His purpose (Jonah 2:1, 7 & 10)