Dear Friends

This post is a little long, but well worth reading. It contains some valuable insights learned from Jonah’s disobedience and his attempt to flee from the Lord’s presence. From Jonah’s life we see the consequences of trying to run from God. We also see God’s persistence in reaching out to us and moving us toward the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives.

Billy Long

LESSONS FROM JONAH

GOD’S LOVE FOR THE WORLD

The book of Jonah is a missionary book. It shows God’s love for a lost world. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria, a cruel nation, the nation which was later to carry away captive the northern kingdom of Israel, Ephraim. Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and God in His mercy spared the city.

PRESUMING UPON GOD’S MERCY

Jonah knew about God’s mercy…and strained it to the limit. He knew God would forgive Nineveh (4:2), and he did not want that. He probably assumed God would also forgive him. Therefore, he deliberately disobeyed the Lord and initially refused to go. God’s mercy and steadfast love are beyond our comprehension, but in His sovereign wisdom He still knows how to extend a hand of discipline in moving us toward His purpose. We make a serious mistake when we confuse His love and mercy with permissiveness.

Jonah intended to burn his bridges behind him when he embarked upon that boat to Tarshish. The Mediterranean Sea is very large, and during Solomon’s time ships from Tarshish came to Israel only once every three years. Therefore, it is obvious that Jonah was trying to put himself in a situation in which it would be impossible to change his mind and in which God, even if He should forgive Jonah, would be unable to send him back to Nineveh anytime soon. Jonah probably assumed God would find someone else to send.

Jonah was to learn a hard lesson. If you disobey God, He can forgive you and restore you; but if you deliberately burn your obedience bridges behind you in trying to make obedience impossible, God can still make a way, a very uncomfortable way, for you to get back to where you’re supposed to be. A person may think he is “safe” from the will and purpose of God as he sails out onto the blue Mediterranean Sea. But God sends a storm, and then He send a whale. God can get you back to His will by means of “Whale Belly Transport.” Many who have tried to run from God have found themselves traveling in a dark “whale belly.” Once Jonah got onto the boat there was no easy way out, no easy way back, and no comfortable way back. However, there was a way. He had to marinade in whale belly enzymes for three days. He definitely returned to Israel a lot more tender of heart.

A WHALE

A “whale” is a very uncomfortable circumstance which serves as God’s means designed to return you to God’s will while giving you incentive not to run away again. A “whale” is also a place of second chance.

THE THINGS THAT GOD PREPARES

The apostle Paul tells us that all things are for our sakes. God “goes out of His way” to create circumstances that both teach us and move us along toward His will and purpose. Look what God did for Jonah.

“The Lord sent a great wind.” 1:4

“The Lord prepared a great fish.” 1:17

“God prepared a plant.” 4:6

“God prepared a worm.” 4:7

“God prepared a vehement east wind.” 4:8

All of these were prepared in order to instruct and motivate Jonah toward the will of God. I’m sure the Lord does the same for us. Wisdom cries out in the streets. The voice and hand of God are everywhere to be heard and seen.

FLEEING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Jonah got onto a boat to Tarshish. Tarshish was located on the most remote part of the Mediterranean Sea, probably in southern Spain near Gibraltar. To sail past this point would be the vast unknown Atlantic Ocean. Jonah intended to go to a location that represented the point farthest from and most opposite to where God was sending him.

He was fleeing not only from the purpose of God, but also from the very presence of God. How foolish of us to think we can succeed at this task. It is like a goldfish swimming in a little bowl in your kitchen deciding to run away from home. There just isn’t any place to go. You cannot go anywhere that God isn’t. He is there. He “has your number” and your address. You can not hide when God wants to deal with you. (Ps 139).

ASLEEP

Usually a person running from God is unable to sleep very well, especially during a storm. There is no rest to the wicked. But Jonah was able to sleep. He slept to avoid praying. He could not pray as did all the others up on deck who feared for their lives. He was in rebellion and knew what God would say. He was trying to forget what he had already heard. So he avoided calling upon God.

Why was Jonah able to sleep? The Bible speaks of being “at ease in Zion.” Being “at ease” speaks of the false sense of security of those who are about to be judged. (Amos 6:1; Zech 1:15; Luke 12:19). Any ease outside of God’s will is like relaxing in your house built on sand right over the San Andreas fault just before the big earthquake.

“THROW ME INTO THE SEA.”

Jonah probably saw death as a means of continued disobedience, just another, yet final, step in avoiding Nineveh. He probably assumed he could repent, die, and go on to Abraham’s bosom. So he landed in the water to await death by drowning and finally be out of his misery.

EXPELLED FROM GOD’S SIGHT

Jonah “woke up” to realize that he was not dead, but in a very dark, remote, and frightening place As the whale descended into the depths, Jonah came to the realization of what it really means to be expelled from God’s presence. He had been hurled into the deep like a stone and felt himself falling to the bases of the underwater mountains. The mighty waters covered him with an intense distress.

Sometimes the greatest discipline God can mete out to us is to give us a very excessive and heavy dose of the very thing we seek and ask for in our rebellion. An appropriate judgment upon those who “flee from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3) is to be “expelled from His sight” (Jonah 2:4).

However, in reality, Jonah was under the discipline of a loving heavenly Father who had not forsaken him in the least, but had let him get a little taste of what he was asking for, while simultaneously working it out for Jonah to get back on the track of obedience.

The wicked mistakenly consider it a relief to get away from God, but to those who in their hearts love Him it is a most awful terror. It is a cold, hopeless, and most destitute feeling. Jonah cried out in horror thinking God had actually expelled him from His presence. How relieved he must have been to discover that God still heard his cry. God may sometimes allow Himself to be temporarily out of your sight, but you are never out of His sight.

JONAH LEARNED A FEW LESSONS: He had not escaped the presence of God (Psalm 139). He had not escaped the call of God (Romans 11:29).

When you run from God, His incomprehensible mercy and steadfast love will follow you (Psalm 23:6).

God’s word will follow you and will, in fact, chase you down and overtake you (Zechariah 1:6; Proverbs 13:13).

Sometimes God says, “I want you” and it seems He takes you whether you like it or not (Acts 9).

While this was not the case with Jonah, it is possible for people to forfeit their blessing and their usefulness when they persist in stubbornness and long continuance in refusing God (Jeremiah 7:12-16)

When the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and you are struggling to obey and struggling with your sense of weakness and failure, God’s grace is so powerful and His love is so great that if you see Him as your God (Jonah 2:1) and cry out to Him with some inclination to obey, He is able to hold you up, give you grace, and enable you by His sovereign power. (Jude 1:24-25; Hebrews 13:20-21).

“God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” 2 Timothy 1:9

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