It was real faith that compelled Jonah to flee from God. We often think that the reasons people struggle to obey God is owing to some modicum of faith. But Jonah knew well who God was and what God would do, and so he ran. You see Jonah is a bigot, and when God called the prophet to go and preach to the people of the city of Nineveh Jonah knew that God would save them. So he simply refused to obey. Faith compelled him to disobedience. Perhaps such a sentiment seems like little more than provocative prose to you. After all genuine faith transforms us, doesn’t it? Well not exactly. Of course faith is required of all who would be transformed, but it is not faith that changes us. It is the progressive work of the Spirit of God that changes us. James is writing to “changed” people when he says “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). The true child of God is torn between the realities of changed and still changing. Jonah evidences such a tension in his character. He is a believer, but he is still a rebel.
Jonah 1:1-6 sets the plot in motion. It’s a quick action story with zero build up to the main plot. It reads:
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 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 on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.”
A little context helps us understand the struggle Jonah had with compliance. Nineveh was not simply a pagan city, it was a great city within the nation of Assyria, and Assyria was a mortal foe of Israel. As a nation they were known to be incredibly cruel. It is probably naive to think that they were more cruel than surrounding nations during their heyday, but they certainly seemed to advertise their cruelty well. In either case, Jonah, being a nationalistic Israelite, was not interested in seeing Nineveh sparred from God’s wrath and judgment, but rather he hoped for their destruction. It’s easier, then, to appreciate why Jonah struggled to bring the message of repentance to them…and yet, of course, it’s completely absurd to think that a prophet would run away from God.
Douglas Stuart seems to think that Jonah’s flight evidences his uniformity to the commonly held ancient belief in local deities. Stuart writes:
OT prophets could be used by God even if their theological understanding was not perfect in every area, and Jonah’s theology apparently included, incorrectly, the virtually uniform ancient idea that a god had power only in those places where he was actively worshiped. Away from Israel, Jonah hoped to be away from God’s power to make him do what he didn’t want to do – preach to Israel’s hated enemy, Assyria. (Jonah, 818).
But Jonah tells us that he knows all about God’s reign over the whole earth. He tells the sailors, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9). No, Jonah’s theology is not bad. He knows who God is and what God will do, and so he runs because he fears it. Our own rebellion can make us do crazy things too. That’s the nature of rebellion. Jeremiah talks about the absurdity of it when he writes:
11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)
And to highlight the lunacy of Jonah’s move we might look to Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
Where was Jonah going to go to hide from God’s presence? Where could he flee to that God would not already be there wondering what took him so long to arrive. Where could Jonah go that God would not show up and rebuke him…or swallow him whole?
But rebellion is more than ludicrous, it is dangerous. The Bible reminds us elsewhere that we will either bow our knee to God in worship now, or we will bow our knee in submission to his wrath later (Romans 14:11). Rebellion has consequences: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). And for Jonah, his consequences show up in the form of a terrifying storm. It is a storm so overwhelming that experienced sailors are fearing for their lives. But perhaps more terrifying from my perspective is the consequence that Jonah reaps in a hard heart.
You see while the sailors are on the deck crying out for help from their deities, Jonah is fast asleep in the belly of the ship. His rebellion has led him, rather quickly to be at peace with his sin. It is a terrifying thought that I could become so comfortable in my sin that I no longer even hear God’s warnings and calls to repent. But it can happen. And while you may sleep through the storm of God’s furry, it will rage around you nonetheless.
The story of Jonah is an incredibly interesting one. It plays out across what some scholars call seven episodes. And as each episode unfolds we see parallels between what God wants to do in Nineveh and what he is doing in Jonah’s life. Here we see episode one: Jonah is in rebellion against God and the Lord is going to warn him of impending doom if he doesn’t turn around…now! It’s a warning I pray we all regard.
Are you on the run from God? Is he calling you to a task, a mission, is he simply calling you to repentance and faith? There is no where that you can go to hide from Him. Let Jonah’s example give you the impetus to act, to turn around. Tarshish may seem like a great destination, but there’s a storm brewing that you won’t be able to sleep through forever.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 