JONAH 1:1-3 - Jonah Tried to Circumvent God’s Will

We plan to post our verse by verse study of Jonah three days per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Of course, you can look at it on whatever day(s) work for you. Let's begin!

JONAH 1:1-3

Jonah Tried to Circumvent

God’s Will

Jonah 1:1-2 Now the word¹⁶⁹⁷ of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Susan: The name Jonah means “dove” and Amittai means “true fearing.”

Susie: I find it ironic that the man who did not want to take God’s message to the enemies of his people was named “dove” a symbol of both peace and the Holy Spirit.

Susan: The Lord gave Jonah a command to declare God’s judgement against the people of Nineveh.

Susie: Jonah was instructed to leave where he was and travel north east to the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Why was he to pronounce judgement on Nineveh?

Susan: God, in His sovereignty, knew the evil behaviors that the people of that city had given themselves over to.

Susie: God saw how they treated the nations they conquered, how cruel they were to captives, and how they worshiped false gods and idols rather than Him, the One True God.

Susan: God is a jealous God and does not kindly to His creation filling the space in the heart meant for Him alone with anyone or anything else.

Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

See also Deuteronomy 4:24, Deuteronomy 5:9

Susie: The exact message Jonah was to take to the Ninevites is not revealed until later because Jonah didn’t wait around to hear the rest of what God had in mind for him!

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Susie: Jonah headed off to run not in a north-easterly direction but the other way, first to Joppa and then by ship to Tarshish on the southern coast of Spain, about as far west as he could imagine going.

Susan: Jonah thought he was sailing away from the Lord and all his problems by heading as far in the opposite direction as he could possibly go.

Susie: However, is there anywhere we can go to hide from God?

Susan: There are no secret places hidden from God. He is the maker of all hiding places, but there is no place that is hidden from our Creator, our First Love.

Psalm 139:7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Susie: Jonah was soon to find out what David had expressed so well in Psalm 139. God is everywhere! And God is especially present with His people. Also, God is sovereign, and even when we try, we cannot thwart His plans.

QUESTIONS

1.        What did God command Jonah to do?

2.   Why might Jonah be reluctant to obey God’s instruction? (See Historical Background)

3.     Have you ever tried to run away from God or a specific thing God told you to do? How did that turn out for you?