Running from God - Thoughts on the Book of Jonah

Have you ever had the experience of running from God?

What would cause us to try to run from God?

• So that we wouldn’t come under God’s scrutiny
• So that we wouldn’t feel so guilty about our behaviour
• To avoid making the changes we obviously need to make
• To escape doing the things or taking up the challenges God is giving us
• We don’t like where God is leading us

Jonah was a prophet of God, active in the 8th Century before the time of Jesus
(around the same time as Amos and Hosea). Jonah is mentioned as speaking the
Word of the Lord in 2 Kings 14:25.

Here, Jonah was asked to go to Nineveh (some 500 miles from his hometown) and challenge the people there about the way they were living. If this wasn’t tricky enough, Jonah was asked to go “at once”, meaning he shouldn’t take the time to weigh up the pros and cons, just go! Jonah was supposed to just trust God that he would be the right person at the right time in the right place, simply because God said so!

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and a thriving metropolis. However, Nineveh was also known as the “Robber City” because it looted and overran other neighbouring places (through its greedy and cruel political leadership, and the acquiescence of its citizens – either actively or passively), and tolerated commercial exploitation. However, this was not a city or a people God was going to give up on. God wanted them to be confronted with the truth of His love for all humankind, and the possibility of them finding their way back to God.

This text was perhaps recorded some 5 centuries later, looking back on a well known story that typified that tenuous relationship that human beings can have with God’s call upon their lives. It was probably written against a background of contempt, judgement, even hate for all non-Hebrew (therefore heathen) races of people. Nineveh was not a place to visit, or a place to concern oneself over its welfare – Nineveh was viewed as lost to God for ever, and far too scary to have anything to do with.

We can sometimes have that view of the world around us, which can be easily reflected in how we interrelate to the community we live in, ie. we can be somewhat standoffish! We don’t like it, we don’t trust it, we may even fear it, and we feel no compassion for it or bear any consideration toward it! This is not how God feels – God loves this city and wants to see its people redeemed to Him!! And this is despite knowing all of the destructive behaviour and corruption that takes place there. This “wickedness” (verse 2b) depreciates all of what God created and declared ‘very good’; so God very much has an interest in bringing about positive, re-creative change!

God called Jonah, he was the one to take God’s message to Nineveh. Jonah’s
response > instead of heading eastward to Nineveh, Jonah goes in completely the opposite direction [spending resources along the way] … to get onboard a ship
bound westward to Tarshish (as far away as he possibly could get). Thus, Jonah
had effectively resigned from his position as a prophet of God.

We probably know deep within ourselves that we can’t really escape the presence
of God (refer Psalm 139:7-12), but at times still try it – Jonah tried it here! Jonah was likely scared of the danger and complexity of Nineveh, experiencing feelings of anxiety and stress – ‘how would he know what to say and do when he got to a place like this’! It wasn’t that Jonah was ignorant or unsure of God’s purposes, he actually fled because he was well aware of the implications of obeying!

There was actually even more to it than this, some deep theological questions that Jonah had; which are covered in chapter 4, and we’ll consider later. Suffice to
say now that our belief systems are often more of our own creation for our comfort, rather than being in line with what God actually thinks!

So here’s Jonah trying to escape God on this ship bound for Tarshish, and up comes
a storm (verse 4)! What is the significance of this storm? Life has enough challenges that just naturally come along, let alone taking ourselves out of the will of God and trying to live that way!!

This not only brought much increased danger to Jonah, but also brought danger to his travelling companions as the ship began to break up and sink. Our drifting from the will of God not only affects us personally, but affects the others around us as well – especially those in our family!

Larry Richards writes, "Our lives and the lives of others are woven together. We cannot disobey God without in some way affecting others for ill".

As the storm hit, the others on board did everything they could think of to save themselves, but Jonah had become so inert and actionless (through his attempts to silence God’s call on him), that he just slept. We have a picture here of possibly superstitious, maybe faithless people, having to coerce a prophet of the great God Yahweh to wake up and start praying – rather a disappointing and challenging image!

This storm that affected this ship seems to have been unexpected or un-seasonal, as the sailors quickly tried to find other (more supernatural) explanations for this situation … could they be innocently caught up in a conflict between some deity and one of the people aboard! Through their customary means of interpreting truth, casting lots, these sailors suss out the one to blame for the dangerous situation that had come upon them (verse 7b). Jonah drew the ‘short straw’.

Verse 9f > To Jonah’s credit (and this was probably the beginning of his turn around), Jonah admitted that all this strife was due to his disobedience to the great Creator God who had always cared for him and had called him into service. Indeed, Jonah needed to make such an admission, as a deficiency in his integrity had already been interpreted by those around him … through his inactivity in such a crisis.

Jonah was able to come up then with a solution. These others would be much better off if they jettisoned Jonah out of their lives, because it was he who was bringing unnecessary problems to them. This of course was a tragic negative witness, but at least Jonah was willing to accept and bear the responsibility (which often doesn’t occur). To their great credit his shipmates didn’t want to throw Jonah overboard to
his death, yet in the end they saw no other option; and the storm then ceased.

[A side lesson here > it is ironic how God is still able to draw compassion out of people despite the negative witness of His people. Jonah’s companions also began to pray to Jonah’s God for safety, understanding and forgiveness, and express faith. Although God wants to use us to fulfil His mission, he is never totally dependent
upon us!]

Those on the ship would have assumed that they had thrown Jonah to his death, however God was not finished with Jonah yet! One season of unthinking disobedience was not going to undermine such a life of potential blessing. Just as God was not going to give up on the city of Nineveh and its inhabitants, God was not going to give up on Jonah being His spokesperson! God provided a means of salvation.

However, just as the People of Israel had to collectively endure periods of exile to
get their minds right, Jonah would have to spend some quality time in a large fish’s belly to refocus his decision-making. When we come out of the self-inflicted storms of life, we too need time and space to refocus, to reconnect with God’s love for us and His purpose for our lives. As was the case with Jonah, this will often necessarily be spent in the place of prayer.

Jonah’s prayer (contained in chapter two) contains reflections on how he had found himself in the worst of all situations – in his own mind estranged from God with
no way back, in mortal danger with no future – basically in hell. Yet God saved him from his distress – Jonah hadn’t been left or forgotten. God knew Jonah’s true heart (exemplified in this prayer), and God saved him – bringing him back up to dry ground.

In 2:8 we read Jonah praying the words: "Those who worship vain idols, forsake their true loyalty", suggesting that Jonah fully recognised the error of his ways – that those who are self-serving are bound to lose their way. We then read of Jonah’s gratitude and recommitment to God’s good purposes: "But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!" (2:9)

Following this time out, Jonah was again called and entrusted with exactly
the same mission as he was originally! How will he go?

Summarising so far, running from God will never bring happy circumstances – there will be repercussions for taking ourselves away from God’s best for us. However, this is never the end of the road for us – whereas we may still suffer some of the repercussions of rebellion, when we make ourselves available again, God will rescue us and guide back to more fulfilling places. Having returned, we need to spend time
• reflecting on what we have learnt
• finding new ways of dealing with our weaknesses
• enriching our relationship with God in ways that will limit our need to flee
• focussing on being thankful for what God has done, is doing, and will do … in our daily lives.

At the beginning of chapter 3 we have “take two” – “groundhog day”, God’s repeated call to Jonah to head to Nineveh! And this time Jonah complied. We shouldn’t of course rely on second chances – immediate response is better, however God’s continuing desire to lead and bless us brings further opportunities even if we lose our way.

When Jonah got to the city, he cried out his one sentence sermon. Now you might think a one sentence sermon is a good thing, but would you, as a resident of Nineveh, want to hear this particular one sentence sermon: "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

Nineveh was being threatened by warmongering tribes to the north; and such words like this, being delivered with confidence and authority, seemed to have made an impact on a people who already had a sense of vulnerability and impending doom. Yet, by all reports, these were fairly hardened people, unfamiliar with Jonah’s God, and unused to the ethical code of the Hebrew people.

This leads to the strong impression that God Himself had been inwardly preparing these people in advance, despite the seeming improbability of this, to respond at that moment when God’s prophet would step up! When so strongly confronted with their fate, the people and leadership of Nineveh would be able to link this with their inappropriate and wicked (1:2b) behaviour.

This provides a reminder to us that we are never alone as we seek to testify to the name of Jesus in our daily lives – God goes before us, and we shouldn’t be surprised when the results are far better than we could have ever imagined.

We read that the people of that city believed God. What a response to Jonah’s one sentence sermon! What was Jonah worried about, causing him to run away the first time!

Jonah carried the word of God – and the people demonstrated their repentance through proclaiming a fast, and by wearing the garments of mourning. [These foreign people were responding the way God had hoped Israel would, but often didn’t.] Not only did the people believe, but also, when he heard of this, the king humbled himself by taking off his regal robe, expressed personal sorrow and repentance, declared a national fast, and proclaimed a cessation of hostilities toward their neighbours. The king hoped that God would change His mind, and disaster would not strike Nineveh.

God’s passion, which led to His sending of Jonah to Nineveh, had been fuelled by His love for these Assyrians (along with His compassion for their victims). So, indeed God would change His mind; it seems that these people were coming to their senses – accounting for their destructive practices.

When God is moving in a place, even in a most unexpected place, we followers of Jesus need to be ready to be His hands and feet and mouthpieces, so that people
might truly believe. God chooses to use us – God wants to use us to fulfill His desires. An obedient Jonah here was able to provide the catalyst for monumental change.

Now you’d reckon that Jonah would be pretty rapt, wouldn’t you. He’d been given
a second chance, and it only took one sentence to see thousands of people believe – an extraordinary success. Wrong! Look at Chapter 4 and Verse 1.

So why did he agree to preach if he didn’t want to see this sort of outcome? Yes, he should’ve responded to God’s call, but also needed to check that he understood and accepted God’s purpose in this call! He must have just been going through the motions, without any emotional bond to a good outcome!

So we now can understand the real reason Jonah fled – not so much that he was scared, or felt unprepared; that he just plainly didn’t like what God was going to
do if the people responded as they did – ie. forgive them. Jonah’s practical living theology was not in line with the heart of God, and Jonah was refusing to move on this! Jonah knew very well in his head that God was gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love (even to Israel’s enemies), but Jonah just plainly didn’t like this. Jonah was not prepared to accept that Israel was not the only favored nation. Jonah still hoped that Nineveh would be destroyed.

So Jonah fled the first time, and only, as it turns out, begrudgingly spoke the
second time. These people were aggressive and untrustworthy foreigners and, according to Jonah, should not be afforded God’s kind consideration … only judgment!

I’ll just throw this out there for your consideration …

Do we sometimes witness to our faith with a degree of hesitation, or double-mindedness, because we’re not quite sure that we want this or that person to be afforded God’s grace and be accepted as God’s child?

Do we perhaps pray for a person, still not sure whether they really deserve our forgiveness or the forgiveness of God?

Are we able to accept that even people who have been destructive within our community in the past, or that have abused us personally and hurt us deeply,
can still access God’s grace, and be in receipt of God’s forgiveness?

Do we just parrot the words that God is full of grace and mercy, without being
able to apply this in everyday life?

God will always have compassion on a people that are so confused and dislocated that they could be described as: "not know[ing] their right hand from their left" (4:11), just like small children without parental guidance. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, as this is just potential wasted – and God wants to give them every opportunity to turn from their evil ways and live.

In conclusion, Jonah’s inability to deal with God’s willingness to forgive led him into anger, despair and depression. He would rather die than come to grips with God’s gracious love for his enemies. [Victor Hugo’s famous book “Les Miserables” mirrors this story, with the town police officer Javert being never willing to accept the repentance and subsequent change in the life of the book’s hero – John Valjean, leading to his own destruction.]

God though remained available to Jonah, reasoning with him regarding the source
of Jonah’s anger and the origin of God’s compassion. Jonah’s anger was in no way righteous, but rather based in selfishness and his own comfort zones. Self pitying Jonah was much more concerned for the shade that he lost when the bush withered [refer incident recorded in 4:6-10], a bush which he in no way labored over, than he was for the populace of Nineveh that God had indeed creatively labored over. God will remain vigilant in seeking the welfare of that which he so carefully & lovingly created.

A.R. Gorden wrote: "The book of Jonah was written to bring the people to a better mind, to make them realize their responsibilities to the great world around them, and to inspire them with something of God’s passion for humanity."