“Running Away from God”
Jonah 1:1-17
Have you ever been mad at God? He didn’t do things the way you
wanted? Thought: “God owes me...” You’re not alone. Hear of Jonah
and think whale… but it’s not really a story about a fish, but about God
and you & me and all of those who at one time or another find themselves
locked in a power struggle and running from God. Jonah was a prophet
of God – mentioned in II Kings 14 Jeroboam II  victory in expanding
territory. Book of Jonah starts with…
I. The Call of God 1The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of
Amittai: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it,
because its wickedness has come up before me.” Clearly…
A. God’s Will Revealed 1The word of the LORD came to Jonah
son of Amittai: must have been a profound experience of God’s
presence and power. He certainly shuddered in awe and wonder as
his call as a prophet was reaffirmed and validated. He was shocked
by what came next. God gave him…
B. A Tough Job 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach
against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
“Nineveh? Anywhere but Nineveh!” The capital city of the wicked
Assyrians. Nahum guilty of evil plots against God, exploitation of the
helpless, cruelty in war, idolatry, prostitution & witchcraft. Israel’s
greatest enemy (al-Qaida), God was telling him to go preach to them
 tough assignment. Think of the people you find it most difficult
to love. Think of the groups of people who you are most critical and
judgmental. Think of the personalities you dismiss, hoping to have
little contact with or responsibility for them. People who have become
enemies because of what they do, say or believe. Maybe these people
have declared themselves to be anti-God and we feel justified in our
judgment of them and writing them off. This was God’s call. Jonah…
C. Faced with a Choice  Jonah stiffened his back against
God’s command to go to Nineveh because he suspected that if they
responded and repented God would be merciful to them. The last
thing Jonah wanted to do was become an agent of mercy for the
salvation of his arch enemies. Jonah was a faithful prophet as long
as God wanted what Jonah wanted. But God’s marching orders went
contrary to Jonah’s desires and prejudices. What instructions from
God panic you? What does God show you to do that you respond:
“Anything but that Lord!” If He told us to communicate His mercy to
some person or group, or type of human need, what assignment
causes us to dig in our heels? When we do, we are…
II. Running from God 3But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed
for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound
for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for
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Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Jonah believed he knew better than
God  power struggle with God. Instead of obeying he found himself…
A. Turning Away 3But Jonah ran away from the LORD and
headed for Tarshish. Choice to follow God or go in the other
direction. Nineveh was 500 miles northeast. Joppa was west on the
Mediterranean coast. He went down to Joppa, where he found a
ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and
sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Tarshish was the farthest
place from Nineveh he could imagine; on the Atlantic coast of Spain.
We have choices also: Nineveh or Tarshish? Obedience or escape?
B. Obedience  Nineveh was the center of Assyrian power; the
biggest threat to Israel’s safety and survival. It was the epitome of
everything Jonah hated in the Gentile world. It was a synonym for
godless tyranny; an idolatrous, sin soaked city in his mind and nothing
was more repulsive to him than to go preach to those people. Nineveh
was the place of faithfulness and obedience even though it was a
tough assignment from God. Our Nineveh’s are clear indications of
God’s will for us, or whoever we have focused on as our enemy. It
could be God’s urging that we change some behavior, or do some
obedient action that demands more than we are ready to give.
Nineveh is the call of God sounding in our hearts to put Him first,
be His person and accept our vocation to be servants of His. Or…
C. Escape  Tarshish was the place of escape from God’s call.
It was almost a year’s voyage with stops at ports of call along the way.
Tarshish was the place of equivocation and escape. We can run
away to Tarshish without moving geographically. We can run away
from God by filling our lives with activities that squeeze time for Him
out, or take the place of ministry He has called us to. Some of us are
running off in all directions but are not under God’s direction
(divorce, job, activity, marriage). Becoming a Christian begins the
process of character transformation of our narcissistic self-concern. We
have not been saved just for our benefit and can’t use our
relationship with God as our own private possession to help us
accomplish our selfish goals. Many times we find ourselves on the
Joppa wharf: trying to decide whether or not to persist in going to
Tarshish. If we persist we will be…
III. Running Against the Wind vs.4-17 Jonah thought his own plans
would provide him security, but what he experienced was a…
A. Storm from God 4Then the LORD sent (hurled; like a javelin)
a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the
ship threatened to break up. God is always in control even when we
think we’re in control. God sent the storm. Things were not easy for
anyone. 5All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own
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god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But
Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a
deep sleep. Jonah thought he was finished with God, but God was not
finished with the AWOL prophet. The rebellious missionary bet his life
on the false idea that he could flee the presence of God. He lost.
After boarding the ship he went below deck to escape with sleep. The
only god not called on was Jehovah, the One true God, because
none of the sailors knew him. The only person on board who did know
him was asleep trying to escape the call of God he had rejected. 6The
captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? “What are you
doing down here?” Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take
notice of us, and we will not perish.” The sailors reasoned that
someone’s god was angry with someone on the ship; and they all
were being punished because of him. Jonah: self centered-bitter.
B. Chance for Repentance 7Then the sailors said to each other,
“Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this
calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. Some kind of
ship’s court of inquiry to be entered into the log. 8So they asked him,
“Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?
What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country?
From what people are you?” Jonah evades the question: he does
not tell them his occupation, town and country. 9He answered, “I am a
Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the
sea and the land.” Exposed before the pagans; he knew the God of
creation. His behavior contradicted his theology; assuming that he
could escape God. 10This terrified them and they asked, “What have
you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD,
because he had already told them so.) Jonah missed a chance to
repent. For Jonah to call on God for help would surely mean that He
would reissue the call the prophet had turned down. When we refuse
to do God’s will it puts us out of commission spiritually. Great
opportunities to witness to our faith are missed. 11The sea was getting
rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to
you to make the sea calm down for us?” They knew the storm was
God’s judgment on him so why didn’t he set things right with God?
Jonah puts it back on them: he made the sailors responsible. 12“Pick
me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become
calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon
you.” When we spend our lives thinking only about ourselves and
the times we can’t get our way, we tend to manipulate people to
fulfill our self-defeating prophecy by inflicting pain on us. 13Instead,
the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for
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the sea grew even wilder than before. They tried everything before
complying with Jonah’s request. What follows is Jonah’s…
C. Disobedience and Deliverance 14Then they cried to the
LORD, Jonah wouldn’t pray so they prayed: “O LORD, please do not
let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for
killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you
pleased.” 15Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and
the raging sea grew calm. Then they knew that Jehovah was
indeed in control over nature. 16At this the men greatly feared the
LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to
him. Sailors who had previously worshiped a collection of false
gods became people who worshipped Jehovah and vowed to
serve Him. Jonah would not go to Nineveh to prophesy to the Gentiles
there, but he is caught in a situation in his escape in which Gentile
sailors believed in Jehovah because of his brief witness of Him. God
intended to use the prophet regardless of his resistance. Jonah,
still ducking his responsibility, was in deep water. 17But the LORD
provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the
fish three days and three nights. The subject of the sentence is not
the great fish but God. God provided a way to deliver Jonah. God’s
intervention to save Jonah and send him on to Nineveh was for the
sake of the people in that great city. Jonah didn’t care about 120,000
Ninevites but God did. God was gracious to Jonah (fish) for the
benefit of the Ninevites.
We all have our own Nineveh’s & Tarshish. One is the city of faithfulness
and obedience the other a place of escape and equivocation. Could be
change of behavior, attitude, relationship, habit  heard clear call of
God and turned the other way  riding storm of consequences &
others are being effected by the situation.
The miracle of Jonah’s rescue was not just to save Jonah before he
drowned, but to save Nineveh from drowning in sin. God’s miracles in
our lives are for a greater purpose than our personal comfort or even
survival, but so that we can get on with His agenda of serving Him and
pressing on with evangelism and living out our destiny.