Watch Jonah Run (Jonah 1:1-3)

Everybody can finish the phrase “Jonah and the whale.” Hardly anyone finishes the thought. We dig into why the Book of Jonah is far more than a fish story and why its opening scene is designed to spotlight God’s sovereignty over creation and over the human heart. Miraculous storms, a divinely directed sea creature, and a citywide turning point are not random Bible trivia, they’re deliberate proof that the Creator rules what he has made.

We also slow down and put Jonah back in his real world. Jonah isn’t an anonymous character or an inexperienced messenger. He’s a veteran prophet with a history in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, and God’s word comes to him with unmistakable commands: arise, go, call out. Then comes the assignment that changes everything, Nineveh. As the chief city of Assyria, Nineveh represents a violent, feared enemy, a nation known for cruelty and destined to threaten Israel’s future. Understanding that backdrop makes Jonah’s reaction less puzzling and more personal.

From there, we wrestle with a question many Christians quietly carry: what do you do when obedience feels dangerous, unfair, or beyond you? God doesn’t soften the mission with guarantees of safety or success, and Jonah responds by buying passage to Tarshish in the opposite direction, effectively trying to quit his calling. If you’ve ever tried to run from God’s will, this story hits close to home.

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Transcript

Jonah Is More Than A Fish Story

SPEAKER_00 0:54

If I asked you to finish this phrase, what would you say? Adam and Eve. I think just about everybody would say that. What about this one? Noah and the Ark. Well, here's another one. Daniel and the Lion's Den. Let me give you one more. Jonah and the whale would be what most people would say. Well, the truth is there's a lot more to Noah than the Ark. There's a lot more to Daniel's life than a lion's. And let me tell you, there's a lot more to Jonah than being swallowed by what the Bible calls a great fish. You know, sometimes in our Bible study we focus on the sensational and we miss other things that are just as significant. You see, this little book of Jonah is going to show us the sovereign control of the Creator over his creation. You've got a miraculous storm at sea, you've got this great fish that's told where to swim and what to swallow. You've got a plant that's going to grow at super speed, and then you've got one of the shortest sermons ever preached, followed by one of the greatest national revivals ever recorded in human history. Let me tell you, this little book, it's only 48 verses long, but it puts on a magnificent display of God's power over all creation, including the human heart. I just have to say it again, the book of Jonah is much more than a fish story. Well, now here in chapter one, we discover that there's actually no introduction to this book. It just begins with the statement Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai. Now nothing is said here about who Jonah is. Well we happen to know that Jonah was already quite famous. In fact, he had delivered a rather well known, famous prophecy back under the reign of King Jeroboam II, and it had come true. The prophecy is referred to here in Second Kings chapter fourteen and verse twenty five, which reads Jeroboam II restored the border of Israel from Lebel Hamath as far as the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet. By the way, we also know by dating this particular prophecy that Jonah ministered there in Israel for a number of years. The prophets Hosea and Amos also ministered during the reign of Jeroboam. So it's quite possible that they knew each other fairly well. Now here in Jonah chapter one, we're never told whether God came to him by a dream or a vision, but Jonah chapter one and verse two tells us that God delivered a command to him, this veteran prophet. He says to Jonah, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. You could actually paraphrase that to read, They smell to the highest heavens. Well, the command from God certainly gets Jonah's attention. Jonah's immediately overwhelmed with this distasteful emotion. These emotions are actually going to lead him to literally run away. But I don't want to be too hard on Jonah. Let's climb back into Jonah's generation so we can better understand why he decided to effectively retire from the office of prophet rather than go to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was the chief city of Assyria. Much of that city, by the way, has been excavated, and it reveals a rather once impressive fortress. It was built for war. It had a brutal nation housed inside. The Assyrians were Israel's most feared enemies. In fact, they were a constant threat to Israel's safety. And they they will indeed eventually conquer Israel. They're going to take the people into captivity some fifty years after Jonah's ministry ends. Now when the king of Assyria took the throne, he supposedly, they believed, joined the hand of deity, and the deity invested in him the power of their god, their national god was Marduk. The Assyrians were actually demon worshipping, immoral, unmerciful people. In fact, they boasted of their cruelty to their enemies. Archaeologists have discovered how the Assyrian army would parade about with the heads of their vanquished enemies elevated on poles. It was an Assyrian custom to gouge out the eyes of prisoners, to put hooks in their noses, and then humiliate them by leading them like cattle before killing them. Now God's call to Jonah here is very clear. It doesn't allow for any confusion. In fact, Jonah doesn't miss the point. God uses very clear verbs like arise, go, call out against. And again, they're not suggestions. In the Hebrew language, these verbs are imperatives. That is, they are they are commands that are unmistakable. Now, keep in mind God isn't unaware of the danger of this mission. He isn't covering up reality here. This isn't a sales pitch to Jonah. No, God is simply saying here in verse 2, their evil has come up before me. In other words, their perversion, their wickedness, their cruelty, none of that has gone unnoticed by God. God is essentially saying, Jonah, I know what I'm asking you to do, and I know how difficult this assignment is going to be for you. In fact, it's going to be dangerous. See, you might be tempted, beloved, to think that if God really knew what was involved in what he's calling you to do, perhaps today, he wouldn't have asked you to do it. I mean, if he knew how impossible your situation would become, he he would have never asked you to go. Oh no. God isn't out of touch. Even though his calling for your life might make you feel out of place. Well, now in his past ministry, Jonah had walked with God, Jonah had had spoken for God in his home country, he had he'd actually spoken to receptive audiences. But now, as God says here in verse 2, it's time for him to arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. This is going to be confrontational. By the way, don't miss the fact that God doesn't give Jonah any guarantee of success here or even safety. God does not say here, did you notice, arise, go to Nineveh, and they're going to repent and you're going to return home safely. No, none of that. Jonah is simply commanded to go confront this brutal nation for their wickedness. Now, verse 3 records Jonah's immediate response, 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 down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. Now we know that Joppa was a busy port city there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It's to there Jonah runs, he's going to catch a boat. We're told he's going to sail to Tarshish. That's a city located on the coast of Spain. And by the way, it was in the exact opposite direction from Nineveh. And you need to understand furthermore, in Jonah's day, Spain was considered the most western spot of the known world. So you see, Jonah is running as far away as he possibly can. Now don't misunderstand. Jonah knows he can't literally run away from the presence of the Lord. He has no doubt read the poems of King David. He's surely familiar with Psalm 139, which says, Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? So Jonah's not running away from God. He knows he can't do that. He's resigning his role as a prophet. He's quitting the ministry. See, this command is more than he bargained for, and at this point, this veteran prophet wants out. But let me tell you, and we'll learn this again. Whenever we run from God in disobedience, we pay a price, don't we? Sometimes it's a high price. But the truth is, when we run from God, we never find a place we can enjoy. You know, I'm convinced that the most unhappy person on the planet is a Christian who's running away from the will of God. Well, Jonah arrives here at the dock in Joppa. He boards this ship. He might even think that, you know, everything's working out really well. He was able to get a ticket and become a passenger. Well, God's just going to have to find another prophet to go to Nineveh. Now, it appears all that Jonah wants is a nap. Verse 5 will inform us that Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. I can't help but think that Jonah might not have slept so soundly. Had he been able to see through the flooring of his cabin down into the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea, see far below the ship is a creature swimming quietly, keeping pace, under orders to just tag along. See, unlike Jonah, this creature will obey every command from its creator God. And we'll get to that part soon enough. We're out of time for today. Until next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.