Running From God

KEY VERSE: “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 Tarshish to flee from the LORD.” —Jonah 1:3, New International Version

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Jonah 1:1-4, 10-15, 17; 2:1, 10

JONAH WAS AN active prophet at the time that Jeroboam, son of Joash, was king of the northern or ten-tribe kingdom, about 800 to 750 B.C. See II Kings 14:27. The prophetic book which bears his name describes the circumstances of an assignment given by God to Jonah; namely, to preach against the great city of Nineveh because their wickedness had come up before God. Jonah’s response was most unusual. He went in the opposite direction to run away from God.

Nineveh was the principal city of the Assyrians. Their armies were feared by all of the neighboring countries, and these nations would enjoy seeing retribution against Assyria because of her tyranny and cruelty.

If Jonah preached to Nineveh, would they reform? Jonah did not want to risk finding this out, so he proposed to distance himself as far as possible from that city. He boarded a ship in Joppa going to Tarshish and paid the fare. Later he went down into the hold to sleep.

A storm arose as it is written: “The Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.” (Jon. 1:4, NIV) The captain and the sailors were distressed. They awakened Jonah, cast lots to determine who was responsible, and Jonah was indicated. It was determined that he had run away from a service God wanted him to perform. Jonah offered to be cast into the sea to calm it, but the sailors were reluctant to do this, and rowed hard to get back to land to no avail. As a result they were forced to cast Jonah overboard, and the sea became calm.

Jonah did not drown. The Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in the ‘belly’ of the fish three days and three nights. (Jon. 1:17) This happened so that the Ninevites and the world would have an important sign.—Luke 11:30

During the ministry of Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees sought a sign from him to verify that he was the Son of God. The answer Jesus gave them is recorded in Matthew 12:39-41. The only sign they would receive would be the sign of Jonah. It is evident that the experiences of Jonah were to provide this sign concerning the death of Jesus, and that he would be in sheol [hades] for the same period of time.

The resurrection of Jesus from the condition of death was miraculous, as was also the expelling of Jonah from the great fish onto dry land. It is noteworthy that Jonah prayed to God and said, “Out of the belly of hell [sheol] cried I, and thou [Jehovah] heardest my voice.” (Jon. 2:2) Sheol, translated “hell,” has also been translated “grave.” Symbolically, Jonah was in the state of death—he would have died if the Lord had not delivered him.

As we know, there is no human reasoning that can interfere with the fulfillment of God’s plan, so also Jonah had another opportunity to carry out his mission. There is no place that anyone can go to hide from God—not even in “sheol,” the grave. God’s purpose is clearly that “all that are in the graves shall hear his [Jesus’] voice. And shall come forth.”—John 5:28,29

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