Running Away from Doing What's Right

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai.

1. (verse 1, optional question) Look up Jonah in a Bible Dictionary or look up in a Concordance scriptures that mention Jonah, and write a brief report.

Jonah is a historical figure. 2 Kings 14:25 tells us about a successful campaign of Israel, "...in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher." Both the names of Jonah and Amittai are unusual Hebrew names. They only appear in two locations in the Old Testament – in the 2 Kings verse and in the book of Jonah. It is highly unlikely that there was more than one Jonah son of Amittai. Jonah held the office of prophet during the reign of Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, about 750 B.C. This dovetails nicely with the history of Nineveh, since at this time the city was in its hey day. It was the capital of the ferocious Assyrian empire. This would explain Jonah’s hatred toward the people and his fear of going to Nineveh.

2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."

2. (verse 2) Why do you think God tells Jonah to preach against Nineveh? What does this mean to you? What should we be preaching against today?

It is apparent that the wickedness had become so rampant in Nineveh that God felt it was necessary to intervene. This seems surprising since Nineveh was a pagan city, and you would expect ungodly practices in a pagan city. But here in about 750 B.C. we see God reaching his hand of mercy to the Gentiles. Nineveh was the capital of the great and cruel Assyrian kingdom. And yet God had compassion on these people. He wanted them to hear the message of redemption and have a chance to repent.

This concept is entirely out of place in the Old Testament where we see all the Hebrew writers emphasizing God’s covenant relationship with his chosen nation – Israel. Only after the resurrection of Christ and the acceptance of Christianity by the Gentiles could the Jewish believers begin to understand God’s mercy toward the pagans, as well as the Jews. And yet here nestled in the middle of the history of Israel is this remarkable story of God’s concern for the heathen nations. God is still concerned with those who are unbelievers. He still want us to go into all the world and proclaim his message of salvation and hope.

3 But 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.

3. (verse 3) What bad attitude does Jonah display here? What is your Nineveh? What are some ways Christians avoid responsibility today?

Jonah did not want to obey God. So he ran in the opposite direction trying to flee God’s plan for his life. From 2 Kings we realize that Jonah lived in Northern Israel. Nineveh would have been east from there. But instead he went to the coast and boarded a ship to present-day Spain. He was heading in the opposite direction.

Smart comments, "At no time does Jonah conduct himself as one would expect a faithful Israelite prophet to do. The story from beginning to end is that of a man called to be a prophet but stubbornly refusing to accept his commission. Even the partial acceptance of it in chapter 3 is so vitiated by the spirit of vengefulness that it can hardly be counted an acceptance at all."

What is your Nineveh? What is it that God has asked you to do that you are trying to run away from? Whatever the reason for Jonah’s disobedience – his prejudice, his hatred for his enemies, his fear that the Ninevites would treat him cruelly – the fact is he was rebelling from God. Perhaps you have your own reasons for disobeying God; maybe you have rationalized your behavior and come up with some very good excuses. But you are just being like Jonah – running away from your responsibility. And as we will see with Jonah, you cannot hide from God no matter how hard you might try.

4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

4. (verse 4) Why do you think God caused this storm? Has God ever caused a storm in your life because of your disobedience?

Jonah is running away from God and then a violent storm arises. Have you seen storms in your life come when you are being disobedient? Sometimes God sends those storms to get our attention. He wants us to have the right attitude. When we don’t, he loves us enough to do something about it. Jonah had to suffer greatly because of his disobedience.

Perhaps you’ve been hiding from God’s will for your life. If a storm has not come up yet, it’s not too late to turn back to God and allow him to have his way. If you decide to continue in your rebellion, don’t be surprised if a storm might come your way. When it does, remember that God is simply trying to get you to listen to his voice speaking to your heart.

5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own 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.

5. (verse 5) Have you ever felt like sleeping all the time? How is sleep a refuge from problems? When you felt like sleeping a lot, how did you come out of that?

It is remarkable that Jonah was able to sleep through the storm and all the commotion happening on the deck. I have noticed that sometimes people use sleep to avoid their problems. When they are facing some difficulty in their life, the tension becomes so great that they feel tired all the time. As long as they are sleeping, they don’t have to face their responsibility. Jonah was trying to sleep through his storm.

But he was going to be rudely awakened. We can never really hide from our problem nor can we hide from God. There will come a time when we have to wake up and face the storms that are swirling about us.

6 The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."

6. (verse 6) Why do you think Jonah didn’t want to call on his God? When you are being disobedient, do you find it difficult to pray?

Jonah is in a real dilemma. All the others on board have been calling out to their gods who were not gods at all, but just wood, gold, and silver images. Jonah knew the one true God, and yet he lay asleep. America is facing many difficulties. Everyone is crying out to their own gods looking for answers, but their gods of science, education, psychology, and social action are just wooden idols. They need to turn to the living God for their answers. The problem is that the church is asleep. We are resting, hiding from our responsibility of preaching the message of Christ. America will not be renewed by new programs or a new political agenda. America will only be renewed when it turns back to God. Jonah was to take the message to Nineveh. We are to take the message to our neighbors, our community, and our nation.

Jonah didn’t want to call on God because he didn’t want to face him. When we are being disobedient, we don’t spend time in prayer because we are reluctant to hear what God might say to us. This neglect of our prayer life affects our entire spiritual well-being. Suddenly we become discouraged and feel overwhelmed by our problems. Jonah was in real distress.

7 Then 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.

8 So 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?"

7. (verses 7-8) Who is acting more responsibly and with more compassion here – Jonah or the sailors? Where do you think this selfish attitude of his came from?

This is quite amazing that the sailors instead of immediately throwing Jonah overboard, wish to know more about him and his situation. It seems they were genuinely concerned for his well-being. In contrast, Jonah had been displaying a completely selfish attitude. The ship was in peril and all those on board were in danger of losing their lives. And it was all because of his disobedience. Instead of helping with the rescue efforts, he was asleep below deck.

This is what happens when we become rebellious towards God – we become very self-centered. All that matters is our own feelings. We lose sight of the needs of others. Jonah was called by God to help people. We know that God had given him the office of prophet. He had been appointed to minister to others. But now he had lost all concern for the needs of those on the ship. All he could do was think of himself. As Christians, we need to be careful that we don’t allow ourselves to become so filled with self-pity that we lose sight of other’ needs.

Scarlett remarks, "If God has a controversy with his people today, it is because we are all selfish men; because our main preoccupation is with ourselves; because our reaction to every new proposal is a personal one, ‘How will this affect me, my wealth, my position, my future?’ rather than ‘How will it further the general good of men?’ "

9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."

8. (verse 9) What do you think of Jonah’s reply? How could Jonah say he worshipped (KJV - feared) the Lord when he was running away from him?

Even though Jonah was running from God, he still could not help but acknowledge that he worshipped the God of heaven. Perhaps he sensed that he was doing something wrong, but he could not deny the reality of God in his life. As long as his disobedience was private, he could fool himself into thinking that he could run away from God. But now faced with public exposure, he could not deny what God meant to him. He was a believer who had gone astray, but nevertheless still a believer. He had not decided to stop serving God. Perhaps he thought he could hide from his responsibilities for a little while, and then God would overlook his faults. But now it was apparent to everyone that God was not overlooking Jonah’s disobedience. When confronted with God, Jonah couldn’t deny him. He was merely trying to hide – not so much from God, as from his own negative feelings and prejudices.

Footnotes:

Questions are based on both the New International Version and the King James Version



	A Study of Jonah 1:1-9