On The Run Series

Before going on with the story of Jonah I just want to make the point that the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament Bible never calls the fish that swallowed Jonah a “whale” is simply called a “great fish.” Read Jonah 1:1-3. Today we are going to examine the passage and see that God wants us to listen to his commands and not run away and realize that we all have a call to answer.

I. God still speaks inviting us to join Him in His work.

V. 1a “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai,” Now let me just give you a little bit of background information about this story. Some later rabbinic traditions suggest that Jonah was the widow’s son brought back to life by Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17-24 but there is no concrete evidence for that. But we do know that Jonah was no novice – we know that he wasn’t an apprentice prophet – that this wasn’t a one time call from God. 2 Kings 14 tells us that Jonah is a prophet and a servant of the Lord. He lived in Israel and he served God as his prophet - as his mouthpiece. In fact his very name indicates that. Jonah means ’dove’ - which signifies a ’messenger’. And we’re told that he is Son of Ammitai - Son of ’truth’. He is a messenger of truth - God’s truth. In fact, it was by God’s word through Jonah that King Jeroboam extended the boundaries of Israel in 2 Kings 14:25. That was his job as a prophet of the most-high God. It was his job to listen to the word of God and then communicate it to the people.

So it’s no surprise when we read in Jonah Chapter 1 and verse 1 that the word of the Lord came to Jonah, Son of Ammitai - it was his job to answer the call. But instead of obeying, instead of doing what God called him to do – Jonah ran away. I don’t know how the Lord chose to speak to Jonah. He may have spoken to him audibly as he did to Adam and Abraham. He could have spoken to him in a vision has he did to Ezekiel. He could have spoken to him in a dream as he did Joseph. He may have simply left an impression on his heart as he often does with us today. We don’t know HOW God chose to speak to Jonah but we DO know He Did! The point that I want to make is that God still speaks to us today and his call is just as personal today as it was then. God can speak to us in many ways. He has spoken to me through songs, sermons, scripture, and words of wisdom by others and through my kids. I’m telling you today that if we will just open our ears we will still hear the voice of God inviting us to join Him in His work and when He does invite us we need to get on board.

II. We’re not always going to like what God tells us to do!

V. 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." The Living Bible paraphrases the last part of verse two to read, “the wickedness of Nineveh was such that it … smelled to high heaven.” In other words, God called Jonah to take a message of judgment to Nineveh. Nineveh was an up-and-coming world power in Jonah’s day, the most important city in Assyria. Within 50 years, Nineveh would become the capital of the vast Assyrian empire. Nineveh was a great city of the ancient world. Nineveh was located on the Tigris River in what is now Mosul, Iraq. Nineveh had a population of upwards of 600,000. Its streets were twenty miles long and its walls were one hundred feet tall and wide enough for three chariots to be driven side by side across the top of them. This is the last place on earth that Jonah thought God would send him; why would God send Jonah to preach to his enemies?