Many of you have no doubt heard several times of the
boy who drew a picture in Sunday School of an airplane
with four people in it. The Sunday School teacher asked him
what part of the Bible he was illustrating, and he said it was
a picture of the flight of Mary and Joseph with Jesus into
Egypt. When she noted that there were four and not just
three in the plane, she inquired who the fourth one was. He
responded, "That was Pilate." We are using that same pun
in reference to Jonah's flight to Tarshish. Mary and Joseph
fled to escape the enemy of God's plan, but Jonah fled to
escape God's plan itself. There are two important lessons we
can learn from this flight. The first lesson is on-
I. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
The lesson on providence in this verse is unique in
relationship to all that the rest of the book teaches. All
through the book we see how God works by means of nature
in storms, growth of plants, in living creatures, like the great
fish, and by means of a worm to accomplish His goal. In this
verse, however, the emphasis is not on what God did, but on
what He did not do. Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish in direct
opposition to God's command, and God does not interfere
immediately to stop him. He lets Jonah carry out his own
plan.
Notice that Jonah knew where he wanted to go. He
wanted to go to Tarshish, and with that in mind, he goes
down to Joppa, and there he finds conveniently and
coincidentally, a ship going, of all places, to Tarshish. What
luck! That is just where he wanted to go. Things couldn't
have worked out better for Jonah in his effort to successfully
disobey God.
The lesson that many point out here is that we learn by
this experience that good timing, and all things working out
to aid you in your plan, is no necessary proof that it is God's
will. Even the most evil of schemes can work like a charm,
and have all the breaks in its favor. Therefore, we must
beware of judging God's will only by the smooth operation
of our plans. Sometimes Christians just assume if the door
is open and the way is clear to act, that that means it must be
God's will. This is not necessarily the case at all.
Charles Spurgeon was a zealous Calvinist, who preached
a high concept of the providence of God, but also pointed out
how providence can be distorted and used to justify
anything. He said, "If you sit down and try to find in the
ways of God to you and excuse for the wrong which you
mean to commit, the crafty devil and your deceitful heart
together will soon conjure up a plea for providence." In
other words, sometimes evil plans work out great, and God
does not stop them. Jonah could say, "Well, I must not be so
bad to flea after all. Things are working out just fine. It is
almost as if it was providential.
The racketeer who sees a perfect setup by which to gain a
great deal of money illegally could as well plead providence.
So also with the thief who finds the back door unlocked, or
the keys left in the car. It makes his theft so much easier
and with less risk. But who would be so foolish as to
consider it providential? The value of seeing the way things
worked out well for Jonah in disobedience is that it wakes us
up to do some serious thinking about God's will. We are
hereby warned against trusting too much to circumstances,
and we are trust back to depend upon the Word of God.
David had an experience which is a perfect illustration.
You recall that when Saul was chasing him, David found
him lying down asleep. Saul was out to kill David, and now
David had the perfect setup to take Saul's life. Abishai even
encourages him to see the hand of providence in this
situation, and he said, "The Lord has delivered him into
your hands. Let me pin him to the ground."
(I Sam. 26:8). In spite of the favorable circumstance and
advice, David chose to let him live because the Word of God
said it was not right to lay your hands on God's anointed.
He made his decision based on God's Word, and not on
other factors that were strongly in favor of acting contrary
to that Word.
You might be in a situation where you have an urgent
need for five dollars, and suddenly you find yourself in a
situation where the clerk has forgotten to take the money of
a previous customer. He has left the room for a moment,
and you are all alone with a five dollar bill in front of you.
You could well argue that the Lord knows how you need
that five dollars right now. The circumstances seem perfect
for you to take it, and no one would know the difference.
The Word of God, however, says that you should not steal,
and this out ways all the other factors. Convenience does
not determine God's will, but just the opposite when it is
convenient to do what God forbids. It is never God's will to
do wrong and call the success of it providential because it
goes so smooth.
No matter how amazing the combination of coincidences
might be it is not God's will if it is opposed to His Word.
Everything that goes well is not of God. Spurgeon cried out,
"No! No! There are the devil's providence’s as well as
divine providence’s." God's providence is always at work to
bring men back to Him, as the following verses of Jonah
illustrate. He is not responsible for the convenience by
which Jonah, or anyone else, succeeds in their flight from
Him and His plan.
E. Stanley Jones received a letter from a woman to whose
husband he had given his book, The Way. It was laid on a
shelf where it gathered dust. She went to a university where
she became very negative and cynical. She began to trust no
one, and became hateful and bitter. She became so
depressed she decided to take her own life. She bought some
pills and hid them until her plan was perfected. When the day
came she got her pills from the drawer and headed for
the bathroom to get water. She stumbled on the rug and
bumped the bookcase, and that book that sat for years on
the top fell to the floor in front of her. She thought it was
strange, and so she picked it up and read it. She was
transformed by what she read. She became a convinced
Christian with a new life. This is what we mean by
providential. God is working in lives all the time to confront
them and bring them back to Himself. The end result is
what matters. If circumstances lead us to God, then it is
truly providential. If circumstances lead us away from God,
it is the devil's providence. We need to keep in mind always
that bad things can go well, and not assume that they are
providential because they go well. The second thing we want
to look at is-
II. THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Notice that two times in this verse it is stated that Jonah's
flight was for the purpose of escaping the presence of God.
Jonah was the first missionary who tried to take his furlough
before he even reached the field. Some try an suggest that
Jonah had such a limited concept of God that he thought he
could really escape his presence. The heathen had many
gods like that. A god for each country, and one for the sea,
etc. They were territorial gods whose power only extended
to certain boundaries. We know that Jonah was not
thinking like that, however, that the God of Israel was
limited to Israel. It is true there was progress in the Jewish
mind as to the greatness and omnipresent nature of God, but
Jonah had reached a high concept. He was no babe-he was a
mature Hebrew and in v. 9 he states his fear of the Lord:
"The God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
He knew God as the creator of all, and knew He was over
all, and was everywhere present.
The omnipresent nature of God was revealed in Gen. 28.
We read there of Jacob's dream and of God's promise to be
with him wherever he goes, and then in verse 16 we read,
"Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord
is in this place, and I did not know it." He, and all the
chosen people, had to learn that Jehovah was the one God
and creator of all, and was everywhere present, and not just
in Israel, or in the temple, as was the case of the gods of the
heathen. They often forgot this, however, and because of
their small and weak concept of God they tried to escape
their loyalty to Him, and the result was judgment.
David gives us the clearest description of a high concept
of the omnipresence of God in Ps. 139:7-10. "Where can I
go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in the
depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will
guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Certainly
Jonah knew this Psalm and the theology behind it. He was
not so foolish as to think he could really escape the presence
of God, and yet the text says that was his object.
The first thing we can learn is that our theology does not
always direct our actions. You can honestly believe one
thing, but then act contrary to it. That is why knowing the
truth is not enough if one does not act in accordance with it.
Jonah did not lack knowledge, but he lacked wisdom which
is the ability to apply knowledge practically to a worthy end.
How often we lack wisdom, and, like Jonah, rise up to flee
from Him whom we know to be everywhere. Like Jonah we
become completely inconsistent. He was to go to the
Gentiles to warn them, but he did not want to, and so he
goes to the Gentiles for help to escape. Jonah did not mind
receiving the services of Gentiles, nor did he mind their
presence, as long as they were not his equal before God.
Many people feel this way about those of another race.
Their theology says all men are created in the image of God
with eternal souls, and all are people for whom Christ died.
They do not mind receiving the services of these people who
work in hospitals, businesses, and public facilities, but they
still do not want to accept them as equals. Jonah was not
opposed to anything but this one thing that God
commanded, and that was that he should go and give the
Gentiles the same chance as the Jews have had to repent and
be forgiven. The hardest barrier to break is that of putting
all men on your level in relationship to God.
If that barrier is broken down, it will destroy all others, and
that is why it becomes the last strong hold of prejudice.
Jonah is proof that one can be a man of God and still be
controlled by prejudice toward other people. He could not
give up his prejudice, and at the same time he could not
stand to have it revealed by being in the presence of God.
Jonah was trying to escape the consciousness of God's
fellowship, for the presence of God was a rebuke to his
ungodlike attitude. He was, in effect, resigning his office as
a prophet. He wanted to be a secret believer from now on.
Prejudice and prophecy just did not mix, and he chose to
give up his duty rather than sacrifice his prejudice.
God, however, did not accept his resignation, and
pursued him to teach him the folly of trying to act contrary
to his theology. God showed Jonah that theology is the most
practical thing in the world, and those who think they can
ignore it, and escape it, are preparing themselves to be fools.
God is everywhere present, and that fact together with His
providence makes it both sinful and senseless to try and
escape His command. Let us remember that it holds true for
our standing orders as well-"Go into all the world and
preach the Gospel."
