Jonah: The Response[Bible Study]
Jonah chapter 1:3-4
We saw last time that God had a calling on the life of Jonah. He also has a calling for each and every one of us! Jonah was called to deliver a message to the people of Nineveh that God was aware of their wickedness and that He was not pleased by it. Now we will look at Jonah’s response to God.
Was Jonah a hero of the faith we should look up to, does his response set a shining example for generations to come…or does he fail miserably? Let us continue on in verses 3-4 to find out.
We will be focusing on 3 words that describe how we see Jonah respond to God’s commandment for him to go and preach to Nineveh.
Jonah’s Response Is Dismissive
Jonah:1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Notice verse 3 starts with “BUT Jonah…”. This language should send any parents blood pressure skyrocketing. As parents we tell our children to do something, and the last thing we want is disobedience or pushback.
How much more so God? God expects us to be obedient. Sadly, because God is so long-suffering and patient with us, sometimes we take His grace for granted and are not as obedient as we know we should be.
We can say “God knows my heart” all we want, but it does not change the fact that sometimes we simply choose to disobey. We all have a tendency to dismiss what God wants for us from time to time. No matter how cute and nicely we try to package it, there is no getting around the fact that God is not pleased when we choose to ignore His clear commands.
Let's take a look at 1 Samuel 15.
1 Samuel 15
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
We have a story here where King Saul is given clear instructions from the Lord. He is to destroy Amalek, we’re talking about everything that is alive, animal or person. But wait a minute, even women and children?!
This is where we can get into trouble in our lives. Sometimes what is expected of us from God seems odd. I am not going to pretend like that is not the case. Sometimes we do not understand why God says, does, or commands something.
It’s really easy for us to sit here in our modern world and stick our nose up at God and act like we know better than He does. But this is not the attitude we should have, not only in our lifetime right now, but also reading back about an ancient culture and civilization we don’t understand well.
We need to understand God has a reason for these things, and He does not need our approval when He decides an action needs to take place. He operates on a much higher level of understanding than we do, and we need to accept that.
Notice in verse 9..
9 But Saul …..
There is that pesky “but” again, just like in Jonah 1:3. We see from the text here that Saul, like Jonah, chooses to dismiss the instructions that God gave him.
Saul has the attitude of “I know you told me to utterly destroy everything God, but hey, I MOSTLY obeyed, that’s good enough right?”. The thing is though, Saul did not “mostly” obey, he chose to do what HE wanted to do rather than what God wanted him to do.
Our God is a God of order, He is organized and specific. He is clear and deliberate. He commands things to be done in a certain way because He has a reason for it. Even when we fail to understand what that reason is.
Let's continue on..
10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
Notice here how God views the situation. He doesn't give Saul partial credit. He doesn't award Saul with a “mostly obeyed” trophy. He actually states the opposite, He says that Saul is actually turned back from following Him.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
Isn't this just like you and I? Often, we do what God told us not to do, or we don’t do what God told us to do, and then we argue and make excuses for why we chose to disobey. It’s silly really.
Saul actually states that he has performed the commandment of the Lord! It’s honestly laughable. And then Samuel says “Oh did you now?! That's funny, because I hear that there are still animals alive..so I know for a fact you did NOT do what God told you”.
Saul comes up with an excuse and even attempts to sound more spiritual in the process!
Think of that, he tries to appear more spiritual by explaining why he disobeyed God. Saul says “Look Samuel, I know God told me to destroy every living thing, but don’t worry, we saved the best animals to sacrifice to God”.
This, my friend, is what it looks like when a person willingly disobeys God and tries to package it up to so it’s more palatable. Disobedience is disobedience, there is nothing to disguise it with.
Shifting gears back to Jonah, we have seen that he has dismissed what God told him to do. And it's super easy for us to point our fingers at Jonah, and point out what a bad man of God he is. Friend, we must understand that we often do the same exact thing.
That same disgust we feel toward Jonah and his disobedience, could be directed right back at ourselves. That astonishment at such audacity should humble us, and we should realize that we have areas in our walk with God that we need to improve on as well.
2. Jonah’s Response Is Denial.
Jonah:1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
The intent of Jonah was to flee the presence of God. This is complete denial of reality. Jonah either doesn't understand that this isn't possible, OR he just does not care.
We have already talked about the fact that God is omnipresent, so we KNOW that Jonah can’t actually flee from God..it just isn't possible. Just as God can see the wickedness that takes place in Nineveh, He can certainly see Jonah wherever he goes.
Jeremiah 23:24
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
All over the Bible we find these rhetorical questions. Can anyone hide from the Lord? Absolutely not. (Interestingly enough, the Book of Jonah actually ends with one of these as well, which of course we will get to later on)
Jonah even attempting, while sold on his own idea or not, to hide from God is like a toddler covering his face trying to hide from their parents. Just because we cannot see Him, does not mean that He cannot see us.
Psalm 139:1-12
O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
What a beautiful passage of scripture we have here. It beautifully reinforces that Jonah is in denial if he thinks he can flee from God’s presence.
Notice verse 8. I do not believe this is actually referring to hell, as in the eternal place of punishment that non-believers will go. It is not possible for a believer to ever go to hell. I believe this is more than likely referring to the grave. Recently, brother Mark Ward also shared this same opinion and explained it a little more in depth than I will here, in this video: What Does "Curiously Wrought in the Lowest Parts of the Earth" Mean in Psalm 139?”
This is a comforting idea. Whether it be the ocean or dry land, heaven or the grave, we have the ability to be near a God who loves us.
We have been talking about how we can’t escape God, but for a moment I would like to shift our focus while working with that same line of thought.
God’s ability to be everywhere at every time can bring us much happiness and hope!
Think about it. When we go through those moments in life that feel like complete and utter hell, God is there. When we have those rock bottom moments, those heartbreaks, those times where you are on your face and you don't have the energy to get up or carry on with life at all….my friend, God is there.
Although we may feel alone at times, we are never truly alone. Our God is right there. We must never forget this simple, yet foundational truth.
3. Jonah’s Response is Dangerous
Jonah 1:4
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Remember how we discussed “but Jonah..” ?
We see here that God responds to Jonah’s disobedience. The mood has shifted from “but Jonah..” to “but the Lord..”
God is able to counteract anything we throw at him. Our best bet would be to submit to His authority from the get go. Now Jonah has a mighty storm to deal with because he chose to disobey God. Jonah should be scared by this point. And we should be too if we were in his position.
We should be afraid when we go against God.
The world wants to fear all kinds of things today. People love to be afraid! We have scary video games, movies, haunted houses, people tell ghost stories around the campfire, mess with ouija boards, play records backwards, you name it…
But people do not fear the one thing, they are supposed to. They do not fear the one person who holds the very breath in their lungs in His hand. It is easy to tell with a quick google search, a few minutes surfing the news channels, or even hanging out in a less desirable part of town, that people do not seem to fear God.
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Have you seen the shirt that was popular many years ago that says “Jesus is my homeboy”?
This type of irreverence for God is a good snapshot of where we are at as a society today. Although God is loving and patient God, society acts as if He is indifferent to the evil that is happening all around, both on a global and individual scale.
God is supreme. We should never have an attitude that hints at or implies that we are somehow equal with Him. He is so much greater than our understanding, no matter how much society tries to bring Him down to our level.
At every moment, we are at the mercy of His power and control. We should embrace His authority as a divine hedge of protection, while also understanding that on the other end of that equation, that same power He holds could be to our detriment if we don’t give Him the proper fear and respect He deserves.
Our last example we will look at in scripture is of a man who learned this lesson of God’s supreme authority, the hard way…
Daniel 4:28-33
28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
King Nebuchadnezzar only had what he had because God allowed him to. If he would have understood this he would not have had such a high and mighty attitude. Of course, God notices this arrogant attitude as well..
31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
We must understand that when we become full of ourselves, when we become proud, we are begging God to humble us. That is exactly what King Nebuchadnezzar did.
What does this have to do with Jonah?
Well, whether you are a wicked pagan king, or a messenger of God, God wants, and is worthy of your respect. And when a person directs that respect elsewhere, God will do what He needs to do to get that person's attention.
Lets continue reading:
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
It takes being removed from his lavish and pampered life to living like a beast in the wild for king Nebuchadnezzar to humble himself before God.
Sometimes God has to take away all that we have for us to understand He should be our number one priority.
Many people say “God first” but few people mean it. I am not judging anyone too harshly because I understand I do the same thing at times. We all need to make sure that our pride and our other cares of this life aren't being placed higher than our love and respect for God.
Are you putting God first in your life or is God an afterthought?
The scripture tells us out of the king's own mouth, “..and those that walk in pride he is able to abase”.
What a chilling and true statement. I get prideful from time to time. I am a sinner like everyone else. We need to be able to keep our pride in check or it could cost us everything we have.
Have you ever been dismissive of what God has told you to do ? Have you ever tried to run away from God? Friend, please reflect on that and be honest with yourself. We can all work harder at being a more diligent and a more responsive listener of all that He wants for our lives.
If a wicked pagan king can come to this conclusion about God, and humble himself before Him, certainly our friend Jonah can right? Certainly the man of God can...right? I guess we will find that out as we continue on in this study.
How we choose to respond to God is important. How are you responding to God in your day to day life?
If you are not sure that you are going to heaven, please get this settled today by clicking here: How to Go to Heaven.
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