“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.”
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
Some Reasons for Rebellion:
A. Pride. The first reason Jonah didn’t agree with God’s plan was pride. The thought of going to Nineveh was distasteful. Jonah couldn’t bring himself to do what God wanted because he didn’t like His plan. He didn’t like Nineveh. It was a wicked city. It was the capital of the Assyrian empire. It was the world empire for about 300 years, longer than the US has been formed. It rose to world power during this time. Jonah was called of God to prolong the life of their national enemy, which was already in the process of exterminating his own nation.
Whenever we say no to God, it is often a pride issue. We think we have a better plan or an easier one. We may never understand what God is doing and don’t like it sometimes, but when we become the judge of God we better look within and see if we aren’t trying to replace Him and His wisdom with our own short-sighted plan.
For Jonah it was no wonder he fled in the opposite direction. How might you feel if you or your son or daughter were called by God to go into missions to Tehran, Baghdad or North Korea? You learn to fear and hate your enemies.
B. Prejudice: Another reason is that Nineveh was full of godless people. They were pagans and worshipped idols. Most Christians would much rather be with other Christians and with people who are sinners. That is true from the beginning. That is hard to overcome when it comes to the prelude of revival. They were people of a different race and ungodly culture. The facts are - lost people matter to God. He does not want us to remain comfortable among the saved, but to reach out also to the lost. The longer people are Christians the harder it is to break the barrier of being friends with those who hold different values, different lifestyles and different morals. It would be easy for Jonah to say, ‘I don’t like those that are not God’s people, and I don’t really want to be around them.’
Jonah was a racist. He hated the foreign people; he hated their nation; he didn’t want anything to do with them - and now God was calling him to go to them and tell them of God’s love and their need to repent of their sin. Jonah did not want God to forgive Nineveh. Nineveh was an enemy to Israel. Jonah knew something about God’s grace and figured He knew He would forgive Nineveh if they repented.
One poet put it this way. “I hate God’s enemies with a perfect hatred. Why can’t God do as much?” To show mercy to Nineveh was another difficult thing not only because of his personal prejudice. They needed to learn God loves all people of all races and nations.”
C. Fear. So many disobey God and rebel out of fear of others and fear of the circumstances and the unknown. There may be people who refuse to go to the mission field for fear of safety or fear of the unknown. Many will never share a testimony or speak up for God’s grace for fear people will laugh at them.
I can imagine Jonah also standing up amid the ungodly people and think they are going to kill me. Most of the disciples of Jesus backed off due to fear of what would happen to them and the only reason they became bold and obedient is that Jesus said, “You will be with me immediately when you die.” So, their life wasn’t a big deal to them anymore. Jesus took the fear away.
D. Comfort zone. There is perhaps another reason if we look at 2 Kings 14:25 “He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of Arabah, in according with the word of the Lord the God of Israel, spoken though his servant Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.”
In other words, Jonah was a prophet who God was used in his own land, among his own people. He was apparently enjoying a successful ministry. People were listening to him. He was accepted and loved where he felt comfortable. He was enjoying the Lord and enjoying those around him, calling them to honor God. Now he was asked to leave his church to go speak go to a tough area where he was unknown, unloved, and unappreciated and discriminated against.
How many people would rather pray than go and speak a word of testimony for the Lord? How many people would rather stay at retreats, camps and Bible study prayer groups than go into the streets among the sinful people? How many would rather share their thoughts in Christian circles and among people who are just like them instead of where they might be made fun of, among strangers and people that are very different? I would.
Application: So, I understand the protests of Jonah. We resist change. When God calls us to do something, instead of obeying, we only want to serve God on our terms. When you investigate your hesitancy to obey, how close do those reasons match up with Jonah?
Prayer: Lord, keep me from a rebellious heart and in all things lead me in the way I should go. Give me a heart to obey.
Dale
