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. 4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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. 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." 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.
There are more responses when people are in rebellion to be sure, but here are some illustrated by Jonah.
A. Disobedience. First and foremost, when someone is in rebellion against God it is usually defiant disobedience or running away from what God is asking or commanding. Nineveh was 500 miles north. He traveled 1,000 miles south and west. Nineveh was by land. He traveled by sea. If God is the God of Israel, Jonah wanted to get out of Israel.
Protesting says, “No”. Only the person who is protesting the loudest runs the furthest. That is what Jonah had in mind.
Disobedience to God is always downhill. He went down to Joppa; he went down in the ship; he went down to the lowest depth; and down into the belly of the fish.
B. Defiance This is the reaction of the depravity of man (also see Romans 1:28-32.). His reactions were to turn away and run from all that he knew God wanted of him. Rebellion is like that. It uses emotions - it doesn’t use brains. It reacts according to the desires to live our own lives and if we don’t get what we want, then we’ll throw temper tantrums.
One might say, “OK God, if you don’t do it my way then just wait and see. You want me to go to church. I won’t go. You want me to live a moral life; I’ll live immorally. You want me to honor my parents. I’ll do what I can to bring shame to them. You want me to live in glory for you. I’ll do everything that brings glory to me. I am the master of my life, and I’ll decide how much of my life I’m going to give to you and how much I am not.”
Satan has an amazing way of blinding us to the truth that we can outrun God. The black poet, James Weldon Johnson says in God’s Trombones, “Young Man young man, your arms are too short to box with God.”
When you try to escape, you are trying to escape the demands of God upon yourself. He was trying to run form God, but no one can. The Psalmist said in 139 “Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence If I go to the heavens, 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. “
I’ll include a couple more common responses tomorrow.
Dale
