The Book of Jonah
Encountering God Series
“Jonah’s Defiance”
Jonah 1.1-3
Introduction
Last week we began a new series entitled “Jonah – Encountering God.” While most
people are familiar with the book of Jonah because of Jonah’s encounter with a
whale, the story of Jonah is really about Jonah’s encounter with God. While the
supporting cast of the sailors, the whale, the king of Nineveh, the shady plant, and
that hungry womb are all needed to play out the drama, God and Jonah are the main
characters.
Last week we looked at the first two verses of chapter one and discovered the
character of God. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise,
go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before
Me.” (Jonah 1.1-2)
These two verses share a wealth of information about the character of God. In verse
one we see that the word of the Lord came to Jonah . . . saying this tells us that our
God speaks. In the first part of verse two the Lord tells Jonah to arise, go to Nineveh
the great city and cry against it which shows us that our God sends. And then the last
part of verse two tells us the reason why the Lord is calling Jonah to the great city of
Nineveh is because their wickedness has come up before Him which tells us that our
God sees.
At this point we expect the prophet Jonah to get up and start his journey towards
Nineveh but instead we see him turning away from God in verse three. But Jonah
rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa,
found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go
with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1.3)
Jonah’s Defiance
This one verse is enough to understand the problem. If we knew nothing about the
great storm that was going to come upon them in the middle of the Mediterranean
Sea. If we knew nothing about the fearful and frantic sailors. If we knew nothing
about Jonah being thrown overboard into the deep blue sea. If the book of Jonah
ended at verse three of chapter one, we would know that the problem was Jonah.
You see, instead of listening to our God who speaks, Jonah turns away from God’s
Word. Instead of submitting to our God who sends, Jonah turns away from his
calling as the Lord’s prophet. Instead of acknowledging our God who sees, Jonah
turns away from God’s presence. Jonah turns away from God and in doing so insults
God’s character and insults who God is.
2
While Jonah was firm in his opinion that the wicked Ninevites were in defiance
against God and undeserving of God’s grace, he was blind to the fact that he was in
defiance against God. Jonah had a big problem with the job he was given to go to
Nineveh. But he had a bigger problem with the One who gave him the job. Jonah
came to the prideful conclusion that because he could not see any good reason for
God’s command, there couldn’t be any reason why he should obey God’s command.
(“Rediscovering Jonah” page 15) Brother and sisters, this is nothing more the
prideful defiance. Jonah has placed himself above God.
Allow me to share a quote from the American novel Moby Dick that I shared we you
last week, “Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and pagans alike – for we
are all sometimes dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.”
(Herman Melville, Moby Dick) The fact is that Jonah was are dreadfully cracked
about the head, and sadly needed mending. The fact is that we all are dreadfully
cracked about the head, and sadly need mending. As we look closer at Jonah’s acts of
defiance let’s ask ourselves, “Do I act like that?”
Jonah turned from God’s Word
The first act of defiance was Jonah turning away from God’s Word. The book begins,
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah.” This expression is common in the books of the
prophets. It is used over one hundred times and is synonymous with what it meant
to be a prophet. In First Kings we read, “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah,
‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine.’” (IKings 17.2) Do you have
any idea what Elijah did? “So, he did what the Lord had told him. He went up to the
Kerith River.” (IKings 17.5) What a stark contrast with what we see in Jonah.
“It has been well said that our problem in obeying God’s Word is not that we do not
understand, the problem is that we do!” (Sinclair Ferguson) When the word of the
Lord came to Jonah, he did not need to consult biblical commentaries and lexicons
to exegete the text. Jonah’s problem wasn’t his intellect. It was his heart. And this is
usually the case with each of us as well. It’s not that we don’t understand that we
should love our enemies, the problem is that we do understand, and we chose to
turn away from God’s Word! It’s not that we don’t understand that we are to forgive
others, the problem is that we do understand, and we chose to turn away from God’s
Word! It’s not that we don’t understand that we should first be reconciled to our
brother, and then come and present our offering, the problem is that we do
understand, and we chose to turn away from God’s Word! It’s not that Jonah didn’t
understand that he was to arise and go to Nineveh, the problem was that he did
understand, and he chose to turn away from God’s Word. Such a simple command
“arise and go to Nineveh” but this command struck a nerve with Jonah. Remember
the Word of God judges our thoughts and intentions and like a masterful surgeon
God used this simple command to “arise and go to Nineveh” to cut deep into Jonah’s
heart and expose his hatred for the Ninevites.
3
From his actions it seems that Jonah’s hatred for the Ninevites was greater than his
love for God and God’s Word. God help us when we fall into Jonah’s condition when
something becomes greater than loving God and obeying His Word. With Jonah we
also see intent. I want you to understand that Jonah’s fleeing from God was not a
causal or impassive act – Jonah’s fleeing from God was purposeful, planned, and
precise. Notice verse three tells us that Jonah “paid the fare.” This means that Jonah
knew exactually what he was doing. One day he is doing ministry as one of the
Lord’s leading prophets and the next day he is cleaning out his bank account, selling
his possessions, and catching an Uber to Joppa. Jonah had made up his mind. He
wasn’t going to Nineveh, he wasn’t going to obey God’s Word, so he gathers his
money, leaves town, and goes down to Joppa.
Joppa was a port city not far from modern day Tel Aviv. With his pocket full of cash
Jonah’s frantically searches for an unsuspecting captain who would allow him to be
a passenger on board of a ship to take him as far away as possible.
And wouldn’t you know it, sitting right there at the dock in the port of Joppa was a
ship bound for Tarshish, Spain. Tarshish was the exact opposite direction of
Nineveh, and the furthest possible designation in the known world at that time.
Jonah must had felt a gentle breeze of relief concluding that finding a ship going to
Tarshish at the last minute, with a willing captain to grant him access, and having
enough money to pay the fare must mean that God was ok with his turning away
from God’s Word. But Jonah would soon discover that he came to the wrong
conclusion. “How many times in your life have you gone against the teachings of the
Word of God because you had tunnel vision and stubbornly saw only what you
wanted? Brothers and sisters, beware of reading providential circumstances in a
4
way that contradicts the explicit commands of the Lord.” (Palmer Robertson page
17) No matter how many things went right, Jonah was wrong.
Jonah turned from God’s Calling
Jonah not only turned from God’s word, but he turned from God’s calling on his life
as the Lord’s prophet. A person didn’t just wake up one day and say, “I think I’ll be a
prophet.” No, a person would experience a call of God on their life and then submit
themselves for confirmation and training. During Jonah’s day there were at least
three schools or communities of prophets, consisting of men who were devoted to
God and served Him. These prophets followed the teachings of Samuel, Elijah, and
Elisha. But now Jonah was throwing it all away. His possessions. His profession. His
cash and his calling. Instead of saying, “Here am I send me,” Jonah is saying, “Here
am I and I will flee.”
What would drive a prophet to turn away from God’s calling? As I mentioned last
week, Jonah would later tell the Lord that the reason he fled to Tarshish was
because he knew that God was gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and
abundant in lovingkindness, and One who relents concerning calamity.” (Jonah 4.2b)
Jonah couldn’t handle the idea of him being known as the prophet of grace to Israel’s
archenemy the Ninevites so he turned away from God’s calling. How many times
have we known what God is calling us to do and we turn away from it? God calls us
to share the Gospel and we turn away from it. God’s calls us to give a special
donation and we turn away from it. God’s call us to serve or volunteer and we turn
away from it. God calls us to engage in Bible study and we turn away from it.
Jonah turned from God’s Presence
Jonah turns away from the God who speaks by turning away from God’s Word. Jonah
turns away from the God who sends by turning away from God’s calling. And now
Jonah turns away from the God who sees by turning away from God’s presence.
Notice, two times in verse three we are told that Jonah was fleeing from God’s
presence. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he
went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went
down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1.3)
And verse ten tells us that Jonah told the sailors the reason for his journey to
Tarshish was that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord. (1.10) Now Jonah
wasn’t naïve or ignorant about God. Jonah was a prophet – a graduate from the
school of prophets. Jonah knew that God was omnipresence. But just because
someone is educated, even theologically educated, doesn’t mean that they don’t do
stupid things. One may ask, “If Jonah understood that God was omnipresence, then
why was he fleeing from the presence of the Lord?” It seems to me that Jonah knew
that his will and God’s will were on a collision course and instead of addressing the
attitude of his heart Jonah concluded that creating some distance would be a good
solution. Instead of humbling himself and telling the Lord, “Not my will but Your will
be done,” Jonah insisted that his will was superior to God’s will. Jonah knew that God
5
was omnipresence, but he thought that if he separated himself from his current
surroundings that the Lord would leave him alone.
Attempting to flee from the presence of the Lord is the oldest game in the book –
people have been attempting this impossible feat since the beginning of time. In an
attempt to hide their guilt, Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Gen 3.8) Even though the
first couple tried to play a game of “hide and go seek” with God the Lord always
knew where to find them.
Remember Cain who tried to hide the shame of slaying his brother went out from the
presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Gen.4.16) Like
moving miles away from Eden was going to conceal from God where Cain was.
That’s ridiculous! Cain was in disobedience to God and instead of repenting of his
murderous act he exiled himself. Isolation is unusually the result of turning from the
presence of God.
People have been attempting to flee from the presence of the Lord ever since the
beginning of time and people are still attempting it today. It ranges from going to
another church – to moving to another town. It involves distancing yourself from
people, places, and things that reminds you of your guilt, your shame, and your
failures. The problem is that it never works. Don’t get me wrong you will find some
temporary relief. We will discover next week that after Jonah boarded his
Mediterranean cruise liner to Tarshish the first thing he did was to go and take a
nap. But the problem is that Jonah didn’t understand that you can run to the end of
the highway only to discover that you are still there.
Jonah was willing to run twenty-five hundred miles away to Tarshish instead of
stopping to search his own heart. Brothers and sisters, “you can run to the end of the
highway and not find what you’re looking for, moving won’t make your troubles
disappear. And you can search to the end of the highway and come back no better
than before. To find yourself you’ve got to start right here.” (Keith Green) The fact is
you can run but you can’t hide from God. As the Psalmist declares, “Where can I go
from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You
are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” (Ps.139.7-8) So, you might
as well stay where you are and start allowing God to search your heart.
If we learn anything from Jonah’s attempt to flee from the presence of God, we
should learn that fleeing from the presence of God, for whatever reason, comes at
great cost. For Jonah, it costed him his reputation, his credential as a faithful
prophet, and his savings. And Jonah’s defiance brought pain and suffering upon
others too. The damage to the ship from the storm. The sailors emotionally fearful
for their lives. The cargo they had to throw overboard. Jonah defiance not only
brought great cost to Jonah, but it also brought great cost to others.
6
Closing Thoughts
Jonah had a real problem with the Ninevites, but he had a bigger problem with his
heart. And then when God commanded him to go and preach grace to the Ninevites,
Jonah had a problem with God’s Word, God’s calling, and God’s presence. This is so
sad. Don’t get me wrong, Jonah had every reason to disassociate from the Ninevites.
The Ninevites were brutal, cruel, immoral, idol worshippers. They believed in
superstitions, sorcery, and they were longtime enemies of Israel. But when God
spoke to Jonah to go to Nineveh, he should have searched his heart and asked God to
mold him into His image.
At the begin of this sermon I asked that as we looked closer at Jonah’s acts of
defiance, we would ask ourselves, “Do I act like that?” Brothers and sisters, I want to
suggest that Jonah represents all believers. Jonah allowed hatred and bitterness
against the Ninevites to take up residence in his heart for too long. He concealed it
from others, but it grew larger and larger every day until he was confronted with
God’s Word. Brothers and sister, we like Jonah allow hatred and bitterness to take
up residence in our hearts for too long. We conceal it from others, but it grows
larger and larger every day. But today through this simple story of Jonah we are
confronted with God’s Word, God’s calling on our lives as His beloved children, and
God presence. The Lord is giving us an opportunity to search our hearts, to repent,
and the seek His renewed presence. The question is, “Will we?” The question is,
“Will you?”