Our Salvation: A Study In Jonah

by James Boice
The Prophet Who Ran Away
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: â Go to the great city of Nineve
h and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.â
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 aboar
d and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD (Jonah 1:1-3).
The book of Jonah may be studied for many reasons, but a chief reason is for wha
t it teaches about God's sovereignty. Sovereignty is a problem for some Christia
ns in certain areas. There are areas in which it is not a problem, of course. Fo
r example, most of us do not have problems with God's rule in the area of natura
l law. Gravity is one illustration. God exercises his rule through gravity, and
we do not have difficulty at this point. In fact, we are even somewhat reassured
that objects conform to such laws. The point at which we do have problems is th
at at which the sovereign will of God comes into opposition with a contrary huma
n will. What happens at this point? God could crush the human will and thereby a
ccomplish His own purpose with a ruthless hand. There are times when He has done
this, as in the contest between Moses and Pharaoh. But generally God does not.
So what happens in such cases? Does God give up? Does He change His mind? Or doe
s He accomplish His purposes in some other way, perhaps indirectly? The answer i
s in the book of Jonah.
A Great Commission
Interestingly enough, this is the point at which the book starts. For it begins
with a commission to Jonah and with Jonah's refusal to heed it, In other words,
the book of Jonah begins with a formal expression of God's sovereign will and wi
th a man's determined opposition. We read, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah s
on of Amittai: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because i
ts wickedness has come up before me.' But Jonah ran away from the Lord and heade
d 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" (verses 1-3).
There is some dispute as to the location of Tarshish. It has been identified wit
h one of the cities of Phoenicia or with ancient Carthage. Most probably, Tarshi
sh was on the far coast of Spain, beyond Gibraltar. And if this was so, it means
that in his disobedience Jonah was determined to go as far as he possibly could
go in the direction opposite from that in which God was sending him. Nineveh wa
s east. Tarshish was west. We can visualize the geography if we imagine Jonah co
ming out of his house in Palestine, looking left down the long road that led aro
und the great Arabian desert to the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers,
and then turning on his heel and going down the road to his right.
Why did he do it? We can imagine some possible reasons. We can imagine, first, t
hat Jonah was overcome by thoughts of the mission's difficulties. They are expre
ssed very well in the commission which God Himself gave Jonah. God told Jonah th
at Nineveh was a very "great city," and indeed it was. In addition to what the b
ook itself tells usâ that the city was so large that it took three days to cross it
and that it had sixty thousand infants or small children (Jonah 4:11 )â we also kn
ow that it was the capital of the great Assyrian Empire, that it had walls a hun
dred feet high and so broad that three chariots could run abreast around them. W
ithin the walls were gardens and even fields for cattle. For a man to arrive all
alone with a message from an unknown God against such a city was ludicrous in t
he extreme. What could one man do? Who would listen? Where were the armies that
could break down such walls or storm such garrisons? The men of Nineveh would ri
dicule the strange Jewish prophet. If Jonah had been overcome with the thought o
f the difficulties of such a mission and so had fled to Tarshish because of them
, we could well understand him. Yet there is not a word in the story to indicate
that it was the difficulties that upset this rebellious prophet.
Perhaps it was danger? The second word in God's description of the city is "wick
edness." If Jonah had taken note of that wickedness and had refused to obey for
that reason, this too would be understandable. Indeed, the more we learn of Nine
veh the more dangerous the mission becomes. We think of the prophecy of Nahum, f
or example. Nahum is written against the wickedness of Nineveh entirely, and the
descriptions against it are vivid. "Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, ful
l of plunder, never without victims! The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords and gli
ttering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people st
umbling over the corpsesâ all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the
mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by
her witchcraft. 'I am against you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'I will lift you
r skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms
your shame' " (Nahum 3:1-5).
What was one poor preacher to do against such hardness? Would they not simply ki
ll him and add his body to the already soaring heap of carcasses? Thoughts like
these could have made Jonah afraid; and if he had been afraid, we would not blam
e him. But again, there is not a word in the story to indicate that it was the d
anger that turned Jonah in the opposite direction.
What was the reason then? Well, in the fourth chapter of Jonah, after God had al
ready brought about the revival and had spared the Ninevites from judgment, Jona
h explains the reason, arguing that it was precisely because of this outcome tha
t he had disobeyed originally. That is, he declares that he knew that God was gr
acious and that He was not sending him to Nineveh only to announce a pending jud
gment, but rather that Nineveh might repent. Jonah's own words are: "O LORD, is
this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to fle
e to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to ang
er and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (Jonah 4:2).
As we read these words carefully we realize that the reason why Jonah did not wa
nt to go to Nineveh was that those who lived there were the enemies of his peopl
e, the Jews, and that he was afraid that if he did go to them with his message o
f judgment, they would believe it and repent and that God would bless them. And
he did not want them blessed! God could bless Israel. But Jonah would be damned
(literally) before he would see God's blessing shed upon these enemies. So he fl
ed to Tarshish. We can understand Jonah's motives if we can imagine the word of
the Lord coming to a Jew who lived in New York during World War II telling him t
o go to Berlin to preach to Nazi Germany. Instead of this, he goes to San Franci
sco and there takes a boat for Hong Kong.
We may laugh at that, of course. But before we laugh too hard we should ask whet
her or not we are in the spiritual ancestry of Jonah. True, we have never been s
ent to Nineveh, and we may never have run away to Tarshish. But the commission t
hat has been given to us is no less demanding than Jonah's, if we are Christians
, and often our attempts to avoid it are no less determined than his were.
What was Jonah's commission? "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry aga
inst it" (Jonah 1:2 KJV). It consisted of three main words. He was told to "aris
e." He was told to "go." He was told to "cry." This is precisely what we have be
en told to do in the Great Commission. We are to arise from wherever we happen t
o be seated. We are to go into all the world. And we are to cry against the worl
d's wickedness, teaching it all that we have been taught by Jesus. Matthew's for
m of the Great Commission says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Wings of Dawn
Verse three tells us of Jonah's attempt to get away from God, and it gives us th
e consequences of that attempt. It is surprising that Jonah did not know of thes
e consequences before he ran or consider how impossible it is to escape God.
We must remember at this point that Jonah lived relatively late in Old Testament
history, certainly long after the psalms were written, and that he therefore kn
ew or had ample opportunity to know those great words in Psalm 139: "Where can I
go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the hea
vens, 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" (Psalm 139:7-10). Did Jon
ah know these words? Probably. Then why did he not remember them as he set out i
n the ship for Tarshish?
As I read that psalm I find myself wondering if the name of the ship upon which
Jonah set out might not have been The Wings of Dawn. The story does not give the
name of the ship. But that is a good name for a ship; and if the ship of the bo
ok of Jonah were so named, it would be an irony well suited to Jonah's situation
. Did he notice the name, if this is what it was? Did he notice the rats getting
off as he stepped on? If I understand sin and disobedience at all, I suspect th
at Jonah noticed none of these things, so set was he in this folly. No more do w
e when we take our "wings of dawn" to sail away from God across life's sea.
Godâ s Sovereignty
At this point we find our first great lessons regarding God's sovereignty. For b
uilt into Jonah's first attempts to get away from God are two results which will
inevitably follow whenever anyone tries to disobey Him. These results are in ve
rse three, that is, one verse before the one that tells of God's special interve
ntion in sending the storm after Jonah's ship. God has His special interventions
too. But the fact that these occur before this indicates that they are as inevi
table in spiritual matters as physical laws are in the physical universe.
The first result is that Jonah's course was downhill. He would not have describe
d it that way. He would have said that he was improving his lot in life, just as
we also do when we choose our own course instead of God's. But it was downhill
nevertheless. In verse three, we are told that Jonah went "down" to Joppa and th
at having paid his fare he went "down" into the ship (see Jonah 1:3 KJV). This i
s not accidental in a story in which the words are as carefully chosen as this o
ne. Nor are these two instances of the word "down" isolated. Two verses farther
on, in verse five (KJV), we are told that Jonah had gone "down" into the sides o
f the ship, that is, below decks. Then in chapter 2, verse 6 (KJV), in a prayer
which takes place after Jonah has been thrown overboard by the sailors, Jonah de
scribes how he had gone "down" to the bottom of the earth's mountains beneath th
e waves. That is a lot of going down! Down, down, down, down. But it is always t
hat way when a person runs from the presence of the Lord. The way of the Lord is
up! Consequently, any way that is away from Him is down. The way may look beaut
iful when we start. The seas may look peaceful and the ship attractive, but the
way is still down.
There is another result. In his excellent preaching on Jonah, Donald Grey Barnho
use often called attention to this by highlighting the phrase "he paid his fare"
(KJV). He noted that Jonah did not get to where he was going, since he was thro
wn overboard, and that he obviously did not get a refund on his ticket. So he pa
id the full fare and did not get to the end of his journey. Now, says Barnhouse,
it is always that way. "When you run away from the Lord you never get to where
you are going, and you always pay your own fare. On the other hand, when you go
the Lord's way you always get to where you are going, and He pays the fare." 1
Jonah illustrates one-half of that statement. The story of Moses' mother, Jocheb
ed, illustrates the other half. Jochebed conceived Moses during a time of great
persecution by the Egyptians, a time in which the young male children were being
thrown into the river to die. When the child was born, Jochebed and her husband
, Amram, tried to hide him as long as possible, suspecting, I believe, that this
was the one who had been promised by God to be the deliverer of the people. But
at last the baby's cries grew too loud, and another plan was necessary. The mot
her made a little boat of bulrushes, covering it with tar. She placed Moses in i
t and set it in the reeds by the river's bank. Then she stationed Moses' sister,
Miriam, at a distance to see what would become of him. Though she wanted her ba
by more than anything else in the world, Jochebed trusted the matter to God, all
owing Him to do as He wished with her and the child.
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river, and when she saw the ark in the
water she sent her maids to fetch it. When it was opened she saw the baby. He wa
s crying. This so touched the woman's heart that she determined to save him and
raise him in the palace. But what was she to do? Obviously the child needed a we
t nurse. Where could she find one?
At this point, Miriam, who had been watching from a distance, came forward and a
sked if she could be of assistance. "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the
Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?" Miriam asked.
"Yes," said the princess. So Jochebed was brought.
At this point Jochebed is about to receive back the child she most dearly wanted
. She would have done anything to have had him. She would have scrubbed floors i
n the palace, anything. In fact, suppose the daughter of the Pharoah had said, "
I am going to give you this child to raise. But I want you to know that I have s
een through your stratagem. I know that this young girl was not up on that hill
watching by accident. She must be the sister of this baby and, therefore, you mu
st be the mother. You can have your child. But as a sign of your disobedience to
the Pharoah, I am going to cut off your right hand. . . " Well, if she had said
that, Moses' mother would have held out both hands if only she could have had t
he child back. But that is not what happened. Instead Pharaoh's daughter gave he
r the child, declaring, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you
" (Exodus 2:9).
"I will pay you." That is the point for which I tell the story. Jonah went his o
wn way, paid his own fare, and got nothing. Jochebed went God's way. Consequentl
y, God paid the fare, and she got everything. So I repeat: When you run away fro
m the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own far
e. But when you go the Lord's way you always get to where you are going, and He
pays the fare.
But the Lord
Now in one sense Jonah's story is over at this point. That is, the story of his
choice, his disobedience, is over. God has given His command. Jonah has disobeye
d. Now Jonah must sit back and suffer the consequences as God now intervenes sup
ernaturally to alter the story. This point is made very clear by the contrast be
tween the first two words of verse three ("But Jonah") and the first three words
of verse four ("But the Lord" KJV). It is true that Jonah has rejected God. He
has voiced his little "but," as we sometimes do. He is allowed to do it. God's s
overeignty does not rule it out. But now God is about to voice His "BUT," and Hi
s "but" is more substantial than Jonah's.
What does God do? Well, He does three great things. First, He sends a great stor
m. The text indicates that it was a storm of unusual ferocity, so fierce that ev
en experienced sailors were frightened. I never read about it that I do not thin
k of that other storm that also frightened experienced men on the lake of Galile
e. The men were Christ's disciples, and Christ was with them, although asleep in
the boat. For awhile they rowed. But they were in danger of sinking and were af
raid. So they awoke Jesus and cried, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
Jesus replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and
rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The disciples were
amazed and asked "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey hi
m!" (see Matthew 8:23-27).
The Lord who can calm the troubled waters of your life is the same Lord who can
stir them up to great frenzy. What He does depends upon whether He is with you i
n the boat or, which is a better way of putting it, whether or not you are with
Him. If Jesus is in your boatâ if you are going His way and are trusting Himâ then, wh
en storms come, you can cry out, "Oh, Master, help me!" and He will calm the vio
lence. But if you are running from Himâ if He is not in your boat and you are disob
eying Himâ then He will stir the waves up.
Second, the Lord prepared a great fish. Farther on in the story we read that God
also prepared a small worm to eat the root and so destroy the plant that shaded
Jonah. So we notice that, on the one hand. God used one of the largest creature
s on earth to do His bidding and that, on the other hand, he used one of the sma
llest. Apparently it makes no difference to God. He will use whatever it takes t
o get the disobedient one back into the place of blessing. Are you running away
from God? If so, he may use the cankerworm to spoil your harvest. He may use the
whirlwind to destroy your barns and buildings. If necessary, He will touch your
person. He will use whatever it takes, because He is faithful to Himself, to yo
u, and to His purposes.
Finally, God saved a great city. This last act, like the others, is an act of gr
eat mercy. For the city did not deserve His mercy. Yet He saved it, thereby pres
erving it from destruction for a time.
God is so determined to perfect His good work in us that He will continue to do
so with whatever it takes, regardless of the obedience or disobedience of the Ch
ristian. Will you go in His way? If you do, you will find the way smoothed out a
nd filled with great blessings.