Jonah 1:1-3 – Jonah Flees From the Presence of God
Jonah heard God’s clear, concise command to go to Nineveh and call out against it, but he decided not to do that; rather to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. But what does it mean to flee from the presence of the Lord?
God tells us that He is ‘omnipresent’, which means that He is present everywhere, all the time. Psalm 139 teaches us in clear, simple language, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? ….” (verses 7-12). Obviously, Jonah did not flee the omnipresence of God, nor can we. He knew that he couldn’t do so, for he says later in the chapter, in verse nine, when speaking of his fear of God, that “the God of heaven made the sea and the dry land.”
Some would point to Scripture, like 2 Kings 13:22, which associates the presence of the Lord with the land of Israel and the covenant promises; and based on that, they would say that Jonah is speaking here of leaving the land where God dwells in the midst of His people, and, as such, he is fleeing God’s presence.
Yes, this is true, but there is a more personal aspect to Jonah’s fleeing than simply leaving the nation of Israel. After all, he was sent to Nineveh, far beyond the promised land’s borders. In 1 Kings 17:1, we read, “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” So, the prophet Elijah comes to Ahab and prophesies about the coming drought on the land, having been told to do so by God, in whose presence he had been standing. It is this presence of the Lord that Jonah flees from. We must take care when we come into the presence of the Lord and hear His Word that we do not flee from it and note that fleeing doesn’t always mean running away physically; you can flee in your mind and heart, while remaining in the same place.
Question
- Jonah fled from the presence of God, but what did that mean?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would not flee from God’s presence.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.