God’s Command

God’s command to the prophet Jonah was: “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it.” (1) Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, built by Nimrod on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. How enormous Nineveh was at that time is as recorded in 3:3: “Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk.” (2) The reason that command was given was: “because their wickedness has come up before Me.” The sin of Assyria was not only idolatry. They committed brutal acts against the people they conquered and struck fear into the surrounding nations. (3) Jonah’s mission, as the Lord’s prophet, was to urge them to repent of their sin. (4) However, Jonah disobeyed that command. The reason was that he anticipated that Nineveh would repent, and he disliked that. The Jews of that era had a mistaken sense of being God’s chosen people, believing that only Jews would be saved. Jonah was no exception. Let us examine whether there is any mistaken sense of being among the chosen, or any mistaken feeling of superiority, within us. If there is a wall of prejudice within us, it is impossible to convey God’s love.

Jonah’s rebellion

Knowing God’s command, Jonah turned away from it. (1) From where he was, in order to go to Nineveh he would have had to head east. But instead, he tried to go the exact opposite – west. (2) Tarshish was a port city in Spain. It was the westernmost city in the known world at that time. Jonah tried to flee there. (3) It says, “away from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah, a prophet of the Lord, knew well that the God of Israel is omnipresent. No matter where he went, he could not escape from the Lord’s presence. The phrase “away from the presence of the Lord” means to avoid the Shekinah Glory that was localized in a particular place. In other words, he was attempting to escape from Israel, where the temple was.  (4) Just then, a ship bound for Tarshish was about to set sail from Joppa. Seizing the opportunity, he paid the fare and boarded the ship. When something so convenient happens, we tend to say it is “God’s providence.” However, even if circumstances open up, it does not necessarily mean that it is God’s will. In this case, it should rather be called “Satan’s providence.” Let us examine whether we have any tendency to presume God’s will in a self-centered way. Let us develop the habit of discerning God’s will not by circumstances, but by the word of God.