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Lessons from Jonah's Trip to Tarshish
Jonah is an intriguing character among the Old Testament prophets. Jonah was sent by God with a message for the city of Nineveh, a non-Israelite city (Jonah 1:2). Jonah is different than many Old Testament prophets because his message is received well and the people change (Jonah 3:5-9). Jonah is not pleased with God’s response to the repentance of the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10-4:1). The book of Jonah could be divided into two halves. In the beginning of both sections of the book of Jonah God issues a command for Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it the message God gave him (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2). The first half of the book deals with Jonah taking a trip to Tarshish and the events which transpire because of his decision to go to Tarshish. Let’s think about a few lessons we can learn from Jonah’s trip to Tarshish.
Lesson #1 - Jonah’s disobedience did not change the commands of God. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2), Jonah decides to go to Tarshish rather than Nineveh (Jonah 1:3), but God still commands him to go to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-2). How many times might people treat the commands of God like like their failure to obey God’s command will somehow change His commands and expectation. Such is not how God and His commandments work.
Lesson #2 - Jonah attempts to flee from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3-4) but Jonah is not capable of fleeing from the presence of the Lord. Jonah attempts to flee from the Lord yet the Lord sent out a great wind and mighty tempest on the sea (Jonah 1:4). We need to remember it is impossible to hide either the good or the bad we are doing from God (Proverbs 15:3).
Lesson #3 - When God’s people fail to act like they should the unrighteous sometimes end up rebuking their lack of faith in God. When the other people on the boat realize the storm is Jonah’s fault and what he did to have God send a storm on the sea, they say to him, “Why have you done this?” (Jonah 1:10, NKJV). Do we live in such a way that our conduct is honorable among those outside of Christ (1 Peter 2:11-12) or does our conduct bring reproach upon the name of Christ (Romans 2:24)? As Christians we need to remember people are watching us and need to remember to behave like people of God (Matthew 5:13-16). How sad it is when people of the world end up needing to rebuke God’s people!
Lesson #4 - Jonah’s trip to Tarshish is a display of God’s mercy and longsuffering with His prophet. God could have allowed Jonah to simply drown in the sea but instead, “the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah” (John 1:17, NKJV). God could have allowed Jonah to remain in the belly of the fish until he succumbed to death but instead, “the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah not dry land” (Jonah 2:10, NKJV). God’s mercy and longsuffering toward Jonah is displayed in Him listening to Jonah’s prayer from the fish’s belly and answering him (Jonah 2:1-2). The mercy and longsuffering Jonah was the recipient of was the very thing Jonah did not want God to extend to the people of Nineveh (Jonah 4:2). Are we at times the recipients of God’s forgiveness, grace, and mercy but are unwilling to extend such to others or do not wish for others to have the same blessings from God we have received? Remember the teaching contained in the following passages: Matthew 5:7; 6:14-15; 18:21-35, etc.
