Today’s Passage: Jonah 1:1–3
God told Jonah to get up, go to Nineveh, and preach against that city. Jonah did get up. Then he bought a ticket to go the opposite direction.
As you read, hold this: You can run. He still speaks.
Context Nineveh one way, Tarshish the other
Nineveh was a great city in Assyria, far to the east of Israel, and people were afraid of it. Tarshish was the other way, as far west as a ship would take a man. Joppa was the port where you got on a ship. Jonah was a real prophet. He had already spoken the LORD’s word in Israel. Today he hears that word again, and he walks the other way.
Jonah 1:1–2 (BSB)
¹ Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
God spoke to Jonah by name, Jonah son of Amittai. This was not a vague feeling. The LORD had a real word for a real man.
God told him to get up, go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it, because its wickedness had come up before Him. God had seen how that city lived, and He was going to deal with it. He chose Jonah to take His word there.
Jonah heard what God said. The next verse shows what Jonah did with it.
Jonah 1:3 (BSB)
³ Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
He got up, just like the LORD asked. That is where his obedience ended. Instead of going to Nineveh, he ran.
Jonah 1:3 says twice that he fled from millipnê, pronounced mil-lif-NAY. Strong's H6440, from before, away from the presence/face of. This phrase means “from before the face of.” Jonah was not just picking a new city. He was trying to get out from in front of the LORD, as if an ocean could make God stop speaking. of the LORD. The writer says it twice because Jonah knew what he was doing. He was not lost, and he was not taking a rest. He was trying to get away from God.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid for his place, and went aboard. God had told him to go to Nineveh. Jonah paid to go the other way.
Paying for that ticket did not make God stop speaking. Jonah could run, but the LORD still had a word, and He still had Jonah. That is something we can thank God for. When we walk away from what He has said, He does not stop speaking.
Study notes No shore is far enough
David said the same thing in Psalm 139. There is nowhere a person can go to get away from God. That is why running never works. It is also why we can praise Him. We are never out of His reach.
"Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" Psalm 139:7 (BSB)
Jonah heard God say, “Go to Nineveh,” and he took a ship the other way. We can praise God that His word did not stop when Jonah left the shore.
Personal Application
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Where have you been walking away from a word God has already spoken in Scripture?
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What would it look like to turn toward that word today, and to thank God that He has not stopped speaking?
Today’s decision: Name one thing God has already said in Scripture that you have been walking away from. Take the next small step toward it before the day is over, and thank Him that He still speaks.
Pray to Close
The central truth: You can run. He still speaks.
Praise: praise Him that His word is still there even when we walk away from it.
Give thanks: thank Him that you cannot get out of His reach today.
Confess: tell Him where you have been running from a word you already know.
Ask: ask Him to help you turn toward that word.
Worship for Today
Speak O Lord · Keith & Kristyn Getty
Jonah ran from what God said. God did not stop speaking. This song asks the Lord to speak, and to plant His word in us. Sing it as praise, because He still speaks and we can come back.
Listen: