You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide Series

“You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide”

Jonah 1:1-16

Pastor John Bright

Jonah 1 “1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. 12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

Today I begin a four part series - “Jonah: God’s Reluctant Prophet”. You will notice that most weeks it will cover one chapter – four weeks and four chapters. Guess what I won’t spend any time talking about? The big fish – it was a supernatural event so we will never understand.

Did you hear about the guy who came home drunk? He quietly went to the bathroom and bandaged up the scrapes and bruises on his face from a bar fight.

The next morning, his wife with right there by the bed – “You were drunk last night!”

Very sheepishly he said, “No dear, I was not.”

“Well, if you were not drunk, why did you put band-aids all over the bathroom mirror?” 😊

We can try to run from our bad choices, but we can’t hide from the evidence of them – consider Jonah.

• He lives in the 8th century BC

• During the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel that ended around 750BC

• During the same period, other prophets are warning of the destruction of Israel

• The Assyrian Empire is gaining strength

• They were brutal in war – they practiced psychological terror – they would often peel the skin off their captives while still alive

• Their capital city was Nineveh

Now, do you understand what is going on when God tells Jonah – “v. 2 Arise, go to Nineveh”?

All of us have run from God at one time or another – Amen? I’m sure we do, but I will still ask – any runners here this morning?

This is nothing new in the Bible. God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. As soon as they get out the complaints start – no water – no food – no meat – people in the promised land are too big. They questioned God’s plan. Have you ever done that? I have!