Rebellion Meets Grace — the Story of the Prophet JonahSample

Jonah tried to flee from the presence of the Lord

Jonah feared God. He was a prophet who had preached to the people of Israel and told them about the Lord’s will. He was a religious expert. His problem was not that he did not know God or did not understand what He wanted him to do.

And yet, Jonah disobeyed God’s commandment to go to Nineveh. He did not even respond to God’s words or start an ‘argument’ with the Lord as to why he did not like his commission. He simply went west instead of east to take a ship that would bring him as far from Nineveh as he could reasonably go.

Jonah 1:3 explicitly states that Jonah tried to flee “from the presence of the Lord”. That is really strange behavior for a prophet who knew God personally. Given the fact that he lived long after king David, he might even have known Psalm 139, which states so clearly that God is everywhere.  

It is impossible to flee from God. Jonah knew that. And yet he rebelled, he tried to flee from his mission, no matter how irrational his attempt.  

Perhaps we are like Jonah sometimes. Could it be that we also rebel against God, that we prefer to have things our own way, even if we know that we can’t really flee from Him?