Can You Run From God? JONAH STARTS

Here's a question:

If God saves, if God elects, if God brings people to Himself in a supernatural work of His grace, can people really run away and miss out on that saving grace? 

Of course, that question is still hotly debated by many, many theologians and experts. No one answers the question better than Jonah. A prophet who DID run, who tried to get away not only from his calling but from his very ministry and life. And yet, God did not let him go. If you've ever purposely tried to go your own way, the book of Jonah is a wonderful reminder that God's grace is greater than our sin. 

Jonah 1:1–3 (ESV) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose 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, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah is called to go to the capital of Assyria and prophesy against it. Jonah runs. He's not interested in giving foreign cities a chance to hear God's Word and perhaps repent. Now the book of 2 Kings tells us that Jonah was happy to prophesy victory and advancement for Israel.

2 Kings 14:25 (ESV) He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

The "He" in that passage is King Jeroboam II, who led the northern kingdom of Israel to unprecedented prosperity and whose reign was a final chance for the nation to repent and turn to the Lord. Jeroboam II successfully won important wars, delivering Israel from Syrian control and taking the cities of Damascus and Hamath. He restored Israel’s ancient eastern boundaries from Lebanon to the Dead Sea. They did not, and Jeroboam led them in the same sins of his fathers. His kingship was more focused on securing national allegiance than holiness. After his reign, the nation swiftly deteriorated and eventually fell to Assyria. 

Perhaps the prophet Jonah foresaw all of this and even heard it from the Lord. At the time of his calling, Assyria's power was at a low point. The nation experienced a massive earthquake, a famine, and a solar eclipse that would all work to soften their hearts toward God. 

Jonah wasn't stupid. He saw what was coming, recognized the potential in God's prophetic Word, and checked out of his divine assignment. 

In this context, we can clearly see how much WORSE his running from God actually was. He ran because he knew God was compassionate and would show mercy. Running from God because He may be merciful to people OTHER than your own is terrible. That's Jonah's story. Imagine not wanting to serve God because He would forgive someone else who, at the time, doesn't even pose a threat to you, you just don't like them. 

The grace God shows this prophet gives hope to every wanderer. Sin has a track record of beating us down in our own failures, so that people typically find solace in God's grace toward others. If you've run from God in the past or are running from Him now, consider His grace toward the ethnocentrism of Jonah, and you will discover a boundless grace available to you.