Jonah's "Impossible" Situation

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah (Yonah) the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."  But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence (face) of the LORD."  Jonah 1:1-2

There is a wealth of information given in the brief statements above.  We read that the Word (Heb. Dabar) of the LORD came to Jonah.  Biblical scholars call these words the "Messenger Formula."  They are simple in that they have a simple subject and a powerful verb ("word").

In the Hebrew the word for "word" is dabar, and it means 'happened.'  In other words, 'The word (dabar) happened to Jonah.  That is, the word of the LORD effectively placed Jonah in a new situation.

Jonah's old situation passed away at the event of the LORD's dabar.  It can never be otherwise.  The new situation arose within the prophet's life with irresistible and compelling power.  The command from God to "Go" extinguished selfish direction and desire, or so it should.  But God's decisive call is given to a man, namely, Jonah.

Jonah has no special strength or skill other than being the son of Amittai.  That is the extent of his resume', but he is also more than a resume' and a pedigree.  He is God's man.  He is given a message of hope to a people who had ravaged Jonah's own people.  He is a man in an impossible position humanly speaking.  He is an ardent nationalist and consumed with love for his own people and yet he must give a message of salvation to those who have destroyed his people.

God's dabar has cast Jonah into an impossible situation.  Poised between the irresistible divine dabar and the threatening witness of his experience Jonah chooses to disobey the command to 'Arise, and go to Nineveh.' Jonah makes a choice that he cannot make without grave consequences to himself.  Jonah think's that he can refuse the command of God which means that he does not fully understand his new situation.

The Word of God has come to him as decisive event from which there is no appeal.  Every action that he takes that is contrary to his new situation is certain to collapse and engender ruin.  We are told in verse three that the prophet ran away from the LORD or more accurately "Yonah reared up against the LORD."  This is a frightful revelation and it is an action that does not catch God by surprise.

Jonah's action of rearing up reveals a heart filled with rebellion.  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh the capital city of the dreaded Assyrian Empire, but he decides to go to southern Spain.  In fact, Tarshish was on the west coast of Spain.  It would make a good refuge for the prophet.  He could stay in Tarshish and wait out God's command.  In Tarshish he could settle down and live a quiet and peaceful life.

The Dabar had no power in Tarshish.  Jonah's thinking, as his heart was now filled with rebellion according to verse three ..."he went down..."  This is the case for all of us who are called by God to a work that he has given only to us.  When we disobey we too go down.  The past was closed to Jonah.  He could not go back to it.  He had to face his future as God's messenger to Nineveh.  It was a future that he did not want, but to live otherwise would be an awful lie.

Jonah's fateful decision to disobey God has challenged his will.  It is a test of volitional resolve, and God will be the obvious victor. The human instrument is vital to the will of God.  Jonah was chosen because of his character makeup.  You see within the prophet's own character of  militant resolve is a picture of God's militant resolve of mercy toward the Assyrian kingdom in spite of their aggressive and violent hubris. God's Grace can go where we cannot go, and God can show love toward those we cannot love.

It is our practice to judge first, and maybe to love at some point after people have run the gauntlet of our character test.  Jonah knows God, but he does not know God.  He is going to learn, however, that God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts.  God's call to Jonah would stretch him beyond his own patriotic pride.

We read late in this powerful book that Jonah resisted the will of God because he knew that God is merciful, but Jonah did not want the mercy of God extended to the hateful Assyrians.

This impossible situation resided within the soul of Jonah.  He fabricated a woeful and painful lie within his soul that would bring him into the arena of divine corrective discipline.  He is stubborn and in a state of rebellion and he will learn something about the ways of God with his own.  Jonah is a portrait of Israel in opposition to the revealed will of God, but he cannot see that because his vision is obstructed by idolatry of the heart, as was Israel.

In the end of this contest of wills God will win, and the Assyria capital will receive the prophet's message and repent of their evil.

Has God called you to enter into an impossible situation?  Has God called you to risk obeying his will which is not a risk?  Have you resisted his call to become an ambassador of Grace because of prejudice?  Jonah had to fight prejudice in order to do the will of God.

The contest of wills was truly ugly until the prophet realized that God does not change as man changes.  Are you ready to obey God's call so that others may be set free from the wages of sin, and receive the message of God's Grace through the Iesous?

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