Jonah 1:1–17

The book of Jonah begins with a prophet running from God. The Lord tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against their evil, but Jonah immediately heads in the opposite direction, trying to get “away from the presence of the LORD” (1:1–3). But Jonah can’t get away. God sends a storm, exposes Jonah’s rebellion, and plunges him into the sea (1:4–16). Jonah learns by experience what Psalm 139:7–10 teaches: no matter where we go, we can’t flee from God’s presence. And when Jonah deserves judgment, God appoints a great fish to keep him alive (1:17). Jonah runs from God only to discover that God isn’t finished working through him.

Text: Read and Pray: Jonah 1:1–17

• As you read Jonah 1, what stands out to you? What seems strange or surprising? What questions does the story leave you with?
  

• In verses 1–3, the Lord calls Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim his judgment against their evil. For Jonah, the Ninevites were among Israel’s greatest enemies, and he no doubt hated them. So instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah “flees” in the exact opposite direction toward Tarshish. Two times we are told that Jonah’s disobedience was a movement away “from the presence of the Lord” (v. 3). Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you clearly knew what God had commanded you to do, but you fled from Him in disobedience? Why do you think you ran away from the Lord? What brought you back?

• In verses 4–6, the Lord sends a great storm upon the sea, and the ship in which Jonah bought passage is on the verge of breaking apart. While the pagan sailors are vainly calling out to their “gods” for deliverance, Jonah is sleeping in the hull. In other words, the only one who knows the true God is completely indifferent to the desperate people around him. Who are the people in your life who are looking for hope in things that cannot save them? How might God be calling you to wake up and point them to the true God?

• When the sailors finally confront Jonah, he gives a perfectly orthodox confession: “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (v9). The irony is that Jonah claims to fear the Lord while actively running from him. Are there any areas of your life right now where, though you claim to fear the Lord, you know you are actively running from Him?

• The chapter ends with a remarkable reversal: the pagan sailors are “fearing the LORD” and offering sacrifices to him (v16), while the prophet of the LORD is sinking into the sea because of his disobedience. Jonah refuses to participate in God’s mission, and yet God uses even his disobedience to bring these sailors to himself. Knowing that God will accomplish his mission (with or without us), how can we change the way we respond when he calls us to participate in it?

• Jonah’s rebellion should have ended at the bottom of the sea. Instead, “the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah” (v. 17). The fish is not primarily God’s punishment of Jonah, but his gracious means of keeping him alive. Jonah has run from God, but God is not finished with him. How have you experienced God’s grace in seasons when your own choices had taken you far from him?