January 13 -Stop - Wrong Way!

January 12      

Stop – Wrong Way

 Jon 1:3 … and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:…

 A humorous story is about a lady who heard on the news that there was a driver going the wrong way on the expressway. Her grandfather was coming for dinner so she called to warn him to be careful. “Grampa, someone is driving the wrong way on the expressway” and he responded “What do you mean someone?  They are all driving the wrong way!”

Grampa thought he was going the right way. It was not deliberate.  He had not planned to do it. But Jonah went down to Joppa on purpose.  He was deliberately running from the Lord. I wonder how fast or how far you have to run to escape from God?  OK we need some more information.

Jon 1:1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;

 for their wickedness is come up before me.

Why did God chose Jonah for that job?  2 Kings 14:25 tells us Jonah, the Son of Amittai, was a prophet.   “… according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. “

A prophet's job was to go tell people what God had said. Telling Jonah to cry out against Ninevah was not an unusual request, but it was a an especially difficult thing for Jonah for several reasons. First it was in “enemy” territory. Ninevah was the capitol city of Assyria. Assyria caused great grief to the Hebrews. The Assyrian army was especially cruel. They enjoyed impaling their victims on stakes, or beheading them, or burning cities with people in them. The Hebrews both despised and feared the Assyrians. Jonah knew the Assyrians were steeped in idol worship and wanted God to pass judgement on those disgusting, idol worshipping, cruel and hated Assyrians.

To get a better understanding of what God had asked we need to move it to present day events. It would be like telling you to go to North Korea and stand on the steps of the capitol and tell the president of North Korea and his army that they were sinners, and ungodly and idol worshippers and God was going to destroy them unless they repent and become Christians and be nice. Or going to the middle east and doing the same with militant Muslims. Forget Allah, worship Jesus. It sounds like a suicide mission to me.  

But fear was not the reason Jonah did not do what God had told him to do. Jonah 4:1-2 tells us that after God had spared the city Jonah did not rejoice but was very angry.  Jonah hated the Assyrians so much he wanted them to suffer the judgment of God, not to repent and be spared. When God told him to go cry against Ninevah for their wickedness, Jonah knew that God would not destroy them if they repented.  Jonah had no intention of telling them to repent.  He wanted God to judge them. They deserved it!

Jonah did not do what God asked. But he didn’t just ignore God, he responded by going the wrong way. Ninevah was about 450 miles to the northeast from Jonah’s home town, Gathhepher.  But instead of heading east he planned to go west, as far as he could, which was Tarshish a seaport in Spain! Jonah did not grab the first boat he saw. He already knew he was heading to Tarshish, which was the end of the known world at that time, and looked until he found a boat headed there.  Did Jonah believe that the God of Israel was confined to only operating in the holy lands? Did he think going to the end of the earth would let him escape from the presence of the LORD?  Whatever he was thinking, he was going in the wrong direction as fast and as far as he could.

Today let us ask ourselves. In what direction are we going?  Are we ignoring God or perhaps running from him.  If you are running from God where will you go?  How far will you run? Has God told you to do something and instead of ignoring Him you have rebelled and done the opposite? 

 

Because you are reading this I doubt you are running away from God. While this devotion may not directly apply to you, perhaps you know someone who is running from God. Has God brought a person to your mind because he wants you to go to that person and speak to them about the Lord. Perhaps you do not want to speak to whomever God has laid on your mind. You could try to avoid them so you wouldn't have to say anything to them. But if you did that, then, yes, you would be going in the wrong direction yourself.  The lesson from Jonah is easy to understand but may be difficult to do. May we seek wisdom and strength from above to continue in the right direction.   
            Thank you for reading these devotionals. Please send any feedback to me at
davidwiseley@gmail.com. I welcome your comments and even (gasp) criticism!