Journey Through The Scriptures

The prophet Jonah was not the first person in the Bible to run away from God, but he may well be the most famous. Jonah’s attempt to avoid his responsibilities by running from God is the theme of this story, and reminds us of when Adam also fled from God and sought to avoid responsibility for his actions, pushing it onto Eve who in turn blamed the serpent (Genesis 3:8–13). God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, the great capital city of the Assyrian empire, and pronounce judgment against their evil and violence. It must have been daunting for Jonah to think of confronting these powerful people in a city that was over 500 miles from his hometown of Gath Hepher, located a few miles north of Nazareth in Galilee. But Jonah was also reluctant to obey God because the Assyrians were enemies.

But Jonah was also reluctant to obey God because the Assyrians were enemies of Israel. In 722 BCE, about a generation after Jonah’s ministry, they would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel. So Jonah headed for the other side of the known world, Tarshish. But the storm God sent was so fearsome the sailors prayed and cast lots to decide who was to blame, a common practice in that day. Jonah was identified, and he admitted to the terrified sailors that he was the cause of the calamity that had come upon them.