God Almighty
sent His “word” to Jonah to “arise, and go to
Nineveh”. “Nineveh” was a “great city”
and their “wickedness” had “come up before”
God. In chapter one and verse three of his prophesy, we learn how
Jonah responded to God's call by “fleeing” from Him where
we read:
But Jonah
rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went
down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the
fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD.
The
verse begins, “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish
from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa;” The
writer began with the word “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated, “Jonah”
or “dove” “rose up”
which means “arose, stood, roused and erected himself” “to
flee” or “run away, chase,
put to flight, shoot and hurry away” “unto Tarshish”
which means “yellow jasper”
and was “a city of the Phoenicians in a distant part of the
Mediterranean Sea” “from
the presence” or “face or
person” “of the LORD”
which refers to “Yehovah or Jehovah” who is “the existing One
and the proper name of the one true God”, “and went
down” or “descended,
declined, marched or sunk down” “to Joppa”
which means “beautiful” and was “a town on the southwest coast
of Palestine in the territory of Dan which became the primary port of
Jerusalem during reign of Solomon”. Instead of complying with and
answering the commission of God, Paul “ran away” from it.
The
verse continues, “and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he
paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,...” The writer
added, “and he found” which means “to attain, secure,
acquire and get” “a ship” or “merchant ships” “going
to Tarshish” which means “yellow jasper” and was “a city
of the Phoenicians in a distant part of the Mediterranean Sea”: “so
he paid” or “gave, set forth and put” “the fare
thereof” or “the hire, wages, reward, pay and fee”, “and
went down into it” or “had gone down, descended, declined,
marched or sunk down”. After Jonah found the merchant “ship”
going to “Tarshish”, he paid the “fare” and went down
into the inside of it.
Finally
the word says, “...to go with them unto Tarshish from the
presence of the LORD.” The writer continued with the words, “to
go” or “enter, attain to and be enumerated” “with them
unto Tarshish” or “yellow jasper” “from the presence”
or “face or person” “of the LORD” who is “Yehovah or
Jehovah “the existing One and the proper name of the one true God”.
Jonah desired to “flee” from the face and “presence”
of God, and as he boarded the “ship” he thought he
accomplished and fulfilled his desire.
When we think through
these words, we may think it laughable that Jonah actually thought he
could go anywhere where God is not. Jonah had his plan, and he
thought if he boarded a “merchant ship”, he could go as far away
from the city of “Nineveh”
as possible. Sometimes, we may think we can somehow “flee”
from the “presence” of
God, however, this is impossible. God Almighty is “omnipresent”
which means “everywhere present”, and those who think they can go
anywhere in this world where He is not, are greatly mistaken. Jesus
Christ told His disciples, “lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world”,
and we are challenged by the Psalmist “Where
shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your
presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art
there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art
there. If
I take the wings of the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall your hand
lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the
darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea,
the darkness hides not from thee; but the night shines as the day:
the darkness and the light are
both alike to you.”
Let us know
that God is “everywhere”, and should He “call us” to any
particular task, let us not be deceived into believing we could every
“hide” from Him.
Next
time we see God send “a great wind” against Jonah's ship,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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