Jonah (Part III)
In the last couple of posts we have broken down verse 1 and 2 of Jonah 1. We have been peeling back the layers of a book of the bible that on the surface looks pretty cut and dry on the surface in the message it’s getting across. What is actually being revealed is a much more powerful, multi-faceted, message. We can see a story of God’s love for His, the story of God’s call of reconciliation to those far away from Him, and the church’s role in the process. Let’s get to work shall we?
Jonah 1
1)Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2)“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3)But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
This is exactly how Adam and Eve reacted once they had sinned. They hid themselves from the Lord’s prescense. There was a breaking of fellowship with God. Our disobedience and sin once created a chasm between us and God. Jesus Christ came and bridged the chasm between God and man, and brought us back into right fellowship with Him. When we become aware of what He has done for us and refuse to respond, in many cases a time of breaking and subjection is soon to follow.
One of the things that really stands out in this verse as I studied it was the root meaning of “Tarshish”. It means “breaking or “subjection” (Gesenius’s Lexicon) Our sinful nature is constantly self-serving, self-centered, and self-motivated. Thanks to Jesus Christ, He has given us a new life, a new nature, new freedom. Where you were once self-serving you are now called by Christ to love others. Where you were centered around your own wants and needs, you are now seeking after the kingdom of God and those things that will glorify God and further His kingdom. This change happens in our spirit right away when we are regenerated and born again, however the change in our outward actions sometimes take some time and take some painful lessons to learn. Jonah had to go through a process of being broken and brought into submission to His will before he finally obeyed God.
As we grow as Christ-Followers, God shows us things in our lives that He wants us to submit to His Lordship. Sometimes these things are not so hard to lay down. Sometimes we refuse to lay those things down. We must be broken of those things. We must be disciplined. We must be brought into subjection to His will.
Some of the hardest people for God to reveal Himself to is religious people. God wants to reveal Himself but due to jacked up mindsets and putting God in a box, they have the hardest time accepting God when He doesn’t fit their mold. That mold must be broken so you can be free to receive everything God has for you and wants you to be. God wanted to reveal Himself to Jonah, but Jonah ran. What he didn’t know, is that he was running straight into subjection and breaking!
God help us to hear Your voice and give us the grace to obey You, even when we don’t quite understand what You are doing. Help us to know that no matter what, that You are working all things for our good.
Kevin
