(1) We cannot escape from God's presence
God wanted Jonah to preached to the people in Nineveh
v.2b because their wickedness has come to my attention
He knew every evil thought, act and word that we have.
In Jonah's mind, he thought God was only limited to one place and therefore he could run in the opposite direction.
v.3b So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish far away from the LORD.
However, the rest of chapter 1 tells us there is no place that is "far away from the LORD."
(2) In ESV, both v.3, and v.4 start with the word, "But."
v.3a But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD
v.4a But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea
Man cannot fight against the will of God. If we dare to be obedient to God, God can easily get back to us.
(3) The sailors and the captain, who were unbelievers, doing exactly what Jonah was supposed to do while Jonah was indifferent to what God was doing to him.
1:5 The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god.
v.6b “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!”
(NET) The imperatives “arise!” and “cry out!” are repeated from v. 2 for ironic effect. The captain’s words would have rung in Jonah’s ears as a stinging reminder that the LORD had uttered them once before. Jonah was hearing them again because he had disobeyed them before
Jonah's heart was so hardened that even the unbelievers sought after their gods, but he would not. He knew God and knew why the storm took place, but he refused to repent and obey God. He rather died than listened.
Reflection: Jonah was wrong in his theology. God knew us very well and there is no place to escape from Him. Of course, he had his reason for refusal we will see later in Jonah, but that was because he did not know the heart of God. For now, we can assume that Jonah only has half-knowledge about God. Do we have half-knowledge about God? Do we make up our mind because of that?
Let us reflect and check on ourselves to see if we have any stubbornness in our hearts. Do we assume that we know everything and everything about God?
Do we have any disobedient in our heart based on that foolishness?
Audrey
God wanted Jonah to preached to the people in Nineveh
v.2b because their wickedness has come to my attention
He knew every evil thought, act and word that we have.
In Jonah's mind, he thought God was only limited to one place and therefore he could run in the opposite direction.
v.3b So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish far away from the LORD.
However, the rest of chapter 1 tells us there is no place that is "far away from the LORD."
(2) In ESV, both v.3, and v.4 start with the word, "But."
v.3a But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD
v.4a But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea
Man cannot fight against the will of God. If we dare to be obedient to God, God can easily get back to us.
(3) The sailors and the captain, who were unbelievers, doing exactly what Jonah was supposed to do while Jonah was indifferent to what God was doing to him.
1:5 The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god.
v.6b “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!”
(NET) The imperatives “arise!” and “cry out!” are repeated from v. 2 for ironic effect. The captain’s words would have rung in Jonah’s ears as a stinging reminder that the LORD had uttered them once before. Jonah was hearing them again because he had disobeyed them before
Jonah's heart was so hardened that even the unbelievers sought after their gods, but he would not. He knew God and knew why the storm took place, but he refused to repent and obey God. He rather died than listened.
Reflection: Jonah was wrong in his theology. God knew us very well and there is no place to escape from Him. Of course, he had his reason for refusal we will see later in Jonah, but that was because he did not know the heart of God. For now, we can assume that Jonah only has half-knowledge about God. Do we have half-knowledge about God? Do we make up our mind because of that?
Let us reflect and check on ourselves to see if we have any stubbornness in our hearts. Do we assume that we know everything and everything about God?
Do we have any disobedient in our heart based on that foolishness?
Audrey
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