The Promise

Jonah, the Prophet Who Ran Away

Picture: Jonah, the Prophet Who Ran Away 2TC 136.1

This chapter is based on Jonah 1-4.

Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. Located on fertile land by the Tigris River, it had become “an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.” 2TC 136.2

Nineveh was a center of crime and wickedness— “the bloody city ... full of lies.” The prophet Nahum compared the Ninevites to a cruel lion. “Upon whom,” he inquired, “has not your wickedness passed continually?” Nahum 3:1, 19. 2TC 136.3

Yet Nineveh was not entirely given over to evil. In that city many were reaching out for something better. If they were given opportunity to learn about the living God, they would put away their evil deeds. And so God revealed Himself to them, unmistakably, to lead them to repentance. 2TC 136.4

The word of the Lord came to the prophet Jonah, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” The prophet was tempted to question the wisdom of the call. It seemed as if there was nothing to be gained by proclaiming such a message in that proud city. He forgot that the God he served was all-wise and all-powerful. While Jonah hesitated, Satan overwhelmed him with discouragement, and he “arose to flee to Tarshish.” Finding a ship ready to sail, “he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them.” 2TC 137.1

God had entrusted Jonah with a heavy responsibility. If the prophet had obeyed without questioning, God would have blessed him abundantly. Yet in Jonah’s despair the Lord did not desert him. Through trials and strange interventions, God would revive the prophet’s confidence in Him. 2TC 137.2

God did not permit Jonah to go very long in his frantic attempt to escape. “The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, ... so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.” 2TC 137.3

The captain of the ship, distressed beyond measure, found Jonah and said, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” 2TC 137.4

Jonah Cast Overboard

But the prayers of Jonah, who had turned aside from duty, brought no help. As a last resort, the mariners proposed casting lots, “that we may know,” they said, “‘for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us! For whose cause is this trou ble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ 2TC 137.5

“So he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ 2TC 138.1

“Then ... the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 2TC 138.2

“Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm for us?’—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.’” 2TC 138.3

“So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ... 2TC 138.4

“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2TC 138.5

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said: 2TC 138.6

‘I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. ...
For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Then I said, “I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.” ...
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. ...
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.’” Jonah 2:2-4, 7, 9. 2TC 138.7

At last Jonah had learned that “salvation belongs to the Lord.” Psalm 3:8. With repentance and a recognition of God’s saving grace, deliverance came. Jonah was released from the perils of the mighty deep; the fish cast him up on the dry land. 2TC 138.8

Once more God commissioned His servant to warn Nineveh: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” This time he did not question or doubt, but “arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” 2TC 138.9

As Jonah entered the city, he began at once to “cry out against” it with the message: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” From street to street he went, sounding the warning. The cry rang through the streets of the godless city until all the inhabitants heard the startling announcement. The Spirit of God pressed the message home to every heart, and multitudes repented in deep humiliation. 2TC 139.1

“Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let ... every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’” 2TC 139.2

As king and nobles, the high and the low, “repented at the preaching of Jona” (Matthew 12:41), they received mercy. “God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” Their doom was averted, and throughout the heathen world the God of Israel was honored and His law respected. Not until many years later, by forgetting God and cherishing boastful pride, did Nineveh fall a prey to the surrounding nations. 2TC 139.3

When Jonah learned of God’s intention to spare the city, he should have been the first to rejoice. But he allowed his mind to dwell on the possibility of his being considered a false prophet. The compassion God had shown toward the repentant Ninevites “displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.” “Was not this what I said,” he inquired of the Lord, “when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.” 2TC 139.4

Once more he was overwhelmed with discouragement. Losing sight of the interests of others, he exclaimed, “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 2TC 139.5

“Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ So Jonah went out of the city. ... There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.” 2TC 140.1

Then the Lord gave Jonah an object lesson. He “prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’” 2TC 140.2

Again God spoke to His prophet: “‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’ 2TC 140.3

“But the Lord said, ‘You have had pity on the plant. ... And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left?’” 2TC 140.4

Jonah had fulfilled his commission to warn that great city; and though the event predicted did not come to pass, yet the message of warning was nonetheless from God, and it accomplished the purpose God designed. His grace was revealed among the heathen. The Lord “saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death.” “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:13, 14, 20. 2TC 140.5

Christ referred to the preaching of Jonah and compared the inhabitants of Nineveh with the professed people of God in His day: “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” Matthew 12:41. Into the busy world where people were trying to get all they could for themselves, Christ had come; and above the confusion came His voice, asking, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:37. 2TC 140.6

Jonah’s Day, and Ours

Like the people of Nineveh, the cities today are in need of knowledge of the true God. Christ’s ambassadors are to point sinners to the nobler world. According to the Scriptures, the only city that will endure is the city whose builder and maker is God. Through His servants the Lord is calling on men and women to secure the immortal inheritance. 2TC 141.1

Because of the steady increase of determined wickedness, an almost universal guilt is coming rapidly on the cities. Every day brings fresh revelations of strife, bribery, fraud, violence, lawlessness, indifference to human suffering, and brutal destruction of human life. Every day testifies to increasing insanity, murder, and suicide. People boast of our age’s progress and enlightenment, but God sees the earth filled with iniquity and violence. Many declare that the law of God has been done away with; as a result, a tide of evil is sweeping over the world. To gratify their lust for forbidden things, people barter away nobility of soul, gentleness, and piety. 2TC 141.2

With patience and tender compassion God deals with the transgressors of His law. And yet, we are rapidly approaching the end of God’s restraint concerning those who persist in disobedience. 2TC 141.3

Should anyone be surprised over a sudden change in the dealings of the Supreme Ruler with the inhabitants of a fallen world? Should they be surprised that God would bring destruction on those who have become rich through fraud? Many have chosen to remain under the banner of the one who started the rebellion against the government of heaven. 2TC 141.4

God’s patience has been so great that we marvel. The All-powerful One has been restraining His own attributes. God allows people a period of probation, but His patience is not unlimited. The Lord bears long with them, giving warnings to save them, but a time will come when He will blot out the rebellious element, in mercy to themselves and to those whom they would influence by their example. 2TC 141.5

God is withdrawing His Spirit. Disasters follow one another in quick succession—earthquakes, tornadoes, fire, and flood. Apparently these calamities are random outbreaks of disorganized, un regulated forces of nature, beyond human control; but they are among the agencies by which God seeks to awaken men and women to a sense of their danger. 2TC 141.6

God’s messengers in the great cities are not to become discouraged over the wickedness and depravity they face while proclaiming the good news of salvation. In wicked Corinth the Lord gave Paul a message: “Do not be afraid, ... for I am with you, ... for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9, 10. In every city there are many who with proper teaching may learn to become followers of Jesus. 2TC 142.1

God’s message for the inhabitants of earth today is, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44. The conditions in the great cities proclaim in thunder tones that the hour of God’s judgment has come and that the end of all things earthly is at hand. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another—fire, and flood, and earthquake, with war and bloodshed. The angel of mercy cannot shelter much longer those who do not repent. The storm is building; and those only will stand who respond to the invitations of mercy and become sanctified through obedience to the laws of the divine Ruler, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah. 2TC 142.2