The Lord has led me to another sermon from Jonah. Again, we are going to look at his children's favorite story through the lens of grown up eyes.
This sermon is about how Jonah thought he could flee from the presence of the Lord. Jonah was told by God to go preach to the wicked, heathen city of Nineveh. But Jonah didn't want to. The Bible doesn't elaborate on Jonah's reasons; but really do we need to know the excuses behind disobedience?
Jonah was a preacher. A prophet. A man of God. The one who God sent to tell others His word. The Bible doesn't say that Jonah had any job other than this. And yet, in Jonah chapter 1, Jonah is doing exactly the opposite of what his job was suppose to be.
God didn't ask Jonah his opinion. God didn't wait for Jonah to say what his choice in the matter was. God didn't tell him to preach salvation. God commanded Jonah to preach judgement.
But, Jonah didn't like these people. He wasn't happy about being told to go to the evil Gentile nation and preach. Perhaps he thought the journey was too much to ask of him- 3 days of travelling. Whatever the reason, Jonah had made up his mind that this was too much for God to ask of him.
Jonah knew that God was merciful. He tells God, in Jonah chapter 4, that he didn't want to see these wicked people repent and receive mercy from the Lord. So, Jonah flees from the presence of the Lord.
What makes a person think that they can get away from the eyes of the omniscient, omnipotent God of all creation? Why would a God that would mete out judgement to an evil city not serve judgement of the one who was suppose to be His minister? Who is above the sentence of righteousness?
Not Cain when fleeing from the murder of his brother. Not Satan when he leaves God's throne to tempt Job to sin. Not the sinner in the last days. And not the prophet Jonah who was blatantly disobeying God's command.
How many times do we allow sin in our lives and then we try to hide from God's presence? We know we're guilty so we stay away from church. We don't want to hear from those who are trying to serve the Lord. We don't want our conscience to be pricked by God's Word. This stuff makes us feel bad because we're guilty.
We find ourselves in sin and we start doing the opposite of what God expects of us. We make excuses as to why we are justified in running away from God's will. But, the truth is, we cannot run from the presence of God.
