Jonah 1 What Jonah heard from the Lord was more than he could handle..  who could?  The Lord wanted him to go to the worst possible place.. to the worst possible people. . and cry against the greatness of their wickedness..  How many of us have run from something far less horrible than that?  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria.. they were cruel, evil, and ruthless. They would skin people alive and put the bodies on the walls of the city..  no wonder Jonah ran the other way!  We don't even allow missionaries to go into far less dangerous places these days.  Would we send anyone to a place like Nineveh? 

But, the problem was.. Jonah was not just running from an assignment.. he was running "from the presence of the Lord." (v3)  And, as we know.. that is impossible.  The Lord knew exactly where Jonah was.. sleeping in the bowels of the ship as the "Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm.. " 

When the sailors had done everything they could .. when they had called on every god they knew of.. when nothing else could save them.. they did what Jonah told them to do.. throw him into the sea.  They didn't want to.. but they had no other choice.  

Jonah was willing to tell the sailors that he served "the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."  He was willing to tell them that he was "fleeing from the presence of the Lord..."  And, he was willing to die.. so that they might be saved from the storm.   Everything he was not willing to do for Nineveh... he did for the sailors from Joppa. 

The result of Jonah's sacrifice was physical salvation for the sailors.. the storm stopped.  But, it also resulted in them calling on the Lord. "Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows." 

"And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights." 

In Matthew 12: 40 Jesus talks about the sign of Jonah the prophet.. "for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  There are important lessons to be learned from the story of Jonah.. may God open our ears to hear!

Father  in heaven, lead us by Your Truth.. the Lamp to our feet and the Light to our way.  Help us to trust You in the difficult assignments.  Help us to obey You in the hard places.  May we run into Your Presence and cling to You always. May we take hold of the eternal life to which we are called.. in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Make our hearts willing.. Lord.  In Christ's name we pray. Amen.