SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/08/2025 10:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “PT-1 “The Prophet’s Defiance”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 1:3
Message of the verses: “Yet Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.”
Jonah did not do anything that the Lord had commanded him to do with the exception of him getting up, after that it was all disobedience. It seems to me that Jonah made a split second decision, which was probably a bad thing to do, and so this shows me that what he did showed the hatred that he had for those outside of Judaism, and that was not at all what God desired for the people of Israel to do. If we fast forward to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth we see that this kind of behavior was still in practice. In John chapter four we see the very first conversion to Christianity where we read “And He had to pass through Samaria.” This is seen in John 4:4. The Pharisees would never go into Samaria as they would walk miles out of their way instead of walking through Samaria, and that is because they had the same hatred for the Samarian people as Jonah had for those in Nineveh. I am not sure that this situation is any better today with some of the people in Israel.
What we see here in this verse of Johan was that he took urgent action not to heed God’s directive but to head in the opposite direction. Instead of arising to “go” (cf. 1:2), Jonah arose to flee, running away to avoid his God-given mission. So we see that Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, and this was in the opposite direction that God wanted him to go as this city was some 2,500 miles in the opposite direction, located likely off the coast of Spain.
John MacArthur writes “In his disobedience, Jonah displayed both defiance and delusion by attempting to flee from the presence of Yahweh. The rebellious prophet was well aware of God’s omnipresence. In Psalm 139:7, David has asked rhetorically, ‘Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?’ Jonah himself later exclaimed that God reigns over heaven and earth (Jonah 1:9). Though the prophet comprehended this theological truth, he denied it in practice, hoping geographical distance would be enough to thwart God’s plans. Jonah’s mad-dash escape was as foolish as it was futile. No matter how far away he tried to hide, Jonah knew that ‘even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me’ (Ps. 139:10). Though aware of God’s character, Jonah ran anyway, illustrating just how obtuse and offensive disobedience can be (cf. 2 Kings 19:28; Ps. 50:16-21; 51:4; Rom. 1:20-21).”
Spiritual Meaning for My Life Today: With the seriousness of my wife’s issues there are times when I think it would be best to just run from them, but then I know better because it is my duty to do all I can do to make sure she has the things that she needs each and every day. This has been what is called a gut-punch to both of us, but I know that God is on His throne and in control of all of this, and His Word says that He will work it out for His Glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to do what He desires me to do, especially in this situation of my wife.
9/8/2025 11:00 AM
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