Have there been times in your life when you gave up on God?
Well, God never gave up on you. Aren't you glad he's the god of second chances? Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah continues his new series, Jonah the Runaway Prophet. with a look at how God brought Jonah back from straying.
and he can do the same for you. With the conclusion of his message running from God, here's David. And thank you so much for joining us today. We are studying the book of Jonah, and we just got started yesterday.
So I'm glad that you have joined us today. We'll kind of review a little bit along the way and get you caught up. And we're going to study this book in the month of September.
So I hope you can be with us as we. Unlock the treasures from the book of Jonah and You know, we have this little thing here at Turning Point. What does the Bible say? What does it mean? And what does it mean to me?
And before you're finished studying Jonah, you'll know the answer to all those questions because that's what the Bible is all about: not just history, but history that makes a difference in today. And we're going to be doing that together during this month. Hey, you know, a lot of people travel to the West Coast over the year, and I've been reticent to do this, but I think it's time for me to do it and let you know that if you come to the State of California, especially to the southern part of the state, you should come and visit us at Shadow Mountain Church. We'll take good care of you. You'll be blessed by the music and fellowship and just the sense of God's presence in the services and the teaching of the Word.
So, next time you're headed this way, or maybe just make a special trip, join us. For one of the three services on the weekend, 5 o'clock on Saturday, 9 o'clock, and 10:45 on Sunday, all services exactly alike, and we hope that you will join us for one of them going forward.
Now here's part two of running from God. Let's begin with the actual story itself. The direction to Jonah is in the first two verses of the first chapter.
Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it for their wickedness. has come up before me. The first thing you need to understand is that this is not a normal prophecy. In fact, there's only one word of prophecy in the entire book, and that is the message Jonah preached to the Ninevites in chapter 3. Right at the beginning, we are given Jonah's marching orders.
The direction to Jonah from the Lord. And the direction was clear, in fact. There are three parts of God's instruction. He said, Arise. Go and cry out against Nineveh.
These are commands. God did not say, Jonah, we're thinking about doing a campaign over in Nineveh. What do you think? He did not say, could you give me some input on the cultural significance of a Jewish prophet going there? He did not ask Jonah's opinion.
He simply came to Jonah and he said, Jonah, listen up. I have three things for you to do. Arise, go to Nineveh, and cry out against it. How many of you wish God would be so direct with you? You know, sometimes we try to figure out what God wants us to do, and we're not really clear because it's caught up in the whole message of the Bible.
But in this instance, God spoke to his prophet and gave him. absolutely clear instructions as to what he should do.
Now before we talk about Jonah's disobedience, I want you to understand why this assignment was so difficult for him. and why he didn't want to do it. Before Jeroboam came to the throne, Israel had been repeatedly attacked by the Assyrians. Anineba was the capital of Assyria. Their armies invaded again and again, and as a result, There was deep bitterness between the Jewish people and the Assyrians.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and it was an enormous city. Home to hundreds of thousands of people, maybe the first mega city in the ancient world. and it was heavily fortified and powerful and feared. In modern geography, Nineveh sat near present-day Mosul, Iraq. placing it right in the heart of what is now the Middle East.
Now the people of Nineveh were idol worshipers. And according to this book, They were also exceedingly wicked.
So wicked that their sin came up before God. In fact, the language of scripture is vivid. Assyria was one of the cruelest and most violent empires. in ancient history. Its kings recorded their victories by boasting of plains covered with corpses.
And cities burned to the ground. Enemies of the Assyrians were mutilated, families were forced to parade. with the severed heads of their loved ones. and prisoners We're tortured. and fullet alive.
Their history has been described as gory and blood-curdling a history as ever was. the cruelest people in the world. And we see some cruelty in today's world. in some of the places we read about. the beheading of people and things of that nature, but Assyria was way beyond that.
And God said to Jonah in effect, I've had enough. I want you to go and cry out against them. And by chapter 3, We hear the message that Jonah was sent to preach. Here's what he preached. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk, and he cried out and said, Yet forty days.
and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Now turn with me to chapter 4, verse 2. And you will understand why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh and why he refused to go.
So he prayed to the Lord and he said, Oh Lord, Was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled to Tarshus. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, one who relents from doing harm. What is Jonah saying? He's saying God, I knew it.
I knew if I went over there and preached, you would forgive them. And I did not want that. I didn't want them to be forgiven and spared from judgment. I wanted them judged. I wanted them to feel the pain.
I do not like them. God called Jonah to preach to the people he hated, and Jonas said, I'm not going to do it. Has God ever asked you to do something you didn't want to do?
Well, you haven't been walking with him very long if that hasn't happened. Has he ever asked you to speak to somebody at work that you don't like? They need to be saved, but you don't really know for sure whether you want them to be saved.
Now you understand Jonah a little better. He understood the instructions he was given in verse 1 of. Chapter 1, he understood them perfectly. They were unmistakably clear, but the Bible tells us Jonah would not have it. The direction to Jonah.
Notice thirdly, The disobedience of Jonah.
So we come to the disobedience of Jonah. This becomes the foundation for the rest of the whole book. And verse 3 sets the stage for everything that follows. Here's what it says but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshus from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarsus.
So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshus. From The presence. of the Lord.
Now that in itself is kind of foolish, isn't it? Jonah is going to run away from God. How in the world do you run away from God? Twice in this verse, it says that Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord. And the psalmist asks the same question.
He says, Where can I go from your spirit, God? Or where can I flee from your presence if I ascend unto heaven? You are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. I kind of wonder today as I preach this message if there might not be somebody here who's running away from God.
God had his hand on your life, telling you he wanted you to do something, you decided you'd run away. And it's a thankless task. Everywhere you go, he's already there when you get there. For he's the omnipresent God. I want you to notice something about Jonah's disobedience.
First of all, it was deliberate. In verse 3 says, Jonah arose to flee to Tarshus from the presence of the Lord. When I say Jonah was deliberate in his disobedience, here's what I mean. When God told him to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, Jonah had some options. He could have stayed right where he was.
He could have simply said, no, I'm not going. You might even respect that kind of honesty. But Jonah did not stay put. He did not merely refuse. He decided if he was not going where God sent him, he was going to go as far away as possible, and that's why he headed for Tarshus.
You see, Tarshis represented the furthest western destination known in Jonah's day. And some believe it was in Spain, others place it along the western Mediterranean or the North African coast. But wherever it was in Jonah's mind, it meant one thing. it was the furthest possible place from where God had called him to go. Jonah did not just disobey God in a smaller, passive way.
God said, Jonah, I want you to go here. Jonah said, I'm not going here, I'm going there. And that is rebellion. And we still see it today. God gives direction, and instead of simply ignoring it, people run the opposite way as fast as they can.
Jonah understood his responsibility. He knew exactly what God had called him to do.
Some believe his deeper struggle was national pride. He knew what the Assyrians had done to his people, and he cared more about his nation. than God's mission. We love our country and rightly so, but our loyalty to God must always come first. Jonah got his priorities mixed up.
His disobedience was deliberate. And then he was deceived in his disobedience. Jonah 1 verse 3 says He went down to Joppa. and found a ship going to Tarshus. And he paid the fare.
and went down into it. The second thing I've written down is that Jonah was deceived in his disobedience. That almost always goes along with refusing to do God's will. Let me put it simply: there will always be a ship waiting for you to take you away from the Lord. There will always be one.
Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah went down to Joppa. a coastal port city on the Mediterranean Sea. Joppa is modern day Jaffa. Israel's main seaport and it was about 75 miles south of Jonah's hometown. in Galilee.
When Jonah arrived in Joppa, there was a ship headed for Tarsus. That detail is important. Ships did not run on schedules those days. They arrived and departed when their business was finished. Jonah could easily have seen that ship and thought to himself, This must be the will of God.
Here's a ship all ready for me. Everything's just perfect. I must be on the right track. But Jonah was not being guided by obedience, he was being deceived. and circumstances can be misleading.
When we are running from God, it is easy to mistake an open door for God's approval. Jonah had a choice. On one side were his circumstances. On the other side was the clear word of God. who had already said, Arise and go to Nineveh.
That instruction could not have been clearer.
So we must never allow our circumstances to override God's word. I've heard some people reason like that. I don't care how perfect it is, if it's against the word of God, don't do it. Because you will end up on a journey. of disillusionment.
and defeat. When someone chooses not to go God's way, The world will always provide an easy alternative. A ship ready to sail. in the opposite direction. Thirdly, Jonah was doomed in his disobedience.
Verse 3 says, So he paid the fare, went down into it to go with them to Tarshi. from the presence of the Lord. This whole book that we're going to study for these next few weeks. is about how much it cost to take the trip to Tarshish. Jonah paid a lot.
He paid a heavy price to be disobedient.
Some of you could stand up today and testify You could say, Pastor, I learned how expensive it is not to do what God tells you to do. I've had that experience. Here's something interesting. The ship to Tarshis only went one way. There is no record of it ever coming back.
The ships that take you away from the presence of the Lord are one-way journeys. until God intervenes and brings you back some other way. I wrote something in the margin of my Bible some years ago when I was reading the book of Jonah. I don't even remember when I wrote it, but I remember when it hit me. Every time Jonah moved away from the presence of God, the direction was down.
He went down to Joppa. He went down into the ship. They threw him down into the ocean. He went down into the deep. He went down into the belly of the fish, and the fish went down to the very depths of the sea.
And some of you here today already know that when you walk away from the presence of the Lord, The direction is always down. Down Down. Yeah. Jonah is about to find out just how far down that path can take you. And so number four.
Jonah was disciplined for his disobedience. Verse 4 says, The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Remember where Jonah is at this point. He's running from God. He's on the ship.
He thinks he's safe. He's headed toward Tarshis so far away as he can get. In his mind, Nineveh is behind him. He doesn't have to think about it anymore. He thinks he's safe.
Have you ever pictured God watching all of this from heaven? Almost as if he were leaning over the railing, looking down and saying, Jonah, what are you doing? What are you doing now? And then God acts. The Bible tells us that the Lord sent a great wind on the sea.
God simply spoke, and the calm was gone, and the sea suddenly erupted, and the storm rose with such violence. that the Bible says the ship was about to break in two. You can't run from God. When you do, you're not running toward freedom, you're running toward a storm. And that storm was not an accident.
It did not come from bad weather or poor timing. It was a God storm. He sent it. The same God who told Jonah where to go now stood in his way. And there's both bad news and good news in that.
The bad news is this. There is not any place where you can be safe if you're running from God. Not any place. He controls the wind, he controls the sea, and he will find you. He is the hound of heaven.
But here's the good news. Doesn't this also show you how much God loved Jonah? God used the wind, He used the waves, He would even prepare a great fish to bring His prophet. back to his senses and back home. God does this because He's the God of the second chance.
One of the great messages of the book of Jonah is this one. And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. And we'll see that in a few verses. God doesn't give up on us, even though we stubbornly rebel against Him. He's much more determined than we are.
And he will follow us. to bring us back. Aren't you grateful for that? I mean, the book of Jonah is really the story about second chances. Jonah failed the first time, but God wasn't finished with him.
God would give him another opportunity. But not before he worked on his heart. Because if God had simply sent Jonah again without changing him, Jonah would have made the same mistake all over again. That is how God works with us.
Sometimes people sail along on what feels like a calm, pleasant sea. They think they're getting away with something. They think they are outrunning God. Then the wind shifts, and the storm rolls in, and they discover. that God will not ignore rebellion forever.
Because a child of God, you see, out of fellowship with God, becomes deeply uncomfortable. Before knowing Christ, you see, you didn't really understand what joy and peace and fellowship were. But once you know Him, when you choose to go south, and God says for you to go north, life becomes really miserable. I don't think there's anything more miserable on the face of God's earth than somebody who's out of fellowship with God. If you're a Christian and you've been in fellowship with God and you're now not walking with Him, you're miserable.
God will keep applying the pressure. He will do whatever is necessary till you listen to His voice and you come back to Him. And that is what the book of Jonah shows us. It reveals the incredible love of God for stubborn people. who sometimes have to learn it the hard way.
So, God is going to take Jonah through a process. But do not miss the central message of this book. This is a book about the love and grace and faithfulness. Of a sovereign God. He knows you by name, you belong to him, and he takes care of his own.
And if necessary, He will use whatever means it takes to to bring you to a place of surrender to his will. I was reminded of a verse in the book of Hebrews that says, Whoever the Lord loves, he chastens. If you're going through some chastening right now, It's not because God is mad at you. It's because God loves you. And he doesn't want you to keep going on the road toward destruction.
You know what makes sense? What makes sense is simply saying, okay guy, I'll do it. I surrender. I will go and do what you want me to do because once you say that, you discover something wonderful, and that is what God wants for you is always better than what you wanted for yourself. And you will wonder why in the world you didn't obey him the first time.
When God says, arise and go, the wisest thing we can do is arise and go. On September 11, 2001, Janelle McMillan was working on the 64th floor of the World Trade Center. When the first plane hit, she began descending the stairs with hundreds of others. Then the North Tower collapsed. concrete and steel buried her under layers of debris.
She couldn't move her legs. The air was heavy with dust and smoke, and fires burned all around. She drifted in and out of consciousness, unsure if anyone would ever find her again. In the darkness she prayed. And she told God that if he saved her, she would give him her life.
and do his will. Hours later, A rescuer cut through the rubble. Grabbed her hand and said, Janelle, I've got you. And she became the last living person pulled from ground zero. after twenty-seven hours.
Later she said, being under the rubble, I knew that I had given my life to Jesus Christ that day. I had made that commitment with God that I will change my life and do His will. I think I'm here to tell a story and to do the will of God as well. Men and women, God doesn't always use a storm like Jonas. or a collapse like Janelle's to get our attention.
Sometimes he just uses ordinary moments or quiet interruptions. But the question never changes. Will we run from God? Or will we return to God? That is what the book of Jonah teaches us.
It teaches us the pain of running. and the joy of returning. And each of us has that chance. that opportunity. Maybe you're here today and You know God's been after you to do something.
Maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe God's been. Just Bringing you in front of the gospel over and over again, and you know what's going on in your life. It's time to say yes. I can tell you if you don't, the journey the other way is absolutely predictable.
It always ends the same way. But the journey with God is an adventure upward toward His presence. And the joy of the journey is incredible. Uh My question to you today is Which way are you running? Toward him?
or away from him. Only you can answer that question. That's right. You're the only one who knows the answer to that. Are you running toward God or are you running away from Him?
In your heart, in the depths of your heart, you know the answer to that question. We'll have more of this as we go forward in this study. I think it gets more interesting as we go along, and we'll get greater insight into how this touches each one of us. Hey, don't forget, during this month, we're offering the calendar for 2027, and it's one of the most beautiful things that we do, designed specifically. For you to have in your home at any place of display, you will be so proud to have this.
And it's a 14-month calendar. That means it starts in November. It goes all the way through December of 27. A place for you to put your appointments and notes for every day of the year. All kinds of scripture, wonderful things for you to meditate on.
I'll read through the Bible schedule. It's all there. And this is yours for the asking when you send a gift of any size to Turning Point during the month of September. Do it today. Be sure to ask for the calendar when you do it.
We'll see you right here tomorrow. Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Drop us a note to let us know how God is using this ministry in your life. Right to Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163.
Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of our 14-month 2027 calendar, The Light of the World. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app to instantly access our content. Search the app store for the keywords Turning Point Ministries.
Visit davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series, Jonah the Runaway Prophet, on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
