Today’s Reading: JONAH 1
God sent Jonah to Nineveh, a city whose ruins lie across the river from modern-day Mosul, Iraq (which has been in the news).
* Jonah, instead, goes to Tarshish, whose location is less certain, though clearly in the wrong direction.
* The possible locations for Tarshish are generally in the western Mediterranean, in the opposite direction of Nineveh.
* If Jonah’s disobedience wasn’t clear, the text says, he fled “from the presence of the LORD.”
So, let me see if I’ve got this right.
* He fled from God… by physically running away. Hmm…
* Silly Jonah.
Interestingly, Jonah says that he “fears” the LORD in v. 9.
* Does he really? Strange fear—he is actively and boldly disobeying God.
* However, the pagan sailors are “exceedingly afraid,” both when they hear Jonah’s explanation and also when they throw him overboard (vv. 10, 16).
Whether others respond with fear or not, is it not just as ironic for us to call people to fear the judgment of God (and to accept the Gospel) if we are at the same time walking in disobedience without fear?
Clever Remarks 