Series: Jonah
Service: Sun PM Worship
Type: Sermon
Speaker: Bill Sanchez
Summary Running from God The Prophet Jonah
📘 Sermon Information
Course Title: Bible Study / Old Testament Prophets
Instructor: Bill Sanchez
Date: 2025-10-12 Sunday PM Worship
Chapter/Topic: Jonah (with background from 2 Kings 14)
🧠Key Learnings
Jonah’s calling and initial refusal
Jonah is commanded by God to go to Nineveh and cry out against its wickedness (Jonah 1:1–2). Instead of obeying, Jonah flees toward Tarshish—the opposite direction—attempting to escape God’s command. His flight is deliberate, extensive (willing to go ~2,000 miles), and funded, showing strong intent to avoid obedience. This illustrates that people sometimes disobey God not from ignorance but from deliberate refusal when God’s will conflicts with their preferences or prejudices.
Running from God leads downward and burdens others
Jonah’s flight results in literal and figurative descent: he goes “down” into the ship’s hold, is cast overboard during a storm, and is swallowed by a great fish. The storm aboard the ship demonstrates that one person’s sin becomes a burden on others—the crew suffers and nearly perishes because of Jonah’s disobedience. The principle taught: disobedience isolates and drags down the disobedient and those around them.
God’s sovereignty and mercy in pursuit of the disobedient
Despite Jonah’s flight, God pursues and rescues him—appointing a fish to swallow him and later causing it to release him. Jonah prays from inside the fish, receives God’s deliverance, and is recommissioned. God does not rescind His original command because Jonah ran; He reissues it, demonstrating that God’s expectations remain consistent and His mercy persists even after failure.
Superficial obedience vs. genuine heart transformation
When Jonah finally goes to Nineveh, his obedience is minimal and grudging—he walks only part of the city and utters a short, stark proclamation (“Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”). That bare-minimum obedience precipitates a massive city-wide repentance, yet Jonah remains angry and resentful. The lesson: one can comply outwardly while remaining disobedient inwardly; God desires inward transformation (becoming like Him), not mere external conformity.
God desires all to repent; Jonah’s prejudice reveals a deeper heart issue
Jonah resents God’s mercy toward Nineveh because he considers them unworthy. He prefers God’s judgment to God’s mercy for those he hates. God’s response—questioning Jonah about his anger and teaching him through the plant/ worm episode—exposes Jonah’s self-centeredness: Jonah values his own comfort and sense of justice more than God’s compassion. The book shows that the true enemy often is ourselves: our prejudice, self-righteousness, and unwillingness to love as God loves.
Running to God means becoming like God and participating in His mission
The ultimate call is not merely to be rescued by God but to be remade into His likeness—loving the things God loves, showing mercy, and bringing others to Him. Jesus is presented as the greater counterpart: unlike Jonah, Jesus willingly went to people who did not deserve mercy, died and rose again, and called people to repentance. Running to God involves full commitment (not half-hearted) and actively bringing others into relationship with God.
✏️ Key Concepts
Concept 1: Divine Commission and Human Response
Definition: A divine commission is God’s directive to an individual to act on His behalf; human response can be obedient, reluctant, or rebellious.
Key Points:
- God commands Jonah to preach to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1–2).
- Jonah’s first response is flight (Tarshish), showing refusal when the mission conflicts with his prejudices.
- God’s expectation remains unchanged despite Jonah’s disobedience.
Example / Analogy: Jonah leaving for Tarshish (running away from God’s mission) —— the speaker.
Concept 2: Consequences of Disobedience
Definition: Disobedience to God’s commands brings personal and communal consequences that often worsen the situation.
Key Points:
- Jonah’s disobedience causes a storm that endangers the sailors (his sin burdens others).
- Disobedience leads Jonah downward—physically into the sea and the fish, spiritually into blindness and selfishness.
- Rescue does not eliminate the consequences, but God’s mercy remains available.
Example / Analogy: The shiplightening efforts (throwing cargo) fail to save the ship because the true burden is Jonah’s sin — the speaker’s recounting of the passage.
Concept 3: External Compliance vs. Heart Obedience
Definition: External compliance is doing the minimum outward acts required; heart obedience is wholehearted alignment of desires and affections with God.
Key Points:
- Jonah ultimately goes to Nineveh but only gives a terse proclamation, arguably covering only part of the city.
- Doing the bare minimum can look like obedience but is a form of continued resistance.
- True obedience requires inner transformation, not just outward acts.
Example / Analogy: Jonah’s single short sermon that leads to city repentance, while Jonah remains bitter — the speaker.
Concept 4: God’s Universal Compassion
Definition: God’s compassion extends beyond national, ethnic, or personal boundaries—He desires all to repent and be saved.
Key Points:
- God’s mercy extends to Israel (2 Kings 14) and to Nineveh (Jonah).
- God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” and He relents from sending calamity when people repent.
- Jonah’s inability to rejoice at Nineveh’s repentance reveals a heart at odds with God’s universal compassion.
Example / Analogy: Nineveh repenting after Jonah’s proclamation and God sparing the city — the speaker.
Concept 5: God’s Aim to Form His Image in Us
Definition: Beyond saving, God’s objective is to conform believers to the image of His Son—transforming affections and actions.
Key Points:
- Salvation is the beginning; sanctification (becoming like Christ) is the ongoing aim.
- Running to God means surrendering fully, not keeping one foot in the world.
- Part of running to God is actively participating in His mission to bring others to repentance.
Example / Analogy: Jonah should have learned mercy and become like God; Jesus willingly went to the undeserving — the speaker.
🔄 Q&A/Discussion
Question 1: Why did Jonah flee to Tarshish rather than obey God and go to Nineveh?
Answer 1: Jonah fled because he disagreed with God’s plan—he resented the idea of offering mercy to Israel’s enemies (Nineveh/Assyria). His flight reveals personal prejudice and unwillingness to align his affections with God’s compassion.
Question 2: Did God change His command after Jonah ran the first time?
Answer 2: No. God reissued the same command. God’s expectations do not change because of human rebellion; His mercy pursues the person, but the commission remains.
Question 3: Why did the sailors react nobly toward Jonah?
Answer 3: The sailors displayed compassion and piety—praying to Jonah’s God and seeking to avoid innocent blood—contrasting with Jonah’s self-centeredness. Their reaction underscores that mercy and reverence can appear even among non-Israelites and highlights Jonah’s failure to match God’s character.
Question 4: What is the significance of the plant and the worm in chapter 4?
Answer 4: God uses the plant and worm to teach Jonah about misplaced affections—Jonah grieves a plant that benefited his comfort but is indifferent to the spiritual condition of an entire city. The episode exposes Jonah’s selfishness and demonstrates God’s concern for people over Jonah’s comfort.
