When we reach a certain age, we take for granted the concept of object permanence, the reality that objects continue to exist when we can’t see them. Babies aren’t born with that knowledge, which is why they love the game of peek-a-boo—they are delighted to see an object disappear and then suddenly reappear again.

Jonah 1:3 tells us that “Jonah ran away from the LORD.” In some ways, Jonah was like a grown man playing peek-a-boo with God because he hadn’t quite grasped the concept of object permanence or the reality that God saw him no matter where he was. We know Jonah was familiar with the Scriptures because he quotes from Exodus later in the book (see Jonah 4:2). Surely Jonah knew that no one could hide from God. He must have also been familiar with King David, who just a few centuries earlier had penned the famous Psalm 139, asking the Lord, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7).

In Psalm 139, we find the answer to David’s question, ensuring that readers know the question is rhetorical. God is in the “heavens” and even in the greatest “depths” (v. 8). The word translated “depths” is the word Sheol—the place of the dead—in Hebrew. In other words, not even the dead can hide from God. David declares that God will be near him even if he’s “on the wings of the dawn” or “the far side of the sea” (vv. 9–10). God is present across the entire world! Further, not even “darkness” can obscure the Lord’s view, for “darkness is as light to” God (v. 12).

Like grown men playing peek-a-boo, Jonah demonstrates a laughably ridiculous attempt to flee from God’s presence. His strategy is doomed to failure, because God is not limited by sight or knowledge.

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