BREAKDOWN ON A HIGH LEVEL

BREAKDOWN ON A HIGH LEVEL 

". . But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah" Jonah 1:3

That is to say, in modern speech, that he RESIGNED HIS OFFICE AS A PROPHET OF JEHOVAH. He had exercised that office with good effect in dark and difficult times in the history of Israel (see 2 Kings 14, 25). Now he determined not to continue longer in that office. A command had come to him to go to Nineveh, which lay overland to the north-east. He left his country by water, setting his face west, to a port at the far end of the Great Sea. Why did he do this? The answer is found in his own words later in the story: ". . . I hasted to flee unto Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repent Thee of the evil." Let these words be most carefully pondered. Jonah fled because he knew God well. His resignation was not due to IGNORANCE OF GOD, but rather to ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING. He was commissioned to proceed to Nineveh, and cry against it on account of its wickedness. He knew that if he did this, and Nineveh should repent, God would spare it. This was what he did not want God to do. The cruelties of Nineveh had been brutal, and in the HEART OF JONAH there was NO PITY for her. He was in complete sympathy with the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD PROCEEDING TO PUNISH THE WICKED; but he had no sympathy with the DIVINE COMPASSION. Therefore he fled. This is the story of BREAKDOWN ON A HIGH LEVEL, but it is breakdown. A passion for righteousness, which makes us vindictive and incapable of forgiveness, even in the case of those as cruel as Nineveh, puts us out of fellowship with God. Let us not forget that Jonah had the COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIONS, and the decency to PAY HIS FARE when he ran away!