In 2 Kings 14:25 we learn that the border of Israel was restored according to the word of Jehovah the God of Israel, “which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet.” How solemn that one who was God’s mouthpiece disobeyed His word when it came to himself (Jon. 1:1–2). If Tarshish was in southwest Spain, as some suggest, it was in the opposite direction from Nineveh. Jonah was trying to flee from the presence of Jehovah despite the words of David: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Ps. 139:7).

At first, Jonah’s journey seemed to go according to plan: a ship was waiting, he had the fare, he found a place to sleep. But circumstances can be deceiving. Note the word “down” used twice to describe the course he was taking. It was downward physically and spiritually, for he told the ship’s crew—evidently heathen (Jon. 1:5)—that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah (1:10). What a reproach on the God of Israel!

Yet the divine attributes Jonah would deny to the Ninevites—gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness (4:2)—would follow him into the depths of the sea and the belly of the great fish. Asleep to the danger he and the crew were in, he would wake up to learn he could not dodge God but must bow to His disposition to bless (2:9). The apostle Paul echoes the words of the shipmaster: “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (nasb). May we “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil … but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:14–17).