Jonah 1:1-3
Get Up and Go the Other Way
Read the passage
1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
3Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The LORD tells Jonah son of Amittai to get up and go to Nineveh. He is to preach against the great city because its wickedness has come before God.
Jonah gets up, but he goes to Joppa and finds a ship bound for Tarshish. He pays the fare and goes aboard. The passage says twice that he is fleeing from the LORD’s presence. This is a journey chosen to avoid the work God gave him.
The opening does not yet explain his reason. It lets us see the refusal in his actions: a different destination, a paid fare, and a place on the ship. Jonah has heard a clear command, and his preparations take him away from carrying it out.
How We Know
Second Kings 14:23–25 names Jonah son of Amittai as the prophet from Gath-hepher through whom the LORD spoke about Israel’s restored boundary during Jeroboam’s reign. The shared name and father connect this book’s prophet with that account. Genesis 10:11 also names Nineveh among the cities built in Assyria.
Questions
1 Where does the LORD send Jonah?
AnswerTo the great city of Nineveh, where he is to preach against it because its wickedness has come before the LORD.
2 What does Jonah do instead?
AnswerHe goes down to Joppa, pays for passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, and boards it to flee from the LORD’s presence.
3 Does this passage explain why Jonah refuses?
AnswerNo. It tells us what the LORD commands and what Jonah does. His explanation comes later in the book, so we should not supply one here.
4 What shows that Jonah’s refusal involves deliberate choices?
AnswerHe finds a ship, pays the fare, and goes aboard. His disobedience includes plans and actions, rather than only a moment of hesitation.
What This Means for Us
Avoiding a responsibility can take considerable effort. We may fill a day with other work so that we never reach the apology, promise, or act of service we know is needed.
Name one clear responsibility you have been arranging your life around avoiding. Ask God for willingness to face it, and decide what action you can take. Being busy does not answer the question of whether we are obeying Him.
Prayer
Father, we know how to spend time and money getting away from what you asked. Thank you that you did not let Jonah go. Show us what we are running from, and give us the honesty to say it out loud tonight. Amen.