Jonah, 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.But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.
6 sermons cite this verse
… Go at once to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board with them to go to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came up upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. And then the sailors were afraid and each cried to his God. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down below to the hold of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. And so the captain came to Jonah and said to him, What are you doing? Sound asleep, get up, call on your God. Perhaps the God will spare us a thought so that we do not perish. …
… and then turns the other way and aborts a ship and goes in the opposite direction. Okay. So in Jonah chapter one, verse three, if you have your Bibles, turn there. It says, but Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed Tarshish to flee from the Lord, which is so funny here because come on, Jonah, like you can't flee from God. Like let's wake up. Okay. And so in this moment, Jonah's aboard this ship. He has sailors helping him and God sends a huge storm. Okay. And the sailors like start to get terrified and they kind of look to Jonah for help. And Jonah's like, look, I know this storm is like from God. So I'm going overboard. Okay. Like I would rather die and drown and have to face God with my emotions. And so what happens? Jonah goes overboard and then a massive fish comes in, swallows Jonah whole and literally eats Jonah. …
… And so in verse three, it says, look at verse three. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord now here's the problem God told him to go to Nineveh which is 550 miles northeast of where he was go to Tarshish 550 miles northeast he decides to go to Tarshish which is 2,500 miles west oh y'all missed that didn't y'all he went in the opposite direction of where God told him to go. And I wonder how many of you in this building that are here sitting under my ministry have decided to go in the opposite direction of what God has told you and called you to do. this is a tough one here this is i feel the tension in the room there's tension amen you have an assignment and you're going in the opposite direction and that's what they did that's what he did he went in the opposite direction he went west when god said go northeast he did not go in the direction that god told him to do god gave him a clear assignment and he sought to avoid it. He sought to go in a different direction. And I'm here to tell you all today, whatever God tells you to do, whatever direction he points you to go in, go in that direction. …
… instructive, but just for the sake of time, focus in with me on verses 3 through 5. He went down to Joppa. Pastor Mickey used to say, when you run from God, you always go down. I like that. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. Pastor Mickey used to always say, if you ever want to run from God, the devil will always give you a ride. Anyway, that's just old preacher stuff that I used to hear. So he paid the fare and went on board. I'm holding up my penny, y'all. He paid the fare, went on board to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. Surprise! Verse 4, you can't. You can't run from any of it. You can't run from it. Well, you can run from it, just not very long, especially if the Lord really loves you, because those he loves he disciplines. Those he really loves, he does what it takes to bring them back. …
… he willingly, deliberately disobeys God. Have you ever disobeyed God? Watch what it says here. Jonah chapter one, verse three, listen to it on the screen. But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from away from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. See, the thing about disobeying God is that you know that God's asked you to do this and you're like, I'm not willing to do it. I'm willing to pay the fare and do whatever I can to get out of God's will for my life. I want to encourage you, just like Jonah, God will not quit on you. God will not abandon you. God didn't say to Jonah, God didn't see Jonah and go like, well, Jonah done messed up. I'm done with Jonah. I'm about to find me a Judas. No, that's not what he said. …
… Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai, saying, Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. but Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish he paid his fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord we're going to stop right there and I want to speak to you this morning on the topic, the garment of grace. The garment of grace. sisters and brothers I was on the web the other day and came across a web article that really got my attention the name of the article was clothing as a tool of resistance and that article began to detail how people who were active in the black lives matter movement were intentional about what they wore, that they took their messaging really seriously. People were wearing face masks that said enough is enough, or a shirt that said stop killing us. There were shirts and masks that said we march, or love is love, or celebratory, like young, gifted, and black. And then there were the shirts that had quotations from leaders of the past and present. And most of those quotations were real. And there were a few that were imagined. My favorite one was the quote by Harriet Tubman, we out. I loved all of those shirts and masks and signs because it was a wonderful example …