“Flight 313 Now Boarding for Tarshish”

Jonah 1-2


This is the story of Jonah.
But isn’t it also the story of many Christians today?

Perhaps it is YOUR story, because it is a story about running from the Lord.

Verse 2 tells us that the Lord told Jonah to go to Ninevah and proclaim that the Lord was about to destroy that city because of its evil.

Verse 3 tells us that Jonah “ran away from the Lord.” He didn’t want to go to Nineveh! So, he headed for Tarshish.

Tarshish was somewhere in the western Mediterranean. And its exact geographic location is not known. But where ever it was geographically, for Jonah it meant being as far from God as possible. Tarshish is not so much a geographic location for us this morning as it is a spiritual condition. Being in or heading for Tarshish describes the Christians who says “NO” to God’s will for their life.

There are some important lessons to be learned from this book of Jonah and let’s focus on just a few of them this morning.

The Journey away from God will always leads to a life of distress. Verse 4 describes a violent storm that threatened to sink the ship. It is also a description of the Christian who tries to run from God. The storms of life become so violent that our lives are threatened with destruction. At any moment we could be torn apart by the violence of the world.

In verse 7, the sailors describe what has happened to them as a “calamity.” “Calamity” means “distress” or “misery.” No person is more miserable than the Child of God who has decided not to do God’s will for their life.

Have you ever tried to run from God’s will? Then you know the misery that can be experienced. Are you running from God’s will right now? Then you are headed for misery. Because the Journey away from God will ALWAYS lead to a life of distress. The Further you get from God, the Worse your life will become.

Verse 11 - the further he got. “The sea was getting rougher and rougher.”

Verse 13 - the harder they tried. “…the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.”

1 Samuel records the life of Saul, king of Israel. He started out as king and ended up killing himself. Because Saul got further and further from God, his life got worse and worse. And that’s the way it is in the Christian life.

The further you get from God, the worse your life will become. The Predicaments that we get into as we run from the Lord are our fault.

Many times we blame God for our circumstances when in reality it is our own disobedience and rebellion that led us into the middle of the storm.

Don’t blame God because the predicaments that we get ourselves into running from the Lord are our own fault.

No matter how far you get from God there is always a way back . . . . . BUT the way back may not be a beautiful, emotional experience.

When we think of a person who returns to the Lord we generally think of the “Prodigal Son” who is given a beautiful banquet upon his return that is filled with tears and gladness.

When a Christian brother walks the aisle and rededicates his life to the Lord, there are tears of happiness and nothing is more beautiful to our eyes.

But according to the book of Jonah, the way back is not always a beautiful, emotional experience.

Jonah set out for Tarshish on a ship. But did he return to the Lord’s service on a ship? No! Rather, he spent three days and nights in the digestive system of a big fish! Then he was vomited up on the seashore.

Now it’s hard to think of a more disgusting picture. We don’t know exactly where he “landed” but at least he now knew where he needed to be.

There is hope in knowing that no matter how far we get from the Lord, there is always a way back. But we must never fool ourselves into believing that the trip back is going to be a beautiful, emotional experience (like the prodigal son).


If you decide that you do want to get out of the storm and back into the center of God’s will, you must go where you didn’t want to go before. The job still needed to be done. Ninevah still needed to be preached to. And Jonah was just the man for the job. Fish vomit and all! (2:10-3:3).

Just because Jonah had gone through the storm; Just because Jonah had spent 3 days and nights in the fish; Just because Jonah was laying in a pool of fish vomit; DIDN’T MEAN he was going to get out of doing what God had originally wanted him to do.

This means God’s will is not always what we like or don’t like. Yet that’s how the average Christian determines God’s will. If they like it, it must be his will (Hog Wash!). God’s will has nothing to do with what we like or don’t like.

The point is that if you decide that you do want to get out of the storm and back into the center of God’s will, you must go where you didn’t want to go before.

Conclusion: There are many of us on the run today. And as a result our lives are miserable. The further we get from God, the worse the misery becomes. And we wonder who to blame.

Jonah teaches us through his experience that it is our fault. And instead of trying to maintain our current course, we can leave all our troubles behind by turning back to the Father. And when we do, we will, as his children walk into his loving arms.

Are you in a storm this morning because you have been running? Then the Lord is calling you back to a place of blessing, a place of service to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

We need to get on with getting to the place he wants us to be.