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Jonah 1:1-3 – Jonah’s Response to God’s Command

When God speaks with Jonah, His message is concise and clear. It is one marked by reality – go to Nineveh, that great city, – and tremendous responsibility – call out against it. And therein, we find the nature of the message; it is a command. As the voice of God comes and speaks to Jonah, what he hears is impressed emphatically upon his heart and mind. Like prophets before and after him, Jonah could not escape the fact that God was speaking to him in a direct and commanding manner. This is neither a suggestion nor a request for Jonah to consider. This is a task that God is confronting Jonah with, and God is expecting one response from Jonah – obedience. So it is with the commands of God that come to us as believers; they are not given to us to ponder over and weigh up in terms of their merits. We are not to mull over the pros and cons of whether or not we will obey. God’s concise, clear commands are given to us for one reason, and one reason only – to be obeyed.

So, how does Jonah respond? Well, the first thing to note is that Jonah does hear what God tells him to do, and he does understand the nature of what is being asked of him. This is not a case of God speaking and those hearing it being unable to grasp what is said. Sometimes it did happen in the New Testament that those listening did not get what He was saying. For example, in Luke 9:44-45, Jesus tells them that “the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men.” Then we read, “But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.” That isn’t the case with Jonah, and it’s not a scenario we can hide behind either, as one commentator writes, “It has been well said that our problem in obeying God is not that we do not understand what he is saying, but that we do!”

Questions

  1. In what form does God’s instruction come – suggestion, request, or command?
  2. Does Jonah hear and understand what God tells him to do?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray that we would be obedient to God’s commands.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.