Jonah
The first story which came to mind was Jonah. Jonah was a prophet from the Galilee. He was supposed to go to Nineveh to proclaim God’s future destruction on the city unless the people repented. What we may not know as readers in the 21st Century is that Nineveh was a fierce enemy of Israel’s. God calling Jonah (an Israelite) to travel to Nineveh would be like God asking an American to go to Iran and start teaching the Bible in the middle of Tehran, Iran’s capital city. The America would be extremely likely to be captured or killed on sight. This was the same prospects Jonah had going to Nineveh.
Jonah 1:1-3
1The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Jonah did what we would have all done. He got up, went to Joppa (a city located on the Mediterranean coast) and got on a ship to Tarshish. (The exact location of Tarshish is often debated, but in Scripture it always implies a region far away from Israel. Many believe Tarshish was Great Britain.) Verse 3 gives us clarification of Jonah’s intentions. He believes by leaving Israel, he an escape from God’s presence.
Many people have told me this was a dumb idea. “Doesn’t Jonah know God is everywhere?” The answer is yes, Jonah knows God. Jonah is a prophet. Jonah believes by leaving Israel, God cannot call him to go to Nineveh. By going to Tarshish, Jonah is going in the opposite direction. It is much harder to go to Nineveh if Jonah is halfway around the world.
We are the same as Jonah. If God calls us to do something, especially something which is dangerous, do we jump up and say, “Here I am! Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)? No, we often make excuses and find something else to do. We may even make plans which will directly interfere with what God wants us to do.
Jonah’s Outcome
Although Jonah boarded a ship and started sailing toward Tarshish, God interferes and causes a great tumult to arise. Jonah is thrown into the sea. A giant fish swallows Jonah and vomits him right back on shore, to the very place Jonah was trying to flee from. As hard as Jonah tried to flee from God, God brought Jonah back. Now Jonah had no excuse for not going to Nineveh. And now Jonah was wearied from his adventures at sea and for his time inside a giant fish. Jonah had to do what God wanted. There was fleeing from his task.
Fleeing from God by not no doing what God wants us to do
If there is one person in the Bible who had a miserable life, it was the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is called from a young age to preach God’s word.
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6
Then I said, “Oh, Lord [a]God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
7
But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And all that I command you, you shall speak.
8
Do not be afraid of them,
For I am with you to save you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
10
See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to tear down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1: 4-10)
Jeremiah is told the people will not listen to him. Moreover, the people will fight against Jeremiah, but they will not overcome him as God is with Jeremiah.
13And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north the evil [d]will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land. 15For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD; “and they will come and place, each one of them, his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls around, and against all the cities of Judah. 16And I will [e]pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, since they have abandoned Me and have [f]offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17Now, belt your garment around your waist and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will make you dismayed before them. 18Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like a pillar of iron and walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, to its priests, and to the people of the land. 19And they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:13-19)
Jeremiah has a rough life. He is constantly attacked verbally, is thrown into prison and his words are never believed. Jeremiah’s life seems to have no utility as everything he does is met with resistance. Jeremiah decides he will do what is logical. He will stop proclaiming God’s word. If Jeremiah does not speak, he will not have to suffer the consequences.
Jeremiah 20:7-18
Lord, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded;
You have overcome me and prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.
8
For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I proclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the word of the Lord has [b]resulted
In taunting and derision all day long.
9
But if I say, “I will not remember Him
Nor speak anymore in His name,”
Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am tired of holding it in,
And I cannot endure it.
10
For I have heard the whispering of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him; let’s denounce him!”
All my trusted friends,
Watching for my fall, say:
“Perhaps he will be persuaded, so that we may prevail against him
And take our revenge on him.”
11
But the Lord is with me like a powerful champion;
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be put to great shame because they have [d]failed,
An everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12
Yet, Lord of armies, who tests the righteous,
Who sees the mind and the heart;
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have disclosed my cause.
13
Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord!
For He has saved the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.
14
Cursed be the day when I was born;
May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
15
Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A boy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
16
But may that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew without relenting,
And may he hear an outcry in the morning
And an alarm for war at noon;
17
Because he did not kill me before birth,
So that my mother would have been my grave,
And her womb forever pregnant.
18
Why did I ever come out of the womb
To look at trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been spent in shame?
Unfortunately, this does not work. Jeremiah was a faithful man. God’s word burned within him. As hard as he tried not to proclaim God’s word, he could not resist. Jeremiah is forced to proclaim God’s word and to continue suffering the consequences. Poor Jeremiah. He seems to have a very hard life.
The end of Jeremiah’s Life
Jeremiah continues to preach God’s word, and he continues to face persecution. When Jerusalem is plundered and destroyed by Babylon, Jeremiah is taken into custody. He is given the choice to go to Babylon or to go back to Israel. Jeremiah chooses to go to Israel.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2 Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God promised this disaster against this place; 3 and the Lord has brought it and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, this thing has happened to you. 4 But now, behold, I am setting you free today from the chains that are on your hands. If [a]you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will [b]look after you; but if [c]you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, [d]do not come. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.” 5 As Jeremiah was still not going back, [f]he said, “Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift, and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land. (Jeremiah 42:1-6)
Jeremiah goes to Mizpah, where the new Israeli government will be set up. A man by the name of Gedaliah is chosen to be the leader of the government. A coop is formed by some men from Ammon. They kill Gedaliah and his men. The coop takes the Israelis captive. A man by the name of Johanan and his forces rescues the Israelis. The Israelites decide they do not want to receive punishment from the king of Babylon because the leader he had appointed (Gedaliah) was slain. The Israelites decide they will go to Egypt. (Jeremiah 40)
In Jeremiah chapter 41, the Israelites ask Jeremiah what they should do. Jeremiah tells them they should stay in the land of Israel. If they go to Egypt, they will die.
Jeremiah 41:8-22
and said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12 I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. 13 But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15 then in that case listen to the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your minds to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, 16 then the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So all the people who set their minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”
18 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a disgrace; and you will not see this place again.” 19 The Lord has spoken to you, you remnant of Judah, “Do not go to Egypt!” You know for certain that I have admonished you today. 20 For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” 21 So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you. 22 And now you shall know for certain that you will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague in the place where you desire to go to reside.
Jeremiah delivers God’s words, but the Israelites do not want to believe them. The text says Jeremiah is taken with the Israelites to Egypt. The Hebrew used in the text implies Jeremiah was taken (along with the rest of the men, women and children) by force to Egypt. Oral tradition supports this and states Jeremiah was kidnapped and taken to Egypt.
The rest of the Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah gives more prophecies about Egypt being conquered by Babylon. The last chapters of Jeremiah are about prophecies against varies enemies of the Israelites—Ammon, Edom, Moab, etc. The destruction of Pharaoh and Babylon are also predicted. In chapter 45, we have a confirmation of God to Baruch, Jeremiah servant, that his life will be preserved. What happened to Jeremiah is not recorded in Scripture.
The lessons we can learn from Jeremiah is no matter the consequences, if we are called to do something by God, we should obey. We may suffer harsh cruelty and persecution, we may be dragged off to a foreign land, but God will not abandon us. If would have horrible for Jeremiah to not proclaim God’s word to the people and the people remain in darkness. Instead, Jeremiah tells the people about the coming destruction and judgment by God. The people could make the decision to follow God or follow their own heart’s desire.
There is an account of one person being nice to Jeremiah, and that person receives a reward for his actions.
Jeremiah 38:8-13
8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here [e]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his [f]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
For his faithfulness and kindness to Jeremiah, Ebed-melech receives a word from God.
Jeremiah 39:11-18
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders regarding Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12 “Take him and [h]look after him, and do not do anything harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the [i]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the [j]Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent word and took Jeremiah out of the courtyard of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.
15 Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, saying, 16 “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for [k]prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. 17 But I will save you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will assuredly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as plunder, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’”
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