Jonah

Jonah means dove. His fathers name, Amittai, means faithful. Yet when God gives Jonah a direct command to go to Nineveh and warn them of their impending doom, Jonah runs away in the opposite direction. Not a very dove like response. But then the 'dove' and 'faithful' meanings are really ascribed to God and not to the people who carry His message. It is Gods word and Gods faithfulness on which we can depend, which will bring peace into the lives of those who faithfully pursue their spiritual lives..Jonah didn't want to preach to the pagans of Assyria. So, Jonah tried to escape God's plan by fleeing on a ship. But Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. Later, the fish spit him out on the shoreline. Then, finally, Jonah obeyed God's command and went to Nineveh to preach. His preaching was successful and 120,000 people in Nineveh turned to God in obedience, sparing themselves punishment from God.

Jonah did not misunderstand Gods will. He knew full well what God wanted. He just did not want to obey God. And that is typical of people who fight tooth and nail against Gods commands. We all know the rules of life. We all know the difference between right and wrong. We all know what is expected of us. We all know what our responsibilities are to ourselves, to our spouses, to our family, to our work, to other people in this world and so forth. But, it is easier to ignore them. Often times we just do not agree with what God has designed for our life and our relationship with others.

In many cases God has placed us in situations that we just do not like. So we rebel. Why did God put me here? Why did God allow this to happen to me. Why does God expect me to subordinate to someone else when I know that I am better.
So we have Jonah rebelling because he does not like Gods command. 'The gentiles do not deserve a warning. Just destroy them now and be done with them. After all, they are such a backward people they might even kill me (Jonah) if I go there.'