How Long Did It Take Jonah To Get To Nineveh

Question

Why did Jonah try to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh?

Jonah Tarshish Nineveh

Answer

The give-and-take of the Lord came to Jonah with the command to preach confronting the wickedness of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Kingdom (Jonah 1:i-ii). Notwithstanding, Jonah chose to abscond from the presence of the Lord instead (Jonah 1:ten). In his flight, Jonah left his habitation of Gath-hepher, near Nazareth in State of israel (2 Kings fourteen:25), and traveled to Joppa (Jonah i:three), a littoral city. There he boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, a city near Gibraltar in the southern role of Spain.

The contrast between Nineveh and Tarshish was vast. Nineveh was located e of the Tigris River in modern-mean solar day Iraq. It was more than than 500 miles due east of Jonah's hometown. Tarshish, in dissimilarity, was west of Gath-hepher. In fact, Tarshish stood more than 2,500 miles from Israel in the opposite direction of Nineveh. It was the almost remote destination available to Jonah. Jonah was trying to put equally much altitude every bit he could between himself and the Assyrians. Whatever happened to Nineveh, Jonah would not be there to see it.

Jonah'south reason for running was that, quite only, he did not like the Assyrians. Assyria was an idolatrous, proud, and ruthless nation bent on earth conquest and had long been a threat to Israel. When God sent Jonah as a missionary to the majuscule, Nineveh, the prophet balked. At the finish of his story, Jonah specifies his reason for resistance: "That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, tiresome to anger and abounding in dearest, a God who relents from sending calamity" (Jonah 4:2). In other words, Jonah wanted Nineveh to exist destroyed. He felt they deserved God'due south judgment. Jonah didn't want to come across God'due south mercy extended to his enemies, and he knew in his heart that God's intention was to bear witness mercy. Jonah discovered that God's salvation is bachelor to all who repent, not merely to the people of Jonah's choosing.

Jonah as well discovered that no 1 can run from God. "'Can a man hide himself in cloak-and-dagger places so that I cannot encounter him?' declares the LORD. 'Practise I not fill up sky and earth?' declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:24). Jonah's ill-brash attempt to escape from God was doomed to neglect. He soon realized God was with him everywhere he went. Even in the breadbasket of the great fish, God knew where Jonah was and could hear his prayer (Jonah 2:2).

Nosotros are non to run from God just to Him. Every bit Proverbs 18:ten says, "The name of the LORD is a potent tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safety."

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Questions about Jonah

Why did Jonah try to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh?

This page last updated: January 4, 2022