The Sovereignty of God
How powerful is God? How far is his reach and how vast is his presence? These are questions that many people tend to ask. A prophet named Jonah put these very questions to the test several years ago.
In the 8th Century BC, the prophet Jonah received a divine word that he was to deliver. But this time the word was not for God’s own people – for Israel – but was instead for the Gentile people of Ninevah in Assyria: “Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it,” said God, “because its wickedness has come up before me.” Located in what is now northern Iraq, Ninevah was a long way from Israel; and, as God’s own verdict tells us, it was a city marked by sin. The Assyrian empire posed a considerable threat to Israel, and would indeed lead to the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in a few short years. So, Jonah’s commission was perhaps not a very comfortable one: travel a long way to give an unwelcome message to a hostile people in a sinful city.
Evidently, the job description did not thrill Jonah, and so he decided to take off in the opposite direction. Instead of heading north-east from Israel (heading inland to the Assyrian territory), Jonah headed south to the port of Joppa. He then boarded a ship going as far west as he could possibly go. As Jonah 1:3 explains, “After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.” We don’t know precisely where Tarshish was but scholars tend to think it was possibly somewhere in Spain. For an ancient Israelite that was literally as far west as you could possibly imagine going without falling off the edge of the map.
It would seem that Jonah failed to understand a profound truth: God is God, and no one can outrun him or escape his presence. There isn’t a vehicle on earth that can outpace God. But Jonah put this theory to the test and went down to Joppa to board a merchant ship with some rough and tumble pagan crew. Jonah paid his money and headed below deck where he nodded off to sleep. No doubt he was physically exhausted from his journey – emotionally and spiritually exhausted from his attempt to run away from the Lord.
Sure enough, right on cue, the Lord responded. The Sovereign God demonstrated that his sovereignty is not geographically constrained and that no one can flee from his presence. The Lord sent a violent wind against the ship – such a violent storm that it threatened to break up. Eventually, the sailors on board threw Jonah overboard. One would think that this is the end of the story for Jonah, but God again displayed his sovereignty. God responded right on cue and “provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah1:17).
Jonah must have thought that his life was over. But Jonah 1 concludes with yet another act of sovereign grace: “And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Clearly, the Lord does not give up on his people. Even in our waywardness and reluctance and sin, God mercifully and sovereignly pursues us to restore us – and to use us again. How merciful is God and how far is his reach to the wayward? His mercy reaches the most wayward of his servants and the most unreachable of the lost. Turn to this sovereign, merciful God today—he is waiting for you.