The prophet Nahum would write (3:19), concerning the downfall of Nineveh, “O king of Assyria; … All who hear news of you will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?”
Having Jonah go to Nineveh to preach to these folks would be about like him going as a Jew to Hitler’s Berlin in the 40s. Perhaps Jonah had seen his family tortured by these Assyrians. Simply put, Jonah hated these Ninevites perhaps for what we would call good reasons.
When they captured a region, they would take the women captive and kill the men and the children. Look at the message Jonah was to give to this city; he was to “cry out against it”, because their wickedness had come before the Lord. Well, no wonder he ran away from the call; it was a suicide mission. Now jump ahead with me to the fourth chapter, the second verse, where we read, “Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish, for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”
You see that? Jonah was not afraid of the Ninevites; no, he was afraid of God’s mercy towards them. The last thing Jonah wanted was for these guys to repent. Jonah was putting patriotism above obedience. It was not what the world would do to Jonah that caused him to be disobedient; it was what God would do if He was obedient. Hey folks, Jonah needed Nineveh as much as they needed him!
How about you? Are you not surrendering to God in areas of your life because if you do, you know God is going to do a wonder, and you’re not so sure you want that old part of your life changed? The fact is most of us don’t surrender all of our lives to the Lord because of our own personal prejudices! Folks, right here and now we need to see that God wants to work in some areas of our lives, so don’t try to run away because of your desire for whatever.
You see, Jonah thought that he could take or leave the “Word of the Lord,” but he could not! Jonah had had a great privilege to preach the word to a needy country, but he did not want to go because of his own prejudice against them. How about you? Is there this neighbor who you hate? Or a co-worker? You see, God is interested in you as much as He is in using you!