Don’t Be Fish Food

Don't Be Fish Food Jonah 1:1-3 A small child has the sense to know that no one can run away from GOD. The Hebrew text however clearly states that it was the Presence and /Face Faces of The LORD that Jonah was trying to escape from. The Hebrew word here is "panim" the plural of "panah" which means face. So Jonah was running from the faces of GOD. A plural word in Hebrew, as well as meaning more than one, is also used for emphasis. Jonah was therefore running away from an overwhelming Presence of GOD in his life. He was running away from every reminder of GOD's Presence and His call upon Jonah's life as a prophet of GOD. Thus he ran to a far away place that was pagan with nothing to remind him of The LORD. Jonah 1:1 The Word of The LORD came to Jonah- Hebrew: the Debar of The LORD meaning specific words coming from the Heart of GOD. The Hebrew word "debar" could be likened to the Greek word "rhema" which in the New Testament refers to a specific, spoken or revealed word from GOD that brings guidance, quickening life and dynamic power personally applicable in the believer's life. The Word of The LORD is the living active Word of the living GOD - The I Am That I Am. See Hebrews 4:12 and when we have His Word living in our own hearts, He teaches and guides us. (See Psalms 119:11, Deuteronomy 11:18, Colossians 3:16, Proverbs 4:30-21 and Joshua 1:8) Jonah wanted to mute GOD's Word. He didn't want to hear it. As a young believer in my teens, for a while, when challenged by His Word, I did the same thing. For a while, instead of attending my usual church where people loved The LORD and His Word, I attended a very "high" church where people went through the motions of a service but didn't actually seem to believe any of it. They had an outward form of worship but their lives showed no evidence of The LORD being alive in their hearts. Like Jonah, I was running away from the Face of GOD, the Presence of GOD. Thank GOD, His Word is living and whenever it was read, even by people who didn't believe it, He still used it to pierce my heart. We may also seek to cram our lives with anything and everything that keeps us from contemplating on The LORD. Psalm 139:7 tells us The Presence of The LORD, The Face of The LORD is everywhere, omnipresent. (See also Proverbs 15:3 and Jeremiah 23:23-24) When we are born again, He takes up residence within us. See John 14:17,Romans 8:9,I Corinthians 6:19 and 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 6:16 He is always tugging at our hearts. As in Jonah's case, if we ignore Him, He can send a "fish" to get our attention! There is a true story that took place in Romania many years ago when the Communists came in and took over a small Romania village. They went into the church and removed all the sacred objects, the Bibles, hymn books, prayer books, crosses etc. and threw them into a bonfire and then they burned the whole church down. One of the communist soldiers grabbed one of the Christians and made him look at their destruction and said: “See there, we are going to destroy your God and everything that reminds you of your God.” That Christian just looked up and smiled. That made the soldier angry and shouted at the Christian, “Didn’t you hear me, we are going to destroy your God and everything that reminds you of your God.” The Christian man answered: “I was just wondering how you’re going to manage to get the stars down from the heavens?" The evidence of our Creator is everywhere. (See Psalm 19:1 Romans 1:20) But more than this for the born again believer is our relationship with The Word of GOD Himself dwelling inside us, speaking to us and instructing us. (See Jeremiah 15:16,John 6:63 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12) GOD is always speaking to His children, from the inside through the greatest love letter ever written : His Word and there is no where that we can escape His Presence, His Face. Psalm 139:7 in the Hebrew text says "Where shall I go from Your Spirit,and where shall I escape from Your Face?" GOD's is present in all places ( omnipresent). His intimate knowledge and presence is constant in all parts of creation. If our flesh kicks out against Him, we should never try to run from Him, since it is utterly futile anyway, but instead run to Him. In His amazing Grace, He will help us to do His will from a willing heart. Let us remember Jonah and hopefully we won't need a proverbial fish to swallow us up and spit us out first.... Selah.... Shalom shalom