逃跑的先知—約拿書1:1-3［耶和華的話臨到亞米太的兒子約拿, 説：你起來往尼尼微大城去, 向其中的居民呼喊, 因為他們的惡達到我面前. 約拿卻起來逃往他施去躲避耶和華.］尼尼微的宏偉可與巴比倫城媲美, 是古代亞述帝國的都城, 在今日伊拉克北部城市摩穌爾附近. 而約拿是一位成功的先知, 他所説的預言, 也能準確的應驗, 王上14:24. 他也是一位愛國的先知, 他深知尼尼微是亞述帝國的首都, 亞述是當時一等強國, 是曾經入侵以色列的仇敵. 深恐強敵壓境, 祖國要被滅亡, 由於愛國心的驅使, 他寧願看見神因尼尼微城人的罪而立施審判, 以致毀滅, 除去這些強暴之民, 也不願看見他們因悔改而蒙神恩得赦免, 所以他置生死於度外, 不肯順服神命去那裡傳道, 做了一次逃跑的先知.亞述人素以窮兵黷武, 極盡兇殘而臭名遠播. 約拿違背耶和華旨意, 不願去尼尼微傳道. 是否預見或害怕亞述人將傳道的約拿剝皮或活活燒死, 弄瞎眼睛, 割去鼻子, 耳朵或手指, 不得而知. 約拿所犯的根本錯誤. 是他不瞭解耶和華的心意在創世紀 18:32, 神要毀滅所多瑪, 但城中有十個義人. 神也不會毀滅那城. 神顧念能聽神話能遵照神吩咐行事的人. 耶和華派約和華去尼尼微是顧念城中的義人. 約拿這位逃跑先知, 從大魚肚中被吐出後, 果真去尼尼微傳講尼尼微即將被毀的信息, 尼尼微王下令披麻蒙灰, 耶和華一度饒恕了這座城. 但後來尼尼微人再度行惡, 於公元前632年, 敵軍圍攻尼尼微城, 暴發的洪水衝破城牆. 尼尼微這座大城, 轉瞬間成了斷垣殘壁. 時至今日依舊一片荒涼. 這充分證神廣施憐憫給他顧念的人, 但深發怒氣於他厭棄的人.約拿這位成功先知, 愛國先知, 很遺憾做了逃跑的先知. 我們要以約拿為戒, 不能以小人之心, 揣測上帝的心意. 我們最佳的選擇是做一位順服的義人.
The Fleeing Prophet—Jonah 1:1-3 [The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying: Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out to its inhabitants, for their evil has come before me. But Jonah got up and fled to Tarshish to hide from the Lord.] Nineveh was as grand as Babylon, the capital of the ancient Assyrian Empire, near Mosul, a city in northern Iraq today. And Jonah was a successful businessman. A prophet, the prophecies he spoke could be accurately fulfilled, 1 Kings 14:24. He was also a patriotic prophet, and he knew that Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and Assyria was the first-class powerful country at that time. The enemy who invaded Israel. He was deeply afraid that a powerful enemy would press the border and his country would be destroyed. Driven by his patriotism, he would rather see God impose judgment on the people of Nineveh for their sins, leading to destruction and get rid of these violent people. Seeing that they were forgiven by God’s grace because of their repentance, he risked his life and refused to obey God’s command to preach there, and became a runaway prophet. The Assyrians were notorious for their extreme militancy and extreme cruelty. Jonah disobeyed the will of the Lord and did not want to go to Nineveh to preach. It is unknown whether he foresaw or feared that the Assyrians would skin or burn Jonah alive as a preacher, blind him, cut off his nose, ears or fingers. Jonah The fundamental mistake he made was that he did not understand the will of the Lord. In Genesis 18:32, God wanted to destroy Sodom, but there were ten righteous people in the city. God would not destroy the city. God cares about those who can listen to God’s words and obey God. Those who commanded to do things. The Lord sent Johovah to Nineveh to care for the righteous people in the city. Jonah, the fugitive prophet, after being spit out from the belly of the big fish, really went to Nineveh to preach that Nineveh was about to be destroyed. According to the message, the king of Nineveh ordered it to be covered with sackcloth and ashes, and Jehovah spared the city for a time. But then the people of Nineveh did evil again. In 632 BC, the enemy army besieged the city of Nineveh, and a sudden flood broke through the city wall. The great city of Nineveh was turned into ruins in an instant. It is still desolate today. This fully proves that God shows mercy to those he cares about, but is deeply angry at those he despises. Jonah, a successful prophet, Patriotic prophet, it is a pity that he became a prophet who ran away. We must take Jonah as a warning and not speculate on God’s will with a villain’s heart. Our best choice is to be an obedient righteous person.