Today’s Scripture Reading (April 5, 2026): Jonah 1 & 2
As
I read through this passage, I keep tripping over the word “banish.” The King
James version phrases Jonah’s words as, “I am cast out.” It is an interesting
concept.
At
the beginning of the eighteenth century, chaos swept through Europe. That chaos
had a name: Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a military genius who helped
France gain control of much of Europe. But the powers in Europe also realized
that the answer to the question of what keeps Europe from attaining peace was
also Napoleon Bonaparte. And so, when Napoleon was eventually defeated, the
leaders of Europe knew that to achieve peace, they had to get rid of Napoleon.
They didn’t want to execute him and turn him into a martyr, so they decided to
banish him to the Island of Elba, a small piece of land just off the coast of
Italy. They even let him keep the title of Emperor and rule over the island.
However,
rumors reached Bonaparte’s small Kingdom that the European Powers were going to
banish him to an even more remote Island in the Pacific Ocean. Based on this
rumor, Napoleon raised an army on Elba, escaped the island, and returned to
France. Once Napoleon returned to France, he regained his position as the leader
of France. But he is also defeated again, and this time he is banished to Saint
Helena, a remote Island in the South Atlantic off the coast of Africa. There,
Napoleon died.
Why
the history lesson? Because traditionally, banishment has a dual effect. If you
were to banish me to an island in the Atlantic, the effect would be two-fold.
First, you don’t have to put up with me; you don’t have to listen to my
thoughts on any subject; and I wouldn’t be able to order you around. I am
removed from your presence. But the second effect of my expulsion is that I am
punished; I have been sent away from everything that I know and love. This
second part presents the pain of any banishment.
Jonah
feels like he has been banished, but the question is, does his banishment
fulfill these two realities? There is no doubt that Jonah feels the pain; the
second condition is real. Jonah feels the pain because he feels that he has
been cast out of God’s presence. And it is an emotion with which most of us can
identify. There are days and periods of time when we feel so far from God. We
know that kind of pain.
I
grew up in a denomination that had frequent altar calls. People would regularly
be invited up to kneel at the altar, and I would watch them come and make new
commitments to God. However, a couple of decades ago, I stumbled upon a truth
about the modern church. Sometimes, we feel far from God because of the
circumstances of our lives and our faith. Sometimes we have taken him for
granted, ignored him, gone through the motions, and we need to fall to our
knees, repent, and ask God to renew us. These are very real conditions to which
we need to pay attention. But sometimes in our busy lives, what we really need isn’t
a renewed commitment to God; it is a nap.
The
pain of the second condition of banishment is a very real part of life. But
what about the first condition? Have we been sent away from God to a place
where he can’t hear us? And I strongly believe that the answer is no. There is
no place Jonah could go where he could hide from God, just as there is no place
we can go where we are not in his presence. I love the way the Psalmist phrases
it.
Where
can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the
heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are
there.
If I rise on the wings of the
dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:7-12
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jonah 3 & 4
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