Jonah 1:1-3

Arise; go preach to Nineveh -- Jonah 1:1-3: God is concerned even with the wickedness of heathen nations. So He commanded Jonah to preach in Nineveh. Jonah, the son of Amittai, was a prophet of God from Gathhepher. (2 Kings 14:25) Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. It was located a little more than two hundred miles from the present city of Baghdad. The book of Jonah is not a book of prophecy just because it contains many predictions. In fact there is only one predictive element in the book and it was very short term. "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." (Jonah 3:4)

Inspiration is the key because the Bible says, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai." God sent Jonah to cry out against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. He rebelled against God's plan and went in the opposite direction toward Tarshish. Jonah soon learned what he should have already known and that is that one cannot run away from God! (Psalms 139:7-11) Notice that Jonah paid the fare and went down into the ship. When you run from God you pay your own fare and you always go down.