can't run from God

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

There are several lessons to be learned from the prophet Jonah. Of course, there is God's love for all people placed against our petty prejudices. All throughout the book of Jonah there is this story of the sovereign love of God for the nations that drives the narrative. There is also this host of subthemes in the book, including most prominently this one: no one wins a fight against God!

Jonah tried to run from God as fast and as far as he could go. He ran fast, responsing to God's command to preach to Ninevah with an immediate trip to Joppa, finding a ship (the fastest transportation available for any journey in Jonah's day) going the opposite direction. He ran far, planning to reach Tarshish which was the ends of the earth in the conception of the world for a Mediterranean Jew. Jonah wants to get off the grid, hoping that going fast and far, God would lose track of him.

But of course, you can't run from God, and before he knew it, God brought a storm and a fish to sovereignly push the prophet back in the right direction. No one escapes God's purposes. You cannot be out of compliance with God for long. It is impossible to run from God's presence when all things are before Him.