Read for This Week’s Study: Jonah 1–4; Nahum 1:1; 2 Kings17:5, 6; Ps. 24:1; James 1:27; Isa. 6:1–8.Memory Text: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whomshall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Sendme’ ” (Isaiah 6:8, NKJV).Not everyone called to mission was as compliant as Abraham.Jonah is an example (read Jonah 1–4). God called Jonah tocry out against Nineveh, capital of Assyria. This city, locatedin modern-day Iraq, was 560 miles from Jerusalem, a good month’sjourney. Jonah not only refused to go—he ran in the opposite direction.Arriving at Joppa, he purchased passage to Tarshish, now southernSpain. Sailing the 2,000-mile trip would have taken at least a month,depending on the weather. Not wanting to confront the king of Assyria,Jonah uses the month it would have taken him to get to Nineveh to getaway from it. Why would he, a man of God, have done that?The Ninevites were notoriously wicked, a people known for their eviland cruelty and who had attacked Israel and Judah. Nevertheless, Godcalled Jonah to go to Nineveh and to cry out against its great wicked-ness (Jon. 1:2). The wording here is very similar to the wording Godused with Abraham regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 18:20,21. As we will see, however, Jonah was no Abraham.What can we learn from Jonah’s attitude about the excuses that wecan make in order not to do mission?* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 4.