Jonah - a selfish soul?

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 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 1:1-3

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In this particular season of my life I have been contemplating what is meant by the soul of a man. We are told in Deuteronomy 6:5 that we must love the LORD our God with all our heart and soul and might. I have been considering that scripture and making notes on the subject of a person's soul, and I came across the book of Jonah. After reading the book and researching aspects of the story - the location, timeline and political aspects of the region during the time of Jonah, I have come to the conclusion that Jonah had a very selfish soul. Yet I will get to the story of Jonah in a bit.

So, what is meant in scripture by the soul? A portion of the Hebrew direct translation of Deuteronomy 6:5 - " and you love Yahweh Elohim-of-you in all-of-you in-all-of-heart-of-you and in-all-of-soul-of-you and in-all-of-utterly-you". In all of utterly you. What would "utterly you" be? Emotions, thoughts, will, self, person, desires, appetites - everything that makes up who you are and want. What you fear and what you work for. Everything.

This looking into what it means by our soul has come about in my life as I have been walking through trials, and as I have been seeking to have a better relationship with God. A better relationship? I mean one where I am out in the open in my heart to Him and as much as I possibly can be open to correction and understanding of His will. And so I contemplate loving God with all of utterly me. It's a work in progress.

So now back to Jonah. Jonah was a prophet in the time of King Jeroboam II of Israel, 782-752 BC. Jonah had previously prophesied a positive message to the King of regaining some land in Israel's northern territory, and the prophesy had come true. I would imagine that Jonah felt pretty good about himself from that. Perhaps soul-satisfied. Yet when the word of the LORD comes to Jonah for him to arise and to go to Nineveh, Jonah arose and ran from the presence of the LORD.

I really wanted to understand what it meant to run from the presence of the LORD. We think of the presence of the LORD as being some pleasant experience in worship where we feel so uplifted. In my research though I found that in Hebrew, the presence of the LORD could be translated into the faces of the LORD, not a literal picture of the face of God but the concept of God's presence, His nature, His character, and His authority. So Jonah was running from God's authority. I believe that Jonah's soul/will (utterly Jonah) ran away from God's will (utterly God). Why? Perhaps the message that God asked Jonah to bring to Nineveh was a challenge to Jonah's culture credentials. Having prophesied a prosperity message that came true during the reign of an evil King, was Jonah an Old Testament influencer? And was God asking Jonah to do and be something contrary to what satisfied Jonah's soul desires?

God help me to lay down what makes me feel safe and satisfied in my walk with Him. It's not easy and I won't say that I am there but I will say this:

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness". Psalm 84:10