"But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD" (Jonah 1:3).

Whenever we leave the presence of God, we are going downhill. Twice in this single verse we note that Jonah went down. But note further in verse 5 "Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." Jonah's downward spiral did not end there. He was thrown down into the sea and finally taken down into the belly of the great fish.

God describes the day of Satan's act of rebellion in Isaiah 14:14-15. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Not only does the Scripture describe the way of rebellion as going down but leaving God's presence is also going out.

Note that after being confronted for his sin of murder that "Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod" (Genesis 4:16), where he founded a wicked civilization.

We read in John 13:30 that Judas left the band of disciples to betray Christ: "He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night." The apostle describes some that fell away from attendance amongst the elect: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (I John 2:19). Let us take heed that we remain faithful to God, rather than going down and out. DW