JONAH

Jonah Chapter 3

• Jonah 3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
• 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

Jonah gets a second chance. All through this story we usually emphasize what happens when one disobeys the Lord but there is something else we see here and that is the desire of God to save a city and give them a second chance also. God always prefers to save rather than destroy although He does send judgment when time runs out and people have ignored the word of God so long that their conscience gets seared and they are past repentance.

• Jonah 3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
• 4 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.

Notice that Jonah didn't have a speaker to introduce him. He didn't start out the service with praise and worship music and didn't start out by telling a funny story to get their attention. Not that I'm knocking this method if the Lord leads one to do that, I'm just emphasizing the character of Jonah here and what he is like. He reminds me of John the Baptist except for Jonah's actions in chapter 4. John the Baptist I picture as one who desired people to repent and not be lost. 

The people had 40 days to make up their minds whether they were going to repent and turn their lives around or whether they were going to ignore the message of Jonah. This was a large and great city. They could have trusted in their own greatness and thought they had a right to live as they please.

If Jonah would come to the United States and say the same word telling us that within 40 days, our country will be destroyed, most of us even those who are Christian would think he was a nut case or a false teacher. I notice also that Jonah didn't tell them they could repent and escape judgment. He just said God was going to destroy them. What if a Jonah would come to our country? 

I would tell you what would probably happen. He could get arrested for a hate speech, preaching without a license, mixing church and state if he is on public property, trespassing if he is on private property, deported if he came into the country illegally. Of course now days he might be eligible for free health care, housing, cell phone, food, clothing but seeing as how his message is not politically correct, I would say, that wouldn't apply to him.  His message would be flatly rejected.

How do I know that? Because we have preachers that are warning now and they are ignored, accused of hate, and called bigots. The word of God contained in the bible is criticized. The message of turning from sin is not popular even among some who claim to be Christian. Jonah probably would be labeled as a fire and brimstone preacher. No one likes those kind. But the reaction to the wicked city of Nineveh is surprising. I do wish we would do the same in our country.

• Jonah 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
• 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
• 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
• 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
• 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

These people didn't know God was going to spare them because Jonah didn't tell them that but they repented anyway. I've read stories that the city of Nineveh was very violent and cruel to their enemies, one of which was the nation of Israel. They really didn't deserve God's mercy, but as we see in the last verse, that is what they got. Back then if the king called for fasting and repentance, everyone had to go along and agree. There was no such thing as democracy. One did as the king decreed. 

• Jonah 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

It worked. They repented and God spared the city which was what God wanted all along. This is the heart of God to save rather than destroy. He sends His prophets first. He warns. Will we listen today for our nation? The minute our nation threw out the teaching of creation and substituted evolution, we started going downhill way before the 60s when the bible and prayer was cast out of public schools. Ten years later we have the killing of innocent children in the mother's womb and now even sell the little body parts for medical research. Shame, shame on us. We persecute and demonize those that speak out against these evil things. We made a mockery of God's holy design for marriage. We have turned our back on God, call evil good and good evil. We have been warned. 

During the Obama administration the government wanted men to be able to use women's bathrooms. We've gone completely away from anything normal but embrace that which is weird, unnatural and harmful to society as a whole. Disease is killing people unnecessarily and we are not allowed to warn anyone of the consequences of harmful lifestyles or it is considered a hate speech.

Those that love God want people to live, inherit eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation. They want to teach that salvation comes through His shed blood that cleanses us from all sin and translates us into a new creature in Christ, but that is considered hate.

Those that pat everyone on the back and say, I'm ok and you're ok, leaving them to die and enter eternity without God in a place called hell are considered those that love while the ones that warn are called bigots. This should not be. God wants to save, not destroy but we leave Him little choice when we ignore His word. Yes some of us get mad and are a little like Jonah in chapter 4 but some of us weep and cry because we just do not want anyone to be lost for eternity.

Since first writing this study, now we have kids confused about their gender, some states wanted babies born alive by botched abortions to be left to die, some parents wanting hormones or gender operations on their children to change their gender. If one spouse opposes, some judges side with the one that wants to change their children's natural gender. It is getting really weird. I don't know about anyone else but I want Jesus to return. DC