Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 5-19-17

God’s Patience And Power (Jonah 3; Nahum 1–3)
God’s forgiving love was in place for the idol wor- shipping, arrogant and oppressive city of Nineveh, but also for the prophet Jonah himself. The God of the Bible is the God of second chances, and Jonah got his. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Even though Jonah was a reluctant prophet who did not have forgiving love in his heart, he headed off to Nineveh. But he was no doubt shocked by Nineveh’s repentance and acceptance of God’s forgiveness. Sometimes in contrast to what we might think, people actually do believe (Ex- odus 4:29-31; Acts 16:34). Perhaps Jonah 3 gives us a formula for fulfilling God’s mission for us and forgiving love.
The Word of the Lord | Jonah 3:1-4
A phrase that appears hundreds of times in Scripture (most often in Jeremiah) is the word of the Lord. God told Jonah to go and proclaim (call out) the message. In this case, message equals the word of the Lord. Jonah was to preach only what God told him——- a message of doom to the most powerful city in the world. This was
not the most desirable assignment, but those who bring God’s Word to others should not let social pressure or fear of people dictate their words. They are called to preach God’s message and his truth, no matter how un- popular.
In contrast to running from the presence of the Lord, Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nin- eveh. The second half of verse 3 gives a historical note of the size and significance of the city of Nineveh. Symbol- ically spoken of as three days (the other number in our text is 40, which also has some symbolism attached to it in the Bible)? No matter, what we do know is that Nin- eveh was very large.
Jonah proclaimed (cried out) a message of judg- ment. If Nineveh did not repent it would be overthrown in 40 days. But many proclamations from God’s prophets in the Bible are conditional. In Jonah’s case the prophecy of judgment never happened because the peo- ple repented. (But consider the judgment of God on Nin- eveh in the book of Nahum, which took place 100 years later.) The ruling in the city for now was reversed.
Plus Belief And Repentance | Jonah 3:5-9
Our belief and repentance becomes the means by which we appropriate the forgiveness that God offers. The belief in Jonah’s message was complete and com- prehensive. It was complete in that it involved prayer, fasting, contrition, and an abandonment of evil ways (particularly abandoning violence, for which the Assyr- ians were quite well known). It was comprehensive in that it took place from the king and his nobles down to
the tiniest calf and lamb (greatest to the least). Jonah’s warning caused the king to take spiritual ownership of his people by proclaiming an imposed fast (to abstain from food for spiritual purposes—and in this case, from drink as well) to have time to call urgently on God. The king did not expect more from the people than he as will- ing to give. He set the example by covering himself with sackcloth and by sitting down in the dust (signs of sin- cere repentance; see Genesis 18:27; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 113:7; Ezekiel 27:30).
Equals Forgiving Love | Jonah 3:10
The king was more accurate in assessing the heart of God than Jonah was. The king thought that God might relent, and God saw that the Ninevites turned (same He- brew word as relent) from their evil ways. This allowed God to relent (console, be moved to pity) and not bring evil on them. Forgiving love cannot be earned, but it can be appropriated.The people of Nineveh believed Jonah’s message, and only needed to hear God’s message once. It is not our hearing God’s Word that pleases Him, but our responding obediently to it.God responded in mercy by cancelling his threatened punishment. God’s judge- ment is correction, not revenge. He is always ready to show compassion to anyone willing to seek Him.
Nahum, like Jonah was a prophet to Nineveh, but 100 years later. Nineveh had fallen back into ruthless wickedness.
Nahum proclaimed God’s anger against the Assyrian nation, and within a few decades the Empire was toppled by Babylon.
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