October 9, Jonah 3
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." - Jonah 3:1-2
Do you think it is possible, in this ancient book of prophecy with judgments and threats of destruction, to find a message to give us hope, to make us thankful and stir our hearts to be more merciful? All that and more is here in Chapter 3.
Consider the opening phrase, "Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time...."Isn't that encouraging to people like you and me? Have we heard God's word communicated with clarity, but failed to listen and do what God said to do? When we could not misunderstand, have we still disobeyed a plain command? Jonah did exactly that, but he got another chance. In golf it's called a Mulligan, a "do over" without penalty. Really it’s not a matter of just one second chance, but a question of how many times we've needed another chance to hear and heed God's word. That second time God told Jonah what to do gives me hope that God loves me, wants me to do the right thing, and by his grace gives me another opportunity to do what I should have done before.
Then notice the Lord's command to Jonah: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." The commandment was not discounted; God did not settle for his prophet's failure to obey. God told him to go, again. God again ordered him to call out (or cry) an urgent message of warning and a call to repentance. The commands were the same ones Jonah heard before. God changed the messenger, not the message.
This time, Jonah obeyed God and accepted the mission. This is an important point for every would-be teacher of God's word. If I wander off into politics or some pet topic and present it in the guise of God's word, I'm off task. If I add to what God has said, and make my interpretation and human commands equal to the word of God, I am guilty of adding to God's word. God does not need my editorial assistance. I should be thankful (as a teacher and a student) that God’s word is consistent and unchanging.
This chapter also gives us fresh appreciation for the life-changing power of God's word. See how the people of Nineveh responded? "And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them." Their king was convicted, and led the entire city in repentance. Even though the record of Jonah's preaching does not include a call to repentance or any promise associated with it, the king told his people to put away their evil deeds and cry out to God. The kind said, "Who knows? God may turn and relent from his anger." God's prophets who delivered God's messages and warnings to their own people Israel did not get that kind of response from the delinquent covenant people. But these violent, sinful pagans exhibited a holy fear of God, at least in the moment. They humbled themselves without any assurance that God would change his mind. How much more should we rejoice to be rebuked and warned by God, when his faithful word to us is that he is willing to forgive and restore us to himself when we forsake our sins and turn to him!
Let's get one last encouraging idea from this chapter — a glimpse of the great heart of God. "When God saw what they did, how they turned form their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it." The king told the people to cry out to God and turn from their evil ways. They did, and God heard them and saw their response to his warning. Just as he responded to Jonah's desperate pleas from the sea and the belly of the fish, he heard and spared these pagan sinners who humbled themselves.
So there is great reason for hope here. When we're guilty and deserve God's judgment, he still wants to forgive and receive us. God's great desire to spare people should make us thankful for his grace and mercy, and eager to repent and do what God calls us to do. And when we see the mercy of God toward Jonah and the Ninevites, and realize he has been merciful to us as well, shouldn't we find inspiration to be more merciful to the people around us? Jesus said the merciful would be blessed to find mercy. How can I be unforgiving when God has been so merciful to me?
Let's mark and remember these lessons. We need them all. Why not review them and decide which of them you need most today?
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—October 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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