God was determined to save Nineveh from falling under his holy judgment due to the evil in that city. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. So he spoke to the chastised prophet a second time and commanded him to go preach. This time round, Jonah knew to obey.We note later that he went reluctantly, still not convinced that the city should be saved.
What is of interest in this passage is that the people of Nineveh believed God at the first hearing of Jonah and responded immediately. They declared a fast and wore sackcloth. Putting on sack cloth was the highest form of penitence and humility. That city of violence, witchcraft, promiscuity and so on heard the words of a grumpy prophet and turned to God at first hearing. Jonah, who had not understood the nature of God’s love, had thought these were people that were beyond the reach of God’s grace, but God believed in these people as part of his beloved creation and prepared their hearts to respond to his message.
God does not have favorites. All of us who are saved are recipients of God’s mercy. We never did anything to deserve his salvation, even the blessings of life that we now enjoy. Paul in Acts 17 told the Athenians, who had an altar to an ‘unknown God’ that the God who made heaven and earth determined the exact times and places where they would live. He did this so that people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. In fact, in him we all live, move and have our being.
We witness to all people because no one is beyond the saving grace of God so long as they are still on this side of eternity. Christ’s sacrifice for sins included everyone, for John 3:16 says “whosoever believes will have eternal life”. Everyone can also respond to God’s invitation to follow him.
What is of interest in this passage is that the people of Nineveh believed God at the first hearing of Jonah and responded immediately. They declared a fast and wore sackcloth. Putting on sack cloth was the highest form of penitence and humility. That city of violence, witchcraft, promiscuity and so on heard the words of a grumpy prophet and turned to God at first hearing. Jonah, who had not understood the nature of God’s love, had thought these were people that were beyond the reach of God’s grace, but God believed in these people as part of his beloved creation and prepared their hearts to respond to his message.
God does not have favorites. All of us who are saved are recipients of God’s mercy. We never did anything to deserve his salvation, even the blessings of life that we now enjoy. Paul in Acts 17 told the Athenians, who had an altar to an ‘unknown God’ that the God who made heaven and earth determined the exact times and places where they would live. He did this so that people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. In fact, in him we all live, move and have our being.
We witness to all people because no one is beyond the saving grace of God so long as they are still on this side of eternity. Christ’s sacrifice for sins included everyone, for John 3:16 says “whosoever believes will have eternal life”. Everyone can also respond to God’s invitation to follow him.
There is a prevailing notion among people that have been raised in nominal Christian homes that only God will determine for them if they will be saved or not. They say they cannot make the decision to follow unless ‘God wills’ it for them. This gives them license to continue in an indulgent lifestyle. The bible on the other hand shows that God has already done his part and that he expects us to respond to his invitation to repent (turn away from the wrong we have been doing) and follow him. I hope this thought will give you the courage to pray for and witness for people with the expectation that they can respond to God.
Is there someone in your circles that you have given up on? May the Lord renew your hope that they can be redeemed.
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ReplyDeleteI have been blessed by these devotions and would like to thank you for taking your time to make this available to us. May God continue to bless and inspire you as seek to challenge us to share the Lord with others.
ReplyDeleteAs I look at this passage it almost like Jonah is given a second chance by God, who is determined to save Nineveh and to take Jonah through re-orientation of His grace. God would choose a million others to use to reach out to his people but his choice of us like, Jonah is an act of grace. Secondly, our persistent thought of others as undeserving or unable to respond to the gospel or change in a “meaningful” way is as always an attempt to take God’s place. When God who is all knowing, the creator of universe commands me to go and I resolve in my heart not to obey, then something is terribly wrong. “If the Ninevites were able to repent after listening to a prophet gone sour in the belly of a fish” Then we should have the courage and confidence to share with those whom he has sent us to while we are still decently dressed and not “smelling like fish.” Dear friends, lets go fishing for men and women for the sake of his kingdom.
Gideon
Thank you Gideon for that comment! I agree with you. Let's go fishing.
ReplyDeleteMaggie
Thank you for an interpretation of the book of Jonah. I am interested in the nature of the anger of Jonah at the end of the book. If the Ninevites did repent promptly in answer to Jonah's preaching,then he would have been very happy and proud of himself for he spared God 39 or 38 days, whether he liked the result or not, But I suppose the reality was that he had to use up the 40 days to finally persuade the citizens to repentence. So, I think he gradually lost patience and finally got angry at the citizens for they were not cooperative but repented almost at the end of the 40-day's allowance, as if (he felt) they as well as God had known what they were doing to fool him. I wrote a novel about Jonah. Hope you will give a look at it. http://p.booklog.jp/book/72551/read
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