WHY JONAH REFUSED GOING TO PREACH AT NINEVEH https://jazuweb.com
Emails: josevangelseven@hotmail.com ; jazubuike904@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION:
You may have read from the Bible about its report on the prophet Jonah and his stubborn character. You may have judged him to condemnation because he seemed to be stubborn to God. Do you reason out why he could refuse to go the message? What would have prompted his refusal even to death?
But have you considered if you have disobeyed God before? You will not agree that it is true, but when God reminds you through your conscience, you will remember. Every one of us might have disobeyed God in one thing or the other, but yet God has been merciful to us.
Therefore the same thing applied to the prophet Jonah who was sent to an errand by God, to go and preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital City of Assyria the second world power. You might say you have not heard of Assyria as a world power, how much more the second one.
But do you know the world powers? How many are they? Your mind might quickly remember those nations which built one nuclear energy or chemical weapons as world powers, they are not world powers.
Yes, when I asked somebody this question, who are the world powers? He quickly called out 1. Germany 2. France 3. Japan 4. China etc. I stopped him immediately and said to him what Jesus said to the Sanhedrin and the Sadduces about the question of resurrection, Jesus said to them ‘’you err because you know not the scriptures’’. World powers are not those nations which are able to build one nuclear energy or biological weapons, no.
World powers are not what the world today knows them for. World powers of the Bible are called ‘’the kings of the earth’’ Ps.2:2-4. The Psalmist said ‘’the kings of the earth gathered themselves together against the Lord and his anointed’’. The anointed of the Lord here is Jesus Christ, who at the appropriate time shall fight the War of Armageddon at the mountains of Israel with these world powers.
These were literal kings who ruled the world at one time or the other on earth, and the Bible said they were seven in number. And it might interest you to know them. They are in Rev.17:10-11 but you will have their full knowledge and activities in the book of Rapture with this title RAPTURE THE PAST, PRESENT AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE, published by westbowpress.com, a division of Thomas Nelson USA.
However, Jonah might have personal reasons for rejecting to go and preach the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh as at the time in question. You have to understand why someone behaves the way he or she behaves. After all no one is or was perfect before God.
People might say since God sent him to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, why did he refuse, did he not want them to repent? You don’t understand. God himself understood it better. You have not even known his reason/s for that rejection.
If it were you, you would do the same thing or even do greater than him. At the time of Assyria’s period as world power, they handled Israel badly. The people of Northern Israel which had 10 tribes and had their capital at Samaria were the tribes they dealt with. Judah which had 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin with capital at Jerusalem was not involved and although the Assyrian king wanted to bring them in, but God hindered them.
The people of Assyria rubbed Israel raw pepper into their eyes. They killed them without mercy, the young and the old. They killed babies while sucking their mothers’ breasts, and having no feeling about it. Pregnant women were not only raped, their babies were ripped off. They acted as Beasts of the field. If you were seeing these things happening in your city as a prophet, what would you do, especially where you can do nothing about it?
These were some of the things Jonah considered as Sacrilege, and so these kind of people should not be saved in any way. But Jonah was aware that once any man or woman realizes his or her sins and confesses, that God will forgive such person immediately. So he did not want to offer them that opportunity since they dealt with his people of Israel without mercy. But God wanted to save the people and grant them pardon.
Honestly speaking, if it were I myself, there is no hiding of feelings, I would have done what Jonah did even more. Perhaps he witnessed with his eyes the killing of his father or mother.
Or he might have witnessed the killing of his child or wife, since they were God’s instrument for punishing the sins of Israel at that time. But from my own point of view, God knew he was right in his action.
Yes! That was the reason he was not changed from going the message, but was still allowed to continue with the message to Nineveh. Even when the prophet decided to be thrown into the sea in other to terminate both his life and the message, God would not allow the Wale to harm him, instead, the Fish became a Private Jet in the sea, or plane to convey his servant to his preaching post, and the fish turned to Nineveh.
Jonah wanted to die, Jonah quickly forgot that God is and was everywhere. That even though he was thrown into the sea, that God had his Angel/s in the sea which could bear him up, so that he would not die but to still go to Nineveh and preach the repentance message. He became hot unto death, not minding that he was a prophet. He asked to be thrown into the seam. And Pilots did as he said since throwing him into the sea would solve their own problem.
The prophet was initially going to Tarshish, but as God was involved, and the Fish must obey the voice of the Lord, Jonah found himself at Nineveh at last. When he lighted from the fish on the sea shore, he may have touched himself and discovered that he was still alive after three days, he lifted his eyes and saw the sign board saying to him ‘’Welcome to Nineveh’’. He therefore decided to preach nothing but the message of condemnation instead, and the people still repented and were saved.
WHAT WAS HIS MESSAGE?
"Forty days are remaining and you will all die for being so wicked. God has said it will not be changed. Only forty day from now, you must get your reward, you wicked people". Though these might not be the exact words but his spoken have contained strong words like these ones.
God asked him if he wanted him not to save about six score thousand people who do not know their
left from their right Jonah. 4:11, this is to mean that in spite of the fact that Nineveh was the Capital City of the ancient and wicked Assyria, not all the people in the City were bad. There were people who could not join themselves in the iniquity of the City or the country as a whole.
This was the area which Prophet Jonah did not see or observed in his judgment of the City. What the national Government was doing or did to the people of Israel was not a collective will of the whole country. But Prophet Jonah generalized the whole country together, but God saw a different group to be saved.
But what we were saying is that the prophet had personal reasons why he did not want to preach to the City of Nineveh. Although God has his right as God, his thoughts are higher and yet purer; we do not understand him at times like this. He does not commit sin or iniquity, whatever he does is right.
But if I had been Jonah, I would have done the same thing, even you.
May God bless us- Amen.
Emails: josevangelseven@hotmail.com ; jazubuike904@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION:
You may have read from the Bible about its report on the prophet Jonah and his stubborn character. You may have judged him to condemnation because he seemed to be stubborn to God. Do you reason out why he could refuse to go the message? What would have prompted his refusal even to death?
But have you considered if you have disobeyed God before? You will not agree that it is true, but when God reminds you through your conscience, you will remember. Every one of us might have disobeyed God in one thing or the other, but yet God has been merciful to us.
Therefore the same thing applied to the prophet Jonah who was sent to an errand by God, to go and preach repentance to Nineveh, the capital City of Assyria the second world power. You might say you have not heard of Assyria as a world power, how much more the second one.
But do you know the world powers? How many are they? Your mind might quickly remember those nations which built one nuclear energy or chemical weapons as world powers, they are not world powers.
Yes, when I asked somebody this question, who are the world powers? He quickly called out 1. Germany 2. France 3. Japan 4. China etc. I stopped him immediately and said to him what Jesus said to the Sanhedrin and the Sadduces about the question of resurrection, Jesus said to them ‘’you err because you know not the scriptures’’. World powers are not those nations which are able to build one nuclear energy or biological weapons, no.
World powers are not what the world today knows them for. World powers of the Bible are called ‘’the kings of the earth’’ Ps.2:2-4. The Psalmist said ‘’the kings of the earth gathered themselves together against the Lord and his anointed’’. The anointed of the Lord here is Jesus Christ, who at the appropriate time shall fight the War of Armageddon at the mountains of Israel with these world powers.
These were literal kings who ruled the world at one time or the other on earth, and the Bible said they were seven in number. And it might interest you to know them. They are in Rev.17:10-11 but you will have their full knowledge and activities in the book of Rapture with this title RAPTURE THE PAST, PRESENT AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE, published by westbowpress.com, a division of Thomas Nelson USA.
However, Jonah might have personal reasons for rejecting to go and preach the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh as at the time in question. You have to understand why someone behaves the way he or she behaves. After all no one is or was perfect before God.
People might say since God sent him to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, why did he refuse, did he not want them to repent? You don’t understand. God himself understood it better. You have not even known his reason/s for that rejection.
If it were you, you would do the same thing or even do greater than him. At the time of Assyria’s period as world power, they handled Israel badly. The people of Northern Israel which had 10 tribes and had their capital at Samaria were the tribes they dealt with. Judah which had 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin with capital at Jerusalem was not involved and although the Assyrian king wanted to bring them in, but God hindered them.
The people of Assyria rubbed Israel raw pepper into their eyes. They killed them without mercy, the young and the old. They killed babies while sucking their mothers’ breasts, and having no feeling about it. Pregnant women were not only raped, their babies were ripped off. They acted as Beasts of the field. If you were seeing these things happening in your city as a prophet, what would you do, especially where you can do nothing about it?
These were some of the things Jonah considered as Sacrilege, and so these kind of people should not be saved in any way. But Jonah was aware that once any man or woman realizes his or her sins and confesses, that God will forgive such person immediately. So he did not want to offer them that opportunity since they dealt with his people of Israel without mercy. But God wanted to save the people and grant them pardon.
Honestly speaking, if it were I myself, there is no hiding of feelings, I would have done what Jonah did even more. Perhaps he witnessed with his eyes the killing of his father or mother.
Or he might have witnessed the killing of his child or wife, since they were God’s instrument for punishing the sins of Israel at that time. But from my own point of view, God knew he was right in his action.
Yes! That was the reason he was not changed from going the message, but was still allowed to continue with the message to Nineveh. Even when the prophet decided to be thrown into the sea in other to terminate both his life and the message, God would not allow the Wale to harm him, instead, the Fish became a Private Jet in the sea, or plane to convey his servant to his preaching post, and the fish turned to Nineveh.
Jonah wanted to die, Jonah quickly forgot that God is and was everywhere. That even though he was thrown into the sea, that God had his Angel/s in the sea which could bear him up, so that he would not die but to still go to Nineveh and preach the repentance message. He became hot unto death, not minding that he was a prophet. He asked to be thrown into the seam. And Pilots did as he said since throwing him into the sea would solve their own problem.
The prophet was initially going to Tarshish, but as God was involved, and the Fish must obey the voice of the Lord, Jonah found himself at Nineveh at last. When he lighted from the fish on the sea shore, he may have touched himself and discovered that he was still alive after three days, he lifted his eyes and saw the sign board saying to him ‘’Welcome to Nineveh’’. He therefore decided to preach nothing but the message of condemnation instead, and the people still repented and were saved.
WHAT WAS HIS MESSAGE?
"Forty days are remaining and you will all die for being so wicked. God has said it will not be changed. Only forty day from now, you must get your reward, you wicked people". Though these might not be the exact words but his spoken have contained strong words like these ones.
God asked him if he wanted him not to save about six score thousand people who do not know their
left from their right Jonah. 4:11, this is to mean that in spite of the fact that Nineveh was the Capital City of the ancient and wicked Assyria, not all the people in the City were bad. There were people who could not join themselves in the iniquity of the City or the country as a whole.
This was the area which Prophet Jonah did not see or observed in his judgment of the City. What the national Government was doing or did to the people of Israel was not a collective will of the whole country. But Prophet Jonah generalized the whole country together, but God saw a different group to be saved.
But what we were saying is that the prophet had personal reasons why he did not want to preach to the City of Nineveh. Although God has his right as God, his thoughts are higher and yet purer; we do not understand him at times like this. He does not commit sin or iniquity, whatever he does is right.
But if I had been Jonah, I would have done the same thing, even you.
May God bless us- Amen.
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