Jonah's Preaching

 

    God went to Jonah.  Jonah fled.  God put Jonah in a position to think about what he did.  Then to reassure Jonah, God came to him a second time to instruct him to go to Nineveh.  This time Jonah obeyed.  

    Nineveh was such a large city, that it took Jonah three days to cover it.  His preaching was a simple message: You have 40 days to change or God would destroy the city.  Jonah never thought they would listen.  He was thinking worse case scenario: they would kill him for his message.  It must have been a surprise when they did listen and took the message seriously.

    The king got involved and the entire city went on a fast.  It was a full fast that he had even the animals partake in.  They gave up their evil ways, any wrong doings, and violence in order to seek God's compassion.  

    It may not have been the purest motivations, but none of us do things for God in the beginning out of a pure heart.  He have to get to that point.  In all reality it is a miracle that they listened and had a leader to direct them to change so quickly.  

    The king was not a follower of God.  He did not know what he was doing, but he knew enough to know the actions and the fact that he utilized what he knew moved God to show compassion.  He relented by not destroying Nineveh.  The message was repentance leads to salvation.

    In all accounts it was a happy conclusion, but not an ending.  For Nineveh it was only the beginning.  It is a something that should have made Jonah happy.  I mean what preacher does not want their sermon to be heard and applied to the people's lives.  However, Jonah's heart was never in it.  He was obedient, but more out of fear than love.

Jonah 3