As Jonah
received “the word of the LORD” the second time, he arose
and obeyed the commission to “go unto Nineveh... and preach unto
it”. In chapter three and verse four of this prophesy, Jonah
entered into Nineveh and told the people there “forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown” where we read:
And Jonah
began to enter into the city a day's journey,
and he
cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
The
verse begins, “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's
journey,...” The author began with the words, “And Jonah”
whose name means “dove” “began to enter” or “profaned,
defiled and made common in his entry, coming or going” “into
the city” which means “town, place of waking and variance”
“a day's journey” which refers to “one period of time
from sunrise to sunset for walking”. As Jonah entered the city of
Nineveh, he walked about a “day's journey” into the city
before he began to say what the LORD told him.
The
verse goes on to say, “...and he cried, and said, Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” The author
continued, “and he cried” or “called out, recited, read
and proclaimed with a loud sound” “and said” which means
“spoke, uttered and told”, “Yet forty days” or “when
forty working sunrises to sunsets have come” “and Nineveh”
which means “abode of Ninus” and was “the capital of the
ancient kingdom of Assyria” “shall be overthrown” or
“turned, reversed, perverted, retired and tumbled”. Jonah's
proclamation from “the LORD” was that Nineveh was to be
“destroyed and conquered” in only “forty” day's time.
When
we think about the words in this verse, we can imagine how difficult
it was for Jonah to walk into the thriving city of Nineveh knowing he
was going to proclaim their doom. After finally obeying the “word
of the LORD”, Jonah “cried
out” against Nineveh and
warned them of being “overthrown”.
Warnings from the LORD often accompany His pending judgment even as
Jesus warned every person who lives - “every idle word
that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words
you shall be condemned.” If we
have not surrendered our lives to Jesus and asked Him to come into
our hearts as Savior and LORD, let today be the day we receive His
offerings and be rescued from the “judgment”
to come.
Next
time we see how the people of Nineveh “believed God”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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