When Jonah
cried out “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”,
the people of Nineveh “believed God”, “proclaimed a
fast” and “put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them
even to the least of them”. In chapter three and verse six of
this prophesy, we see how “the king of Nineveh” “arose from
his throne” and “covered himself in sackcloth and ashes”
where we read:
For word
came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne,
and he
laid his robe from him, and covered him
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
The
verse begins, “For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he
arose from his throne,...” The writer began with the words,
“For word” or “speech, speaking, sayings and utterance”
“came” which means “touched, reached, struck and
extended” “unto the king” who was “the royal and mater
lectionis” “of Nineveh” which was “the abode of Ninus
and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Assyria”, “and he
arose” or “stood, came on the scene, established, confirmed,
maintained and endured” “from his throne” which refers
to “the king's seat of honor, royal dignity, seat and stool”.
When the king of Nineveh received the warning from Jonah, he not only
“believed God” but demonstrated his repentance by “arising
from his throne”.
The
verse continues, “...and
he laid his robe from him, and covered him
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” The
writer added, “and he laid”
which means “brought, alienated, carried and took away” “his
robe” or “glory, cloak, splendor,
magnificence, mantle and garment” “from
him” which refers to the “king of
Nineveh”, “and covered him”
which means “concealed, clothed and overwhelmed himself” “with
sackcloth” or “mesh or sacks for grain
which were worn in mourning and humiliation”, “and
sat” which means “dwelled, remained and
abode” “in ashes”
or “dust, earth and worthless burnt residue”. When the king
“arose”, he
humbled himself, lay aside his royal garments, put on “sackcloth”
and “sat down in burnt ashes”.
When we meditate upon
these words, we admire the “humility” of the great “king
of Nineveh”.
His humility should serve as an example of the way we should be when
we are convicted by the LORD. In the book of Galatians in chapter
three and verse twenty-four Paul the apostle wrote, “the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith”,
and if we are wise, we will hear the word of the LORD Jesus Christ
,“believe”, “fast”
and humble ourselves before the One who came into this world to “save
sinners”.
Next
time we see the
king of Nineveh's “proclamation”,
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment