Friday, October 20, 2017

Forty Days Till Nineveh Overthrown Jonah 3:4

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.




No comments:

Post a Comment