Saturday, October 21, 2017

The People of Nineveh Believe God Jonah 3:5


After receiving the commission to go to Nineveh the second time, Jonah went into the city and proclaimed “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”. In chapter three and verse five of this prophesy, we see how “the people of Nineveh believed God” where we read:

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast,
and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

The verse begins, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast,...” The writer began with the words, “So the people” or “men and strangers” “of Nineveh” which was “the abode of Ninus” and “ the capital of the ancient kingdom of Assyria” “believed” or “supported, confirmed and were faithful to” “God” who is “the ruler, judge and supreme deity”, “and proclaimed” which means “called out, recited, read and proclaimed” “a fast” or “denial of food or water”. When the people in Nineveh heard Jonah's doom-filled proclamation, they not only “confirmed the word of the LORD”, but also began a “fast” to demonstrate their sincerity.

The verse goes on to say, “and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” The writer added, “and put” or “wore, were clothed with, arrayed with and dressed” “on sackcloth” which means “mesh or a sack for grain which was worn in mourning or humiliation”, “from the greatest” or “largest, most intense, loudest, oldest and most important” “of them” which refers to the people of Nineveh “even to the least of them” which refers to “the youngest, smallest, lesser of and most unimportant” the people of Nineveh”. Not only did the people of Nineveh “fast” but they also clothed themselves in “grain sacks” no matter how important or how inconsequential they were.

When we think through the words in this verse, we admire the reaction of the people of Nineveh. The LORD is willing to “warn” people before He judges them, and He is watching for their response. Jesus warned over and over again concerning eternity, and He desires for “everyone” to be with Him in heaven regardless of their station in life. Access to God is gained only by a relationship with Jesus Christ, and those who hear the still soft voice of the Holy Spirit of God calling them to Him do best when they respond in “repentance, fasting and prayer”. May the LORD Jesus sound His alarm once again, and let all who hear His voice respond and repent according to His perfect will.

Next time we see how the “king of Nineveh” repented before 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