Read: Jonah 3-4
God reminds
Jonah of his task to preach His message to the Ninevites (3:1) and this time
Jonah willingly obeys. The message was
simply that in forty days the city would be destroyed. The king believed and issued a proclamation
that everyone should fast, call on the Lord and give up their evil ways –
perhaps God will change His mind and they will not perish? Much to the irritation of Jonah, God does
spare the city and did not bring upon Nineveh the destruction that was
threatened. Chapter three stands out in
the Bible as one of the greatest revivals of history. God’s gracious offer of salvation extended to
all who would repent and turn to Him. You
would think that Jonah would be pleased that God spared the city and that the
people repented but Jonah is angered by God’s compassion (4:1). Jonah knew from the very beginning that God
wouldn’t destroy Nineveh because He always shows love and compassion which was
why Jonah didn’t want to preach there in the first place! The Lord responds to Jonah by providing a
vine to shield the sulking prophet from the hot sun. God then made the vine wither and die, leaving
Jonah exposed to the elements. The
message is clear. The world belongs to
God and it is filled with God’s creations.
If Jonah can care about something so little as a vine should God not
care about the inhabitants of Nineveh that number 120,000 people? God continued to show grace to His stubborn prophet
by rebuking Jonah in this way. God is still
patient with people and sends prophets, missionaries, pastors and teachers to
warn them to turn to Him but God’s patience will not last forever. Judgement will come; we will see that in
Nahum.
Prayer and Journaling
1. God’s
compassion for the Ninevites clearly shows that He has concern for the whole
world and is sovereign over nature and human affairs. Thank Jesus for His sovereignty and love of
all His creatures. Praise Him for being
a God who cares, loves, is gracious, merciful and kind.
2. Jonah
had some of his own ideas about Nineveh and God’s compassion. It can be easy for us too to think that we
know what God should do in a particular circumstance. Ask the Lord to reveal to you if you what assumptions
you have made in the past. Pray that you
would learn to follow God’s ways and trust Him in all things, even if you do
not understand what He is doing.
3. Sometimes
we can forget how patient God is and how full of compassion He is. God gives people chance after chance to turn
to Him. But eventually time runs
out. Pray for the Canadian Church to
turn to God in complete surrender, before time runs out.
