Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever been given a ‘second chance’? I mean a really big ‘second chance’ to redeem yourself; or do or be a part of something significant? Come with me back to the seaside town of Joppa, Israel, about the year 759bc. You’ll remember we’ve been traveling with Jonah and thus far it’s been one of those unrealistic, unimaginable journeys!
It’s described for us in a short book Jonah himself wrote, recounting his experience of hearing God’s clear assignment to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, and warn them that God’s judgment was soon coming if they did not repent of their wickedness.
But Jonah did not want God to show the Assyrians ANY mercy, not even a shred of mercy, for their army was famous for brutality and viciousness beyond description. Besides, Jonah was a good Hebrew, and good Jews had nothing to do with wicked Gentiles, right? So, Jonah boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, the furthest WEST point of the known world at that time, exactly the opposite direction from Nineveh.
But God did not give up on Jonah or God’s plan for our world and God wanted to do something that would show all people, of all places, in all generations that God is a HOLY God, but He is also a MERCIFUL God! So God came after Jonah with a ferocious storm which resulted in Jonah acknowledging to the ship’s crew that HE was the problem. His DISOBEDIENCE to His God, the God of Israel, was the cause of the storm and if they would throw him overboard, God would calm the storm! While these sailors didn’t know Jonah’s God, they were not vicious Assyrians and they were not about to throw him overboard. But the storm got worse, much worse and finally there was nothing left to throw overboard except Jonah, since all the cargo had been cast off the ship.
Jonah, you’ll recall, was swallowed whole and alive by some great sea creature God sent, and Jonah spent three days alive in the belly of that creature, praying! Finally God made that sea creature spit Jonah up out of its belly into the water and Jonah washed up on shore! Talk about an ugly, despicable experience! How long it took Jonah to clean himself up we don’t really know, but sure enough and soon enough, Jonah heard the voice of God again. “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” (Jonah 3:1)
Second chances come in all shapes and sizes don’t they my friends? For Jonah his second chance could not be clearer but it was still a repulsive assignment. I imagine Jonah wrestled greatly with God and what God was asking him to do. In Jonah’s mind the very best thing God could do for our world in those days was simply wipe the nation of Assyria and all of its people, every single Assyrian person, off the face of our planet. Why?
Because Jonah and most people had heard nothing but horrible, frightening things about what the Assyrians were doing to the nations around them, which they conquered viciously. Nineveh was about 500 miles away from Jerusalem, ‘as the crow flies’, but Jonah would likely have taken the major roads north and then east to Nineveh, perhaps a journey of about 700 miles!
Now my friends, please don’t minimize that. 700 miles, 2800 years ago was a very, very long journey! And this particular journey would have taken Jonah through some very unfriendly territory once Jonah left Israel! With every step I’m sure Jonah was arguing with himself, trying to figure out what possible explanation he might give to anyone who asked him WHO he was and WHY he was going to Nineveh?!
God’s instructions had been brief. I’m sure Jonah hoped for more answers, many more answers from God as he walked or perhaps rode a donkey or maybe even a camel some of the way. WHY was very likely the most pressing question…all forms of WHY? Why Jewish Jonah as God’s chosen spokesman to Nineveh? Why now? Why Nineveh when they had been such a violent, wicked people?
Finally Jonah arrived. I doubt any of us can imagine his anxiety, perhaps his outright fear of what might happen to him in this huge city that he’d never seen and he’d only heard very bad things about. Jonah’s record says: “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city, it took three days to go through it! Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming ‘forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” (Jonah 3:3-5)
I’m sure Jonah could give us much, much more detail about this remarkable experience, but God did not lead him to do so as he wrote his record. I don’t know what language Jonah spoke, for I presume he did not know the Assyrian language, so perhaps Jonah had an interpreter? I do not know where Jonah stayed at night, for I presume he felt unsafe as a Hebrew in Nineveh. I presume he went to the places where large groups of people would gather, such as the markets and Jonah probably stood up on something so he could shout his message. I presume people quickly gathered around him with questions about who his God was, why his God would send judgment on Nineveh and especially what they could do to avoid destruction?
In that time of history putting on ‘sackcloth‘ and even pouring ashes over one’s head was a universal sign of deep grief, mourning and repentance. It seems to me the Spirit of God spoke into the hearts of these Ninevites and they instinctively knew their day of reckoning was coming. They knew the reputation of their soldiers and Jonah’s description suggests to me that the normal citizens of Nineveh quickly took action begging God to spare them and their families, regardless of what their military or their government had done or might do. Now ponder that just a moment.
Do you know any places in the world where governments and militaries are doing things that the people of those nations do not agree with or are even ashamed of or maybe even fearful of? Very often, in fact, those in power behave in ways that shame or humiliate those who feel powerless. I’m sure Jonah was stunned. He surely had not expected these vicious people to be responsive, much less repentant! And if that wasn’t enough, when word reached the King of Nineveh the record says: “He rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down on the ground in the dust!” (Jonah 3:6) Can you imagine that my friends? The King of this great city, the most powerful and important man in Nineveh, humbling himself publicly in response to what he has heard about Jonah, and his people’s response to Jonah’s warning!
I think we need to pause right here my friends, and consider what was happening in Nineveh. What would it take for such a thing to happen in your city and mine? Maybe it’s time to pray for our cities and leaders, my friends. No song today, just prayer for our leaders who need a fresh awareness of God… His MAJESTY and His MERCY! And by the way, how much MERCY has God shown you and me in our lifetimes?
Today’s Scripture: Jonah 3:1-6.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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