“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:2-3); Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:1,10); Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. (Jonah 3:1-3)
Biblical Truth
Ninevah was built by Nimrod, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah. (Genesis 10:6-12) During the time Hezekiah was king of Isreal, the Assyrian King Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Isreal, and because Hezekiah prayed to God for help, God killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. (II Kings 19:35-36; II Kings 19; Isaiah 37)
But approximately 150 years prior to Nineveh's destruction, God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and evangelize to them to stop their wicked behavior, or it would be overthrown. (Jonah 3:4) Jonah did not want to go because ...it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” (Jonah 4:1-3) Jonah hated this city and the people in it and he wanted God to destroy them, but he knew if they listened to what God told him to say, they may believe and God would spare them.
Jonah tried to avoid going to Nineveh, so he started running: Jonah was from Gath-hepher, which was northeast of Nazareth (II Kings 14:25); he went down to Joppa, and then boarded a ship to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). A great storm arose on the sea, and after the crew did much pleading of praying to various gods, they came to the conclusion that Jonah was the cause of their problem: Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (Jonah 1:8-9) Because of this experience, these unbelieving men became believers: Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. (Jonah 1:16)
Jonah still had to do God's will and go to Nineveh, but not by ship: Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.(Jonah 1:11, 15; Jonah 1) Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. (Jonah 1:16; 2:1) God is almighty, not bound or restricted by man's limitations - HE CAN DO ALL THINGS, even cause a great fish to swallow a person, and then ...the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah 2:10; Jonah 2)
Well, Jonah makes it to Nineveh. Nineveh was a very large city, it would take approximately three days to travel through it. (Jonah 3:3) The name "Jonah" means dove, and Jonah flew through that city in just one day, and all he said was “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”(Jonah 3:4) Despite the anger in him towards that city, and his desire to see it destroyed, ...the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. (Jonah 3:5-10)
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