“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 1:2 (NIV).
Ninevah was a city founded by Noah’s grandson, Cush. Cush was one of the first full generation after the flood, and he would have been brought up hearing the eyewitness accounts of antediluvian Earth and the people who God saved during the flood: things we know little of today. Cush would have been a man familiar with the words of God, how God had spoken to Noah, and to Noah’s son’s, and how lonely and forlorn the world would have been in the years it was being re-populated. No matter what happened later, it’s likely he would have taught to understand the consequences of sin.
Yet many generations had passed since Cush, and by the time God spoke to Jonah, Ninevah had devolved into wickedness. We don’t know the sins of which Ninevites were guilty, but let’s be honest and say that doesn’t matter. Wicked is wicked, and if the city had become an affront to God, then it surely must have been wicked indeed. But before we judge Ninevah, let’s keep a few things in mind.
As we mentioned yesterday, God spoke to Jonah. He cared enough about mankind to speak to a man directly, and to inspire him onto a difficult mission. God loves us, and whether it was 2600 years ago to Jonah, 2000 years ago in Jesus, or speaking to your heart through Him today, God loves you, and each of us, and wants only the best for us. He addresses us where we are.
Also, don’t forget that God cared enough about wicked Ninevah to both respect it and call out its sins. God could have sent two angels to Ninevah as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah, but, instead, he sent Jonah to give it another chance. He even called it “great,” both to respect and mock the Earthly ‘greatness’ of its sins.
Last, God SAW Ninevah. The inhabitants of old Cush’s city lived in defiance of the living God, but they were only fooling themselves. God recognized THEM and desired to let them know it. So, He ordained a witness and sent him on his way. What happened after that is what comprises the rest of this book.
The lessons God wanted to pass on to Ninevah still apply very much to us today, especially in an age where America seems more like wicked San Francisco than San Francisco seems like traditional America. We are Ninevah, and praise God that He’s been merciful to us thus far. If a Jonah comes to us, I hope we listen to him.
For further reading: Genesis 10:11, Nahum 1:1, Jonah 1:3
Lord God, all praise to You for Your mercy. Thank You for the lessons of Jonah and Ninevah. Help me to heed them today.
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Practical Proverbs 