- 12/25/2007
Have a day of rejoicing and good tidings, celebrate Jesus.
Go to Nineveh. Tell them what I tell you to tell them. The Lord had a specific message which He wanted delivered to the people of the city. Jonah 3:1-2 Jonah, in complete obedience to the word of the LORD made his way to Nineveh. No doubt the large fish had vomited him up close to the city, so he did not have far to go. No more cruises, no more ships.
The city of Nineveh was a large city. Jonah 3:3 Its roots were in Babel, Nimrod and Asshur, making it an ancient city, even in the time of Jonah. Gen. 10:8-11 Its location was on the eastern bank of the river Tigris. It is called an exceeding great city which would have made it to be of extensive size. Added to that is the fact that it took Jonah three day to traverse the city and deliver his message. Interesting, is it not, that it took three days, especially so, when Jonah’s experience was a type of the Christ in the tomb and his subsequent resurrection. The city would have been somewhere between fifty five to sixty miles long. The population of infants of the city numbered 120,000 (Jonah 4:11) which causes some to estimate the total number of inhabitants to be in the neighborhood of one million. Indeed, a great gathering together of people for those days.
Jonah entered into the city a days journey and began to declare his message. I would surmise that he found a market place, which is the usual place of the dissemination of news where there is no radio or TV. Had Jonah stopped many places to preach his message, it still would have been impossible for the word to have reached all the population. His message was carried by the people as they returned home from making their purchases or selling their goods. In such a fashion it was spread abroad throughout the city. I dare say, that the very first day most of the city had heard about him and his preaching. By the third day, they were well informed.
A message such as his would be a shock to any city. Forty days away from the destruction of the city. Jonah 3:4 There is no opposition mentioned against his words of destruction. The people sincerely and seriously believed God. They had confidence in the message and its messenger. They took action. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth to show their sorrow and repentance from their sins. Remarkably, one hundred percent of the city followed this pattern of seeking the Lord for forgiveness and deliverance. This vast amount of people included all, beginning with the greatest to the very least among them. Jonah 3:5 What a mighty move of the Spirit of the Lord, and that in what was a heathen city. What preacher of today would not rejoice in such a tremendous act of humility and seeking after the true God in response to a message that he had ministered to the people.