Open your Bibles today to Jonah 3, where we will be looking specifically at the city of Nineveh.
We look at our world in turmoil and wonder “what can change this life for the better?”
But many of us can’t get past our own personal turmoil, and our own issues, much less solve world problems.
Many of our problems are a result of sin. Sin in our lives or the sin in others.
So, this morning, we are looking at the city of Nineveh and seeing how they dealt with their problems of judgment from God. I pray that we will all see the right way to deal with sin and turn back to him.
Look with me at Jonah 3:1-5
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. (Jonah 3:1-5, ESV)
Let us Pray.
As we see in the news, nearly every day, how the city of Mosul is in the midst of a battle for the control of the city. Some of you have been there and walked on the very streets that are in the midst of the current fight.
But, today, we look at another fight, a fight where the people of Mosul—then called Nineveh—turned against the evil in this world and turned to God.
Form the Bible stories growing up, we know about Jonah already because he was swallowed by a fish when he ran away from God.
But there is another story in the book of Jonah that is many times overlooked. This is the story of the people of Nineveh.
What we find in Nineveh is;
I. A wicked city.
Jonah 1:2
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” (Jonah 1:2, ESV)
Jonah was sent to declare God’s judgment on what God describes as wicked.
The best description of the wickedness of Nineveh is found in the book of Nahaum.
Nahum is found in the Bible two books past the book of Jonah. And while many of us refer to Nineveh or Mosul as the city that Jonah visited.
I want you to go home and read the book of Nahum, so that all of us will begin to refer to Nineveh as the city in Nahum’s vision.
Nahum’s vision was written over one hundred years after Jonah’s declaration. His description gives us a good understanding of the sins of Nineveh in Jonah’s day.
The Lord says to Nineveh in Nahum 2:13;
“Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.” (Nahum 2:13, ESV)
Then continues in Nahum 3:1-3
Woe to the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
no end to the prey!
The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!
Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and glittering spear,
hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
(Nahum 3:1-3, ESV)
Why is the Lord so angry at Nineveh?
Look at verse 4-5. I want to read from Young’s Literal Translation, which is a word for word rendering from the original Hebrew. And, I believe, in this case gives us an understanding of the charges against Nineveh.
4Because of the abundance of the fornications of an harlot, The goodness of the grace of the lady of witchcrafts, Who is selling nations by her fornications, And families by her witchcrafts.
5Lo, I am against thee, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And have removed thy skirts before thy face, And have shewed nations thy nakedness, And kingdoms thy shame,
This same Nineveh existed in Jonah’s day.
Jonah’s mission was to declare God’s judgment.
Jonah’s message was that in “forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.”
God had had enough of their idolatry and wickedness. He was ready to destroy this city because of its sin.
When I think of God destroying cities or nations, I fear for the safety of our own beloved country.
We too are a nation of prostitutes – selling ourselves to every God.
We too are a nation of witches – favoring witchcraft and sorcery over the Word of God.
And we too are a nation of Idolaters – we worship everything in America but the Lord.
Once, the capital of Assyria, Nineveh was a wicked city.
But, they were
II. A repentant People
After God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to declare the judgment, Jonah went to the opposite direction. When he did this, God sent a fish to swallow him. After Jonah had learned his lesson about who was in control; the fish spit him out. God told Jonah a second time to declare the judgment of God. And the people repented
Jonah 3:5-9
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” (Jonah 3:5-9, ESV)
The people of the city were called by their leaders to Fast, Pray, Stop evil deeds, and Stop the Violence. And God saw that they stopped their evil ways.
Now, I want you to notice one detail in particular, there are two prominent namings of God in the Hebrew.
Eloheem – which is translated simply as God, and
YHWH – which is the covenant name for the sovereign God Almighty or Lord.
Both are used in this passage. When Jonah talks, he speaks of YHWH. When the Ninevites speak of God, they say Eloheem.
What is the difference? The difference is that the people of Nineveh did not know the Lord! They had probably heard of the God of Israel, but didn’t follow him.
So when these people are confronted with the Judgment of God, they didn’t use the name for the most high – which, incidentally, was never allowed.
They used the name of the God that they had only heard of.
This teaches us two principles:
First, it doesn’t matter if you have known him in the past. He still desires for you to repent of your sin. And he will still rescue you if you turn your heart to him.
Secondly, the people of Nineveh heard about Eloheem from somebody. I truly doubt that they heard it from Jonah, because I really don’t think he was in the mood to say anything except that “in forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.” They had heard stories about the God of Israel. They remembered those stories when the judgment came.
You may be a person who loves God and you love to tell the story of Jesus’ love for you. But, sometimes you think your message falls on deaf ears. God’s word will not return void. Every time you tell the story of his love for you, it reminds people that he does love them.
The people of Nineveh heard and believed the word of the Lord and repented of their sin.
Repentance is a lot like Lego Blocks. I love Lego Blocks. In my house, we have Legos all over the place. The kids are constantly playing with them. Lego sets are fun to put together. I once tried building plastic models. But I hate glue. Every time I try to put model together, I glue the wrong part to the wrong place and the model is ruined.
Not so with Lego blocks. If you make a mistake with Lego blocks you just move the piece. Not a problem.
The same way with repentance. We are all sinners.
But whe we repent of our sin and turn to Christ he will fix us and make us right with God.
The people of Nineveh discovered this repentance. And when they repented they encountered…
III. A Merciful God
Jonah 3:10
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:10, ESV)
God who was angered at the Ninevites. He was angered enough to wipe them from the face of the earth, and saw their repentance and relented. He had mercy on these people.
Do you remember playing the game “Mercy” when you were little? I didn’t play it much because I figured out early that this game was not very enjoyable – at least not for me anyway.
What would happen is, two people interlock hands and on the command go, to bend each others fingers back until one person cries for mercy.
And the winner is supposed to relent.
Ephesians 2:4 says
4 But[a] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
He gives mercy freely, because he loves us so much. He doesn’t’ want to condemn us. It is our sin that destroys us and our relationship with him. (Ephesians 2:4, ESV)
Hell exists because we are rebellious and wicked, but He sent his son to pay the penalty of sin for us. That is mercy.
I John 1:9 says
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, ESV)
And he is faithful in this, because he loves us.
We know He loves us, because he created us. And time and time again he has restored us. He loves us because we are his own.
He loved us enough to send his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not parish but have eternal life.
And we show our love by repenting, turning away from our sin to Christ.
The people of Nineveh give us a great example.
They were living in sin before, and they turned from their evil ways and God had mercy on them.
Despite who they were.
Despite what they had done.
They turned their sin, and God had mercy.
And he will have mercy on us as well. How do I know that?
Because, we have
IV. A Predicable Lord
Jonah 4:1-2
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. (Jonah 4:1-2, ESV)
Jonah wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy at all. Think back at the word YHWH. Jonah knew the Lord. He knew his nature.
He knew what he would do. He knew that when he predicted destruction and the people repented, the God would cancel the plan.
Have you every found yourself in frustration saying “every time”
“Every time I walk across to a meeting it is cancelled!.”
“Every time I make it to the commissary they are out of corn dogs!”
“Every time I go to bed I wake up with a back ache!”
Jonah was saying “Every time I preach destruction and the people repent and God has mercy!”
And it happens every time. When someone comes back to God, he welcomes them home.
I have preached several times recently on the same topic of repentance.
Partly, because it is in my heart to preach repentance. But, also, because scripture demands it. Repentance is a major theme.
Rahab turned from her sin and trusted God. Abram turned from his sin and trusted God. Ever since the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.
We have needed to turn from our sin and follow Christ.
Today, is your opportunity. No more running. No more hiding. Today is the day for you to repent.
These are those here today who have never accepted Jesus to be their savior.
You have accepted church and even embraced religion. You may be one of the most moral people in the Brigade; but you don’t know Christ and are condemned to die because of your sin.
Sin is anything you think, anything you say or anything you do that makes God unhappy.
Anything. Have you lied? Have you used God’s name in vain? Have you not put God first? Anything.
The payment of sin is death and hell; eternal separation from God. Yes, hell is a real place. Jesus talked about hell more then anything else.
But Christ paid penalty on the Cross to take our place. Jesus died for you and for me.
And you can accept that payment today. You can come talk to me or any other Chaplain about it and we can help you learn little more about what accepting Christ looks like.
—–
Preached at Warrior Chapel, Camp Red Cloud, Korea. October 10, 2016
Passages marked (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Passage marked (YLT) Young, Robert. Young’s Literal Translation, Na 3:4. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997.