God really wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh – he sent him twice! The first time Jonah fled but after a stormy time, he repented and said he was ready to serve God again. And what did God say? ‘Nothing’s changed – see previous instruction’. What we conclude from this is that God message to Nineveh was really important to him. We see God explain why right at the end of the book

“ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals? ” (Jonah 4:11)

Why does God show concern for rebellious cities like Nineveh?

In general, cities are strategic – if you reach the city you reach the region. If Nineveh repented then there would be a knock-on effect with the whole of the Assyrian nation.

Another reason is that cities are where the people. God loves people therefore he has concern for cities. 

You see this strategy with Jesus. When he’s commissioning the disciples, he says go to the capital city, then to the region: Jerusalem and then Judea – there’s no instruction to go to Bethlehem or Capernaum. Jonah was sent to Nineveh because to reach the Assyrians you reached their capital.

It’s the same today, cities are strategic for us today. Culture flows from cities. All the influencers are in cities. If we want to complete Jesus’ Great Commission, we need to prioritise cities, because it’s the most efficient way to reach people. Most of the world lives there now.

That’s in general, but why did God send Jonah to THIS city?

Jonah chapter 4 tells Nineveh had a population of 120,000 people. Jonah said that it took three days to walk across it – huge for that time! The city was:

Rich: “There is no end to the treasure” Nahum 2:9
Violent: “Woe to the bloody city” Nahum 3:1 and in Jonah 3:8 the Kings tells the citizens to “give up their evil ways and their violence”
Wicked: “their wickedness has come up before me” Jonah 1:2

God’s Message to Nineveh

And the message God told Jonah to bring? Judgment! God’s anger had built up against their wickedness and violence. However, God wants to give them a chance to repent.

This is a small-scale pattern of what is happening in the world today: wickedness, violence, injustice, selfishness etc. rises to God in the same way that Nineveh’s did. God’s decision is that justice must occur. But before that happens, he sends out his messengers to give people a chance to repent.

Nineveh had Jonah. The world has followers of Jesus. That might be you or I.

God sent Jonah because he didn’t want the Assyrians to continue in their wickedness. It’s the same today. God doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 2:3) therefore he sends believers to warn of his anger against injustice. Injustice that is harming the people he loves.

Many of us have walked through this process. We were far off like the Assyrians, but we have turned from our sins and we have discovered a God that is ‘slow to anger but abounding in love.’ (Psalm 103:8 and many other places).

So, God sends Jonah, but he also sends us.

God’s Message Today

It’s different today, however. All Jonah had was a message of judgement. Because of Jesus, we have a message of judgment AND mercy. And when it comes to judgment, Jesus bore the full brunt of that judgment. Our message is one of judgment and mercy but with the sting of judgment taken away.

Jesus told the religious leaders of his day that the only sign he would give them was the sign of Jonah. He was referencing this situation (Matthew 12:38-42). The people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. But Jesus declared that one greater than Jonah was now standing amongst them. What was he saying?

Jesus was saying that if wicked, godless people could turn from their ways and turn to God so could the religious leaders. The problem was, they thought they didn’t need to. Pride was blocking them from seeing the truth.

All the way through the book, God confronts Jonah’s pride. And in the middle section of the book, God wins through. Jonah changed but the religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t. What about you? Are you willing to journey with Jonah and see if there is anything that God wants to shift in you? I’ve written a 30-Day devotional to do just that. In one month, at ten mins a day, you’ll read through the entire book. As well as an explanation of each verse, there is a suggested application and a guided prayer. Get it now from Amazon and allow God to do a work inside of you.

 

Why did God care about the Ninevites?

by Andrew Butterworth | May 31, 2020

God really wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh - he sent him twice! The first time Jonah fled but after a stormy time, he repented and said he was ready to serve God again. And what did God say? ‘Nothing’s changed – see previous instruction’. What we conclude from this is...

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by Andrew Butterworth | May 25, 2020

Right at the start of the book, God says, ‘Go to Nineveh’. Jonah says ‘No way!’. God’s prophet would rather flee to the other side of the world than carry out his commission. Why? You need to know a bit about the background. For instance, if you didn’t know who the...

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by Andrew Butterworth | May 22, 2020

 Jonah was a prophet in the 8th Century BC - well known enough to have access to King Jeroboam II, the king of Israel (see 2 Kings 14:24). By Jonah's time, the glory days of David and Solomon were long over. The kingdom had been split in two and Jonah was ministering...

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The post Why did God care about the Ninevites? appeared first on Andrew Butterworth.