King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 2 notes
1And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
This story of Nineveh has many loop ➿ holes 🕳.
Why did they fear the Lord in the first place? Who was Jonah to them, for them to even listen 👂 to him?
Even the king 👑 left his throne to fast.
How did they know Jehovah could do what Jonah had declared?
6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Many times we wonder what was wrong with Jonah for refusing to have people saved. Was he not supposed to be a prophet of God? But I think Jonah's story is like the elder son in the story of the prodigal son.
He did everything right and yet got little reward, and yet this rebellious son takes his share of the property and blows it, and the father still welcomes him home and has a place in his heart to forgive him.
It started looking like the father honoured rebellion and did not reward those who did what is right, meanwhile the father had been telling them from childhood to obey him. So why was it that now the disobedient have a party thrown for them?
But if you have no children, you will not understand the heart of a father. No father wants to lose any of his children. Good or bad, he will find a way of keeping them all.
But of course he will reward good behaviour over bad behaviour, but then he will also forgive the one who repents and comes back home.
He was not going to give him property, since he had squandered it, but he was of course in no way going to cast him away.
That is what Jonah knew but refused to understand. I understand Jonah, but I understand the Lord more and agree with HIS decision.