Jonah 3:2,4,5 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So 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.
So Jonah goes and begins to preach in this pagan city. His message is very simple. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown”(v. 4). That’s it. That was his whole message. It’s eight words in English; only 4 words in Hebrew.
To be honest, I love short messages, and I love to give short messages, But I’ve never preached an eight-word message in my life.
And a pretty depressing message if you ask me. None of this “Nineveh, God loves you…” or “Nineveh for Yeshua” or “Say Yes Nineveh.” A message of impending judgment and nothing more.
God says to Jonah – PREACH MY MESSAGE; simple, urgent, to the point. These days the message of salvation across the world so often removes a key word –”REPENT!” Whenever Yeshua (Jesus) preached – or John the Baptist – or any of the saints preached – it started with the word – REPENT!
This is a critical point. There’s apologetics, and witnessing of all kinds, according to wisdom and opportunity, but if we’re going to preach, we MUST understand that we MUST preach HIS MESSAGE! And His Message begins with the word – REPENT!
It’s not the way we would do it. If we were going to put together a “Nineveh for Yeshua” campaign, we would hire an advance team, get a PR man, put together an ad campaign, buy billboards, do a social media blitz, start a Facebook page, get our Twitter team going, make some “Nineveh for Yeshua” t-shirts, do some training, set up the buses, train the counselors, rent a stadium, buy some TV time, recruit the counselors, print the follow-up materials, set up home prayer meetings, arrange for simultaneous translations, rehearse the choir, and organize Operation Nivevah. We’d have to raise $3 million just to get started.
Nah, Jonah skipped all of that.
He just went to Nineveh looking half dead and gave his entirely negative 8-word sermon. And the people repented!
Jonah was a “dead man.” When God does that to you and me we won’t have to say much either, “Repent, and believe the gospel”… 5 words will probably do it! But the message will almost certainly begin with the word — “Repent”!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
More Devotions
Have you ever considered why Abraham was called the father of faith? Why not Enoch, who was translated from this world? Or Noah, who by faith created an ark to save mankind in the days of the flood? Abraham didn’t perform any miracles, signs, or wonders, which would qualify him by today’s standards of spiritual performance, yet he is known as the Father of Faith, simply because he trusted in the Kingdom to come.
Last week, we discussed the significance of Jerusalem in the culmination of the age. Here, we’ll continue to scratch that surface. The word “Jerusalem” is so rich with meaning that a single devotion will only begin to unpack it; there are so many etymological approaches. But most agree that the root letters at the end, שלם (shalem) spell a Hebrew word requiring numerous English words to fully comprehend including, “perfect”, “complete”, “sound”, “whole”, “harmony”, “peace”, etc. In addition, the concept of payment is present, as לשלם (leshalem), “to pay”, also suggests “reward”.
When God set apart the Seventh Day it was after He Himself had worked for six, and then rested. Shabbat is therefore, “primordial” in a real sense, something established from the beginning of time. This makes the pattern of working six days and resting on the seventh something fundamental to human existence, and something exceedingly blessed.
The expectation of the coming Kingdom of God is intimately connected with the restoration of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. The preceding passage describes Zion in labor, as once again, we find the metaphor of birth used to convey this scriptural promise. It is a national gestation which will not be aborted, but will come to fruition. But first, before this labor begins…a “male child” is born… This can be none other than Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, Israel’s King, Himself, arriving beforehand, (on a donkey, at that), quite some time before the labor which gives birth to the nation; and causing the prophet to wonder if a nation can be born in a day.
Yesterday, we began our series of devotions focused on the birthing of the Kingdom. Continuing to develop these insights, let’s look at day 2 of creation and its focus upon water.
Here’s an interesting fact about American church history that you may not know. Years ago, when the first New England churches were designed, they were built with clear windows rather than the stained glass ones we see so often today — and the graveyard was usually built in the churchyard, which would normally be seen from the pulpit. Why?
For several years now, I’ve been focusing on the Kingdom of God, a central theme of Yeshua’s preaching [Luke 4:43], and will be offering a series of devotions on this topic with particular emphasis on our present season, which I believe portends the birthing of this Kingdom. A study of the gestation process from conception to birth yields insight as a natural parallel into the historical process we’re witnessing and taking part in. This theme will be developed in the coming days.