Running From Nineveh*

We all celebrated Thanksgiving this week. Giving thanks to the Lord is vital to our walk with Him. In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote about the sudden coming of the Lord: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." (1 Thess. 5:1-2). Paul wrote about the sudden destruction that would come upon those in darkness, who wrongfully believe that peace and safety has been achieved. He points out our difference from them in that we are not of the darkness, but are children of light (v. 3-5), "Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." (v. 6). Paul reminded believers that "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 9). He continued to give instructions to the church in preparation for these end times. These instructions included: warn the unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient, do not render evil but do good, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (v. 14-18). We give thanks in all things and not for all things. Even in the turmoil of these times, we need to keep giving God thanks. David, whose life was threatened many times by his enemies, wrote and sang songs of thanksgiving to God. He knew that thanks and praise lifted up to the LORD, saved him from those enemies: "And he said, The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock, in him will I trust; he is...my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies....In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears...He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters...Therefore, I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore." (2 Sam. 22). David said that the mercy of the Lord was not only to David but to his seed eternally - not just his physical seed, but his spiritual seed. We are the seed of Abraham, and David, by the Spirit. As Paul wrote, being a Jew is not defined by an outward circumcision, but inwardly, a circumcision of the heart. In another Psalm it is written: "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." (Psalm 100). One of the sources of our thanksgiving according to the Psalm is that God made us. We have a Creator. We did not make ourselves, and we thankfully belong to Him. It is a lie of this age that we came into being by happenstance with no connection to a Creator. This is just one reason that the spirit of thanksgiving seems to be absent among man today. A lack of thanksgiving and praise can be a problem among God's people as well. The mission of Jonah to Nineveh shows how running from the presence of God causes a man to begin a journey of "going down" or descent, while prayer, thanks and praise causes God to lift a man up and out. The LORD instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh (a city founded in idolatry) to deliver the Word of the LORD: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." (Jon. 1:2). Jonah, instead, flees from the presence of the LORD and "went down" to Joppa to find a ship to take him to Tarshish. At Tarshish, Jonah "went down" into the ship to "go from the presence of the LORD". The LORD sent a great wind and a mighty tempest against the ship, and the crew grew afraid. The crew discovered that Jonah's disobedience had brought this storm upon them, and Jonah suggested that they cast him into the sea to save themselves. After trying every other remedy, the crew did finally cast Jonah over the side, and made sacrifices and vows before the LORD. The LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish for three days and nights (Jon. 1:17). This is also the sign that Jesus prophesied regarding His own death and resurrection, "the sign of Jonah". From this place within the fish's belly, Jonah prayed to the LORD: "I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice." (Jon. 2:2). Jonah described his circumstances within death and hell. "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God...But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." (Jon. 2:6-9). The LORD then spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land. Jonah entered Nineveh and began to preach to them what the LORD had sent him to preach. The fact that he had been cast out of the mouth of the great fish, and looked it, probably caused Nineveh to listen to the Word that Jonah brought more attentively than if he had come to them in the normal way! Upon hearing the Word of the LORD from Jonah, all the citizens of Nineveh repented with fasting. The king ordered all to turn from their evil ways, and the violence that was in their hands. The king hoped that the LORD would turn from the judgment He had planned for Nineveh. (Jon. 3:8-9). The LORD did accept their repentance. Jonah became very angry that the LORD removed His judgment from Nineveh. He was so angry, that he wished to die. The church is full of anger also, getting involved in arguments and even sometimes violence. Jonah, who had received the mercy of the LORD, was angry when the LORD showed the same mercy to Nineveh. Jonah, who saw the deliverance even from death, in the power of prayer and praise to God, and the offering of the sacrifice of thanksgiving, soon forgot those very things. The LORD asked Jonah: "And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" (Jon. 4:11). With this question, the Book of Jonah ends, but the same question to us remains. The LORD has given the church the Word of the LORD to deliver to our Nineveh today. Will we flee from Nineveh as Jonah did? I pray that we, God's people, would repent, and seek His face continually, and that God would indeed hear from heaven, forgive, and heal our land. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 11/28/21 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. 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