Greetings to you all greatly beloved of God and welcome to another episode of our study of the Scriptures. We bless the name of the Lord God for His many blessings over us. Praise be to God!
In our today’s episode 617, we shall be examining Chapter 4 of the book of Jonah titled:
Religious Jonah Became Angry About The Fact That God Forgave Nineveh
How could a preacher of the Word of be angry that his preaching produced fruits of repentance?
Looks strange right?
I was baffled too while reading chapter 4.
Under normal condition, a prophet of God should be excited that those he is ministering to are turning to God and believing the Gospel of Salvation.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for Prophet Jonah.
The Bible says he was exceedingly angry because they repented and God forgave them.
Remember in chapter 3 when he was preaching, according to the tone of his message, he did not intend to give the people of Nineveh the room for repentance, neither was he ready to plead with them to change their ways. He simply wanted to obey God. He was like: “let’s just get this assignment out of the way…”
He simply said: in forty days, Nineveh would be destroyed…” read verse 4.
What a sharp and brutal message.
Was there something about the whole matter that prophet Jonah was not telling us? What could have happened that warranted such deep hatred for the people of Nineveh? Why was prophet Jonah so exceedingly angry?
If we look at the whole episode very well, we will notice some elements of pride and selfishness in the life of Prophet Jonah. The reason is because he was more interested in his prediction coming to pass than making sure the people repented and were saved. The latter being the ultimate desire of God.
Another major reason Jonah was angry is that he knew God to be a merciful God and that he was going to grant pardon to the Ninevites upon their repentance.
Recall that the Assyrians (Ninevites) were enemies of Judah and Israel. They have severally invaded the land of Israel and inflicted wickedness upon the people of Israel. So, Jonah wanted God to bring judgment upon these people he hated.
Yes, the Ninevites were terrible sinners, even according to chapter 1:1, God Himself confirmed that he knew that the people of Nineveh were wicked. They were terrible sinners, which was why God wanted Jonah to preach to them so they could repent.
The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins. 2Peter 3:9 (Good News Translation)
Also, this:
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; 2 for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. 3 This is good and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth. 1Timothy 2:1-4 (Good News Translation).
Those were the truths that prophet Jonah failed to realize.
Did you know there are some believers still behaving like Jonah today?
They prefer that their so-called human enemies should die but they have forgotten that they too were once sinners. If God had decided to kill them, would they have had the opportunity of being alive and serving God? The answer is no.
If we truly have the mind of Christ and we allow the love of God rules our heart, then we will not have problem preaching the Gospel of Salvation to people and getting them saved. This should always be our yearning.
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let’s pray:
I declare that the Love of God will continue to reign supreme in the heart of everyone reading this message, in Jesus name.
No one on this platform will fall victim of any physical abuse, accident, killing, kidnapping, home battery or any form of hazard, in Jesus name.
God’s protection will continue to be upon you and your entire family, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: Reflection time on all the chapters you have read so far and covering of missed chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Monday December 14, 2020 (DDMI)
