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AREYOUIN
THE SPIRIT OFJONAH?
The ancient prophet Jonah was sent to the doomed city of Nineveh to announce God's impending
wrath. Surprisingly, the entire city repented ofits evil and turned to God with fasting. The anger of
the Eterna/ was abated- but Jonah's anger was kindled!
N
ineveh was the ancient capi–
tal of the Assyrians, one of
the great peoples of biblical
times. By the standards of the day it
was a "great city." But the conduct
of the peop\e of Nineveh had aroused
the divine wrath-' 'for their wicked–
ness has come up before [God]' ' (Jo–
nah 1:2). Jonah, the son of Amittai,
was commissioned by God to warn
the inhabitants of the city to turn
from their evil or they would suffer
the punishment of the Eterna!.
Jonah balked a t the commission.
He a ttempted to flee to T a rshish but
ended up inside the belly of "a great
January
1980
by
Brian Knowles
fish"
(not
a whale) especially pre–
pared by God for the occasion (verses
3-17). From this frightening vantage
point , Jonah then reevaluated hispo–
si tion and decided to cease resisting
the Lord (Jonah 2). God then in–
duced the fish to "vomit" Jonah out
on the dry land (verse 10).
This time Jonah didn't balk at
God 's commission. He went obedient–
ly to Nineveh and proclaimed the mes–
sage God had given him (3: 1-3).
He cried, "Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown"!
(Verse 4.) Forty aays! Jonah ' s mes–
sage struck fear into the hearts of the
people of the city. lmmediately they
reacted by proclaiming a city-wide
fast. Everyone from the "city fa–
thers" to the "average Joe" fasted
and wore sackcloth, a traditional sign
of mourning (verse 5).
ThekingofNineveh himselfjoined in
and made a decree. Even the animals of
the city were to fast! Everyone was to
turn from the evil of which they were
guilty and "cry mightily to God" in
repen tance (verses 6-8).
God Reacts
All did so and God heard. The great
city ofNineveh was spared. " ... God
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