Jonah 3:6-10
Relax, Read and Reflect
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our mind and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah spoke God’s words, and then people of Nineveh repented. The mourned and prayed for forgiveness, just as the sailors had done earlier. God heard their prayer and granted mercy, because God has compassion. The ironic part of this story is that the Israelites were hearing prophets warn them about their wicked ways, and they turned away from God. God’s people turn away, but evil pagans listen and ask for forgiveness.
God may seem a little fickle here. First he is going to wipe out Nineveh for being wicked, they ask for mercy and God changes His mind. Read Jeremiah 18:7-8. God will save any condemned nation if they repent. God passed judgement on Nineveh, Jonah preached, the Ninevities repented and God saved them. That must have been some preaching Jonah gave. Remember this; God does not care about the message we hear, he cares about the action we give to the message. We can hear great preaching every day, but if we do not give action to these words- they are empty.
Prayer- Lord, let me act as You guide me through prayer, study and worship. Thank you for being a God of compassion and mercy, because I need lots of each. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our mind and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah spoke God’s words, and then people of Nineveh repented. The mourned and prayed for forgiveness, just as the sailors had done earlier. God heard their prayer and granted mercy, because God has compassion. The ironic part of this story is that the Israelites were hearing prophets warn them about their wicked ways, and they turned away from God. God’s people turn away, but evil pagans listen and ask for forgiveness.
God may seem a little fickle here. First he is going to wipe out Nineveh for being wicked, they ask for mercy and God changes His mind. Read Jeremiah 18:7-8. God will save any condemned nation if they repent. God passed judgement on Nineveh, Jonah preached, the Ninevities repented and God saved them. That must have been some preaching Jonah gave. Remember this; God does not care about the message we hear, he cares about the action we give to the message. We can hear great preaching every day, but if we do not give action to these words- they are empty.
Prayer- Lord, let me act as You guide me through prayer, study and worship. Thank you for being a God of compassion and mercy, because I need lots of each. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.
posted by Steve Killam TMTL | 6:00 AM
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