God keeps drawing me back to the message of God through Jonah: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.” However, we know that it would take some great persuasion in the form of a great fish before Jonah would obey God. Jonah in desperation cried out to the Lord from the belly of the fish and vowed “Salvation is of the LORD” which is the theme of the whole Bible! Jonah then had ears to hear God’s second command: “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.” It has been noted that the path of this year’s eclipse passed over seven cities called Nineveh and one city called Jonah. There has been much discussion concerning the 40 days following the eclipse on April 8th which extends through May 17.th What is the message that God is giving to America? We know that the combination of the 2017 and 2024 total eclipses marked paths across the nation forming an X which in Hebrew is the letter “tav” and is a seal or sign of God representing truth. Many have said that Jonah is the Book of the Bible where the enemy has leveled his heaviest artillery—most likely because it included a great miracle and a great display of God’s grace. God has chosen such a time as this to highlight the account of Jonah and Nineveh to America written in the heavens for all to see! Let us focus on the words from the song “America the Beautiful”: “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” The grace of God is extended to many in situations that might surprise us! Donald G. Barnhouse once said: “Every day we are objects of the grace of God!” Grace is the path to change and may it be so for us today personally and as a nation!
The Books of Jonah and Nahum are pictures of God’s amazing grace. Let’s take a closer look to seek God’s wisdom and understanding of His message written in the heavens! Jonah is a historical character as confirmed in 2 Kings 14: 24-25: “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet which was of Gath-hepher.” Jeroboam was a real person; Israel was a real nation; Hamath was a real place; and Jonah was a historical character both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We have the greatest authority who ever lived on this earth to personally give authenticity to the Book of Jonah. The Lord Jesus Christ said: “For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation…The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.” (Luke 11: 30, 32) Jonah was a prophet, but his little book is not a prophecy—there is no prophecy of the future recorded in it. Yet, we can draw many powerful manifestations of God’s sovereignty from it as He rules and overrules in the affairs of men.
God’s purpose of grace cannot be frustrated. Jonah refused to go to Nineveh, but God intervened to bring it to pass in His way and time. Refusing to obey God’s call has consequences. (Jonah 1: 17) God does not give up on us because of our stubbornness and faithlessness. (Jonah 2: 10) God seeks to draw us to Himself in confession and obedience. Jonah 4:2 is Jonah’s prayer of confession. The great truth that God is good and gracious is constant in the Old and New Testament. “Salvation is of the Lord.” (Jonah 2: 9) God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews and willing that none should perish. (Romans 3: 29) God does not call His servants to be judges of people but to go and take the Word of God to the lost. God’s command to Jonah was to go to the Ninevites because of His love and grace. (Jonah 4: 11) God desires for us to get into a right relationship with Him and help others to get into a right relationship with Him. Like Jonah, we have become preoccupied and focused on our own comfort and needs. We bemoan our circumstances and like Jonah have a pity party—pouting and complaining about our own miseries and needs. God allowed Jonah to come to the end of himself—to get over his anger and his focus on self-preservation and be about the Father’s business just as Jesus did. We must be ready and willing to answer the call to partner with God to do the work in us and through us that He desires to do. Like Jonah each of us has an enemy who opposes the work God is doing in our life—an opposition that does everything possible to discourage and distract us. When answering the call to partner with God in the work of renewal, we like Jonah have a choice: Give in to distress, or heed the voice that promises, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you.” (Heb. 13:5) The Lord wants us to say “no” to fear. Although we may be tempted to despair at the brokenness around and within us, we can cling to God’s promise of restoration and entrust our life to the One who makes all things new. When Jonah went to Nineveh to bring His message “You have 40 days to repent,” 100% turned to God! Wow! What a revival! God used Jonah to give light and grace to them! The repentance under Jonah delayed the judgment of God of Nineveh for about a 100 years. However, in time they went back to paganism.
God then spoke through another prophet—Nahum whose Book is the sequel to the Book of Jonah and whose name means “comfort of God.” God called Nahum to pronounce judgment after light was rejected. It is comfort to the people of God that God’s justice and righteousness will prevail. Light rejected brings judgment. Jesus said: “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Mt. 6: 23) Dr. J. Vernon McGhee gives us insight into this passage. He says, “Light that is darkness is the rejection of the Word of God. There are more Bibles in this country of ours than any other book; it is the best selling but least read book.” Like Nineveh, America has been given light. The pilgrims brought light to the shores of America in 1620 and our forefathers covenanted with God for this nation to be a client nation to send the Gospel light to all the world. There was a great turning to God for a time and this nation has been blessed. Nineveh was number one as a nation just as America has been. Why did Nineveh lose its status? They departed from the living and true God!
England had a revival under the Wesleys and Whitefield but over time England forgot about them and the great revival that took place under them. They stopped listening to God like Nineveh. The important question for us today is “Where are we as a nation and people—are we listening to God?” A US Senator stated that civilizations have followed a pattern in history: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to liberty; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy back to bondage. This is the picture that described Nineveh and this is the message of Nahum. God in His great love and mercy extended grace to Nineveh, but over time they turned away from God and judgment came. God is love, but God is also holy and righteous and good. God still moves in the lives of nations; therefore, the Book of Nahum speaks right into where we are today. Where is America in the pattern of the life of a nation?
Nahum had a burden for Nineveh. (1:1) His message was powerful and to the point. Let’s glean truths for us today from God’s message through him:
God is a jealous God. (1:2) Since God loves us, He is actually jealous of us. He’s jealous when we give ourself, our time, and our possessions to other things. We have more modern conveniences than ever but we are so “busy” that we don’t have time to spend in God’s presence—in focused time with Him and His Word—being still before Him. “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust Him.” (1:7) Far too long we have remained silent relinquishing to pastors and missionaries the command to share Jesus with others wherever we go. We have sat idly by and allowed our government to label us as “domestic terrorists” and our faith and liberty to be censored. God is a just God and will bring darkness upon those who oppose Him. (1:8) God’s warning is to those in our nation who have risen up against Him and His truth. He will arise and take vengeance and break the yoke of bondage. (1: 13) God has a call—a beckoning to those who love and obey the LORD—“Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows; for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” (1:15) God is saying through Nahum: “Don’t leave Me. Don’t withdraw from Me and My Word. Don’t give up, because I intend to destroy your enemy and to send to you good tidings of great joy.” Paul quotes this in Romans 10: 13-15. God uses this scripture as a beautiful picture of what we must do as His body. God is not through with America—we still have a call from God and a charge from those who have gone before us to stand firm in the faith and trust in God that He is doing a new thing in this nation beginning with each of us as we go day to day and especially during these 40 days after the eclipse. Paul in Ephesians 4: 1-3 encourages believers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called—with humility and gentleness—with patience—loving one another and seeking peace with God and others! We must sow into, bless, strengthen, and encourage one another. Let us be a part of the end-time revival and harvest of souls and spread the word of God to those who don’t know Him. The Lord is sending us out into the harvest to reap eternal life and gather in souls, but the harvest doesn’t go on forever as we learned from Nineveh. As an end-time believer, we get the charge of finishing the harvest! Let us live as an end-time believer in the zeal and urgency of the last days and live each day for the Lord of the Harvest and thanking Him for His Amazing Grace!