THE PROPHESY OF JONAH
The prophesy of Jonah is important in
our time. Christ, when asked to show a
sign from God said of this generation,
that the only sign we would see is the
sign of Jonah(Mathew 16:4). The
mission of Jonah to Nineveh is also the
mission of Christ to our generation
(Luke 11:30.)
Prophet Jonah is different from many
prophets of the day in that his mission
was to a gentile nation, Nineveh. Why
did God expect repentance from them?
They had not entered a covenant with
God like Israel. This prophetic word
teaches us that God reigns not just
over the just, but the entire universe.
It also represents the universality of
Gods expectations of all men, the
universality of His statutes.
Nineveh was an idolatrous nation. It
exerted power over many nations, Israel
included. Nineveh on other occassion is
recepient of damning prophesies
(Nahum 2:8, 3:7, Zephaniah 2:13.)
When God appears to Jonah, he sends
Him to Nineveh "to cry against it,"
which is to declare the judgement of
God against it. Jonah is not pleased,
knowing how forgiving God can be to
the repentant. In fact, Jonah makes
alternative plans to avoid the mission
altogether, so that Nineveh could
finally get what they deserved(Jonah
1:3.) The insistence of God in making
sure His message got to Nineveh is only
testament to the prophetic significance
of it. God not only moved the wind and
the sea, but even the creatures in it to
ensure the success of the mission.
Nineveh is a strong city in the spirit
too. It has its roots in the great man
Nimrod, a grandson of Cush, the son of
Ham, the son of Noah(Genesis 10:8,9.)
The beginning of the Kingdom of the
Kingdom of Nimrod was on the land of
Shinah(Genesis 10:10,) out of which
land also Asshur arose. Asshur built
Nineveh, amongst other Cities. Out of
Shinah was also the great tower of
babel, from whence the tribes of the
earth were scattered (Genesis 11:2,
4:9). From these beginings also sprung
the Assyrian Kingdom. Over all these
reigns one powerful principality in the
spirit, the heritage of Nimrod(Micah
5:6.) The land of canaan was alienated
from the same, and given to Israel
(Genesis 9:24,25.) Canaan was the land
later possessed by the Amorites among
other tribes (Genesis 10:15,16,
15:16,18-25.) By executing vengeance
on the gods of Egypt and seizing the
high places of Canaan, Isael was able
to exert power over the rest of the
principalities of the earth. This is
because of the importance of Zion as a
high place of Jehovah. This remains so
even in the spirit. This is the
significance of the spiritual over the
physical.
The great thing about the prophesy of
Jonah is that Nineveh actually listened,
beleived, and repented (Jonah 3:5.)
God responded to this turnaround by
repenting of the evil He would have
otherwise visited on them(Jonah 3:10).
Jonah is on the other hand not amused.
God reacts to his attidude with a
quetion "(you have pity on a plant for
which you have not laboured, neither
made it grow, which came up in the
night and perished in the same night,
should I not spare Nineveh, that great
City where there are persons that
cannot discern between their right and
left hand; and so much cattle? (Jonah
4:10,11.)
Jonah revealed the loving personality
of God. He is a consuming fire
(Hebrews 12:29.) Like in the days of
Jonah, there is now in this age a nation
that cannot discern between their right
and left hand, being blinded by the
gods of this world...lest they should
repent and be saved(John 12:40,
Romans 11:7, 2nd Corinthians 3:14,
4:14.) If now they hear the decree of
judgement of God against them, and if
they turned and repented, shall God
not spare them?
Christ reiterated the message of Jonah
in His parables. This is the message of
the restoration of the prodigal son
(Luke 15:1-32), a restoration also
envisaged by Isaiah 65:25, where peace
is restored between the wolf and the
lamb, the lion is pacified and the
serpent is harmless. These were
previously destructive beast on the
same land(Jeremiah 5:6, Daniel 7:4-6).
As Christ takes over the reigns of
power, the lives three out of four
adversaries are prolonged (Daniel
4:11,12.) Revelation 1:7 implies a time
of renewal and revelation even for the
enemies of Christ, those "who pierced
Him, and all the kindred of the
earth..." This time comes as "...the
power that deceived the nations..." Is
bound for a season (Revelation 20:3.)
This is the choice that our age now
needs to make, to turn around in
repentance, just like Nineveh, and be
spared, just as Nineveh. I am confident
of the success of this on the current
age, being an age bought by the blood
of Jesus,
and concerning which Christ said is a
chosen generation. This is the
generation promised a spiritual
heritage of all principalities of the
earth, Christ having said that all He
was given, He lost none.

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