Jonah Chapter 3 "The Word of the LORD" Jonah 3:1 "And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying," The way is now set, for Jonah has been returned to dry land; and now God is giving Jonah the same orders that He received in Jonah 1:2. Jonah 3:2 "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." The first time Jonah heard "The word of the LORD", he disobeyed. When the Lord speaks the second time, you better be awake and listening. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was about the size of Kansas City metro area. It was a circuit of sixty miles, and about twenty miles across; according to both Diodorous Siculus of the First Century B.C., and Herodotus of the fourth Century B.C. It was a fishing community, along the Tigris River, and a Commercial Center of trade. Nineveh also was a city much like Sodom, which was destroyed seven centuries earlier because of it's wickedness. It was decayed much like the large cities of today the way they are going, but had gone beyond. It's property through it growth left it with a population that it could not support, crime, and violence of all sorts. Nineveh was streaming with foul smell, using every form of idolatry that man could think up to please himself. Nah. 2:8-13 describes the City of Nineveh and it’s people as the lowest form of all humanity. This is the city God is sending Jonah to. The message is the same today and our cities today are much like Nineveh was then. "Repent and turn to the true God, and God's ways." That is the preaching God bid's thee. Jonah 3:3 "So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey." There was no hesitation this time; Jonah went. Jonah’s reputation went before him. Jonah 3:4 "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be over-thrown." This is God's decree, if they didn't repent, their town would be destroyed in forty days. Forty in the biblical numeric is "probation." Repent or be over thrown. Jonah 3:5 "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. They knew Jonah came to them from the dead. He was three days in the fish's belly, and the fish put him on the beach with a message. They listened and then repented, and were saved. Nineveh's people heard the word and showed true repentance before God. Jesus came out of the tomb and we have the same message of repentance today. However, we live in a generation where a deception is coming on All the earth, and only those, who know the warnings given in God's word, will see through the miracles and wonders brought in by the Antichrist, can stand against him. Jonah 3:6 "For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes." Even the king himself repented. Jonah 3:7 "And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water:" The King was converted, and issued a proclamation to all, from highest to the lowest in the city. The order was that the entire city would honor God in a fast This is a type of Antichrist order, that you cannot eat, sell, or do anything without taking his mark. Jonah 3:8 "But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." The people of Nineveh did not sway from God's message when they cried out to God for repentance. I wonder if America would be willing to do the same to save America? Or has it sold out to the United Nations and Satan's tactics? Jonah 3:9 "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?" This is still part of the King's message. It shows that they believed in the God that Jonah has just shown them. Jonah 3:10 "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not." Did God see their belief's, no "God saw their works" and because of their works for God, showing their true repentance, God saved the people, and their city. Work's today are as important to God as it was in the day's of Nineveh. Our works or righteousness preformed on this earth for our Father, and in His name; is what each and every man woman and child of God will be clothed in when they are in the eternal Kingdom of God. Their, or your faith is clothed in your works. Works includes what ever you do in the name of Jesus Christ, sow seeds of the scripture, give tithe, help one in need, or even a cup of water is works. We should do everything in the name of Lord, and for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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