06/05/12

Preach to Nineveh and cause the glory of God to come

Jonah 1:2 - Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry [preach] against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.


In the Manuscripts the above scripture is a little different.

Jonah 1:2 - To Nineveh the great city preach against-her because she came up.

Most people think that Jonah ran away to Tarshish due to fear of going to Nineveh but that is not true. Firstly we need to understand Jonah was a Man of God who had close relationship with the Lord. Secondly the translations state Jonah went to Tarshish to flee from the presence of the Lord.

In Psalms David states even in Hell one cannot flee from the presence of the Lord so Tarshish was not greater than Hell that it could hold the Lord away.

Tarshish was the furthest point in the east to which ships went. Jonah was told by the Lord that he would punish Nineveh within a period unless they changed and He had asked Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh before that. Jonah knew if he preached repentance there was also a chance that they would have a change of heart and the people could be saved. Jonah hated the people of Nineveh so much that he did not want that even small chance of them being saved, he simply wanted them to be punished. Jonah was not the only one; every Israelite during that time had the same feeling towards the Assyrian empire of which Nineveh was the capital city.

What Hitler did against the Jews was Kindergarten stuff compared to what the Assyrians did during the time of Isaiah. Like the other Israelites Jonah also wanted only one thing and that was the destruction of Nineveh. Jonah knew if the Lord gave a stipulate time and the time passed then Nineveh would be destroyed so Jonah fled to Tarshish so that his journey from that place to Nineveh would pass the stipulate time. But this act of Jonah actually helped the people of Nineveh to repent for the state in which the Lord bought him to Nineveh and their false belief caused the people to believe him, repent and turn from their evil ways. It was like their god telling them to return from their evil ways and worship the True God. That day almost 600,000 turned to the Lord.

The word Assyria means 'step' which symbolizes prosperity. It is worldly prosperity that causes the greatest harm to the people of God and today like Jonah the Lord is telling us to go to Nineveh the capital Assyria and preach against it. Nineveh in Greek means 'offspring of ease'. Today's Nineveh are the ministries of blessings all those who pursue blessings more than the Kingdom of God.

Yesterday just after our message was sent within 3 hours I got news of one of India's greatest social campaigners raised his voice against a giant prayer ministry in India. No doubt the ministry is doing good work by getting people to know God through prayer, but the way they run their ministry and the way they spiritually supress people from spiritually growing is against God and His Word. The ministry assets where thousands and thousands donate or tithe to, is treated as family wealth.

Like the Lord's desire towards the people of Nineveh is also towards these people. He desires they repent from their ways and turn to Him. The day they do will see the greatest revival in the world like one till date has not been seen or heard of.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, time is come for your Church to move into a time of it glory. You desire the people You have set to lead, to turn from their ways of worshipping the golden calf which is prosperity. You want to bless them with things beyond their imagination but it is only possible when they reject the things of this world and empty themselves unto You. Lord, we pray for all the Christian leaders across the world that they turn from their ways and walk according to your ways. That they cause the world to know You and your glory to fall on your congregation...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Jonah 1:2-3
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 3:5-10
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.
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.
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:
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.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
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.

Jonah 4:1-2
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)