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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 26, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 42.

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EDITORIALS

By C. M. S.

Nineveh and Our Day

THE decision of the great Judge is primarily against sin. The sinner finds it to be against him because he has identified himself with sin and become a part of it. Because of the wickedness of Nineveh, God decreed the utter destruction of that great city, and Jonah was sent to apprise the Ninevites of their impending doom. As God's mouthpiece, Jonah spoke the decree of the sin-hating Judge against the city and its sin-loving inhabitants.
Then the Ninevites awoke to the terrible reality of their condition, and sought God that the overwhelming calamity might not fall upon them to blot them out of existence. In sackcloth and ashes they put away sin, and laid their confession and their plea before “the Judge of all the earth.” They had merited death, but the Judge was also the pitying Father; and repentance, the forsaking of sin, and the plea for pardon saved them in the hour of their great need. God had not changed; but the Ninevites had. He was still the same just Judge, the same pitying, compassionate, loving Father; and such he is today.
God has condemned and decreed judgment upon sin, and the penalty is soon to be executed. It will fall upon every individual who refuses to part from his sin and seek righteousness. The Ninevites did so, and were spared. The inhabitants of earth today may learn a lesson in wisdom from the children of Nineveh, and by following their example, may have the gracious gift of eternal life.
Seventh-day Adventists are giving today to the people of this world a message similar to that which Jonah bore to the inhabitants of that now long-buried city. The destruction of the sinners of this world and of the world which has been steeped in sin has been decreed. Now, as then, the door of repentance is open, and they who will may find shelter in an eternal city of refuge. There was nothing for Jonah but to bear the message given him to carry to that people. Likewise there is nothing for us to do but to give the warning message of the third angel and let its reception witness for or against those who hear. The obligation resting upon us is no whit less than that which rested upon him. He could not be excused from bearing his testimony; no more can we. Many men have scoffed at, or laughed at, the record of Jonah; but that reluctant witness against a sinful people will stand exonerated in the judgment before the thousands who have made light of his experience.
Beyond the message that Jonah gave, there was to be nothing but destruction. So with the message due at this time. Then it was the destruction of a city with its people; now it is to be the destruction of a world with its people. If the message committed to Jonah was important, how much more the message committed to this people! Repentance then saved to temporal life; repentance now saves to life eternal. Wise are they who heed this message, and wise are those who do not refuse to give it.
C. M. S.