Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
God first charged Jonah the son of Amittai to rise and travel to Nineveh, that great ancient populous city built by Asshur on the Tigris, to preach openly against it because its wickedness had risen before Him and made it answerable to coming judgment. The charge laid a grave and difficult trust on him that God was able to sustain and protect until finished, yet Jonah disliked the errand, hesitated, and fled by ship from Joppa toward Tarshish, bringing bitter affliction by which God taught him obedience and renewed his resolve to obey at any cost. When sent again he obeyed and cried through the city that in forty days it would be overthrown, and the king and people believed, humbled themselves in fasting and sackcloth, and a merciful God accepted their repentance and turned away His fierce anger to lengthen their probation. So a command to carry His warning means what it says and must be declared fully even where obstacles forbid and the place seems unpromising, for God sends His servants to particular neglected fields where ignorant and defiled souls need guidance and may be pleading for light, and to turn aside to other work hinders His work and dishonors Him.
Commission to Warn Nineveh
The verse is God's first commission to Jonah, the son of Amittai, to arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it because its wickedness had come up before Him. After deliverance from the sea Jonah received the commission again and obeyed.
Nineveh was that great, ancient, populous city founded by Asshur, the son of Shem, who went forth from the land of Shinar about the time of the dispersion from Babel. He built along the fertile bank of the Tigris over two hundred miles north of Babylon.
The command to go and cry against the city was a call to preach a message of coming judgment. It was given for the good of its inhabitants. It made Nineveh's sin the reason for the warning and presented the city as answerable to God's judgment.
The commission entrusted Jonah with a grave responsibility involving great difficulty. But the God who sent him was able to sustain him, protect him, and grant success. He sends angels to protect His servant until the assigned work is done.
Disobedience, Discipline, and Mercy
Jonah hesitated and doubted whether to obey the command to arise and warn Nineveh, being averse to bearing such a message because the assignment was not pleasing to him. He rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord by ship from Joppa, going instead to Joppa rather than to the place of duty. The call to Nineveh was unpleasing, yet it was to be obeyed rather than avoided.
Had he obeyed without hesitation or questioning he would have been spared bitter experiences and richly blessed. Instead his journey was not prosperous, and God in providence taught him obedience through severe affliction so he could fulfill God's purpose for the city. Turning from the assigned work in this way hinders the work, dishonors God, and frustrates selfish plans, making it impossible to do work that should have been done. God did not abandon Jonah in despair, and the trials that followed renewed his confidence in God's power to save and strengthened his resolve to obey, whatever the personal cost.
His disobedience, in which he was overcome by temptation and fell into sin even as other favored men did, is faithfully recorded as justice requires and not glossed over. It stands as a warning and lesson for later generations to warn readers against disobedience. It also encourages desponding sinners that those who fall can gain fresh vigor through God's grace, rise above evil nature, and conquer rather than despair, renewing the conflict instead of giving up hope.
In obedience Jonah afterward cried through the wicked city that in forty days Nineveh would be overthrown. The king and people believed the warning and humbled themselves in fasting and sackcloth. A merciful God accepted their repentance, turned away fierce anger, and lengthened their probation to await the fruits of humiliation.
The command and the message were truly from God even though the destruction did not occur, because God willed for a wise purpose that His servant proclaim the approaching end and the message accomplished the purpose He designed. In the same way the solemn 1844 proclamation of the coming of the Lord was from God though the expected event did not occur, with subsequent light showing Christ the High Priest entering the most holy place in heaven to finish atonement. God's mercy granted longer time to prepare, to test the people with greater light, and to let the warning of judgment be heard more widely. Disappointed servants should therefore trust God's wisdom and mercy, rejoice in the reprieve, gather the precious light given, and patiently labor to bring sinners to repentance rather than sorrow over personal humiliation or fear of being called false prophets.
The Assyrians humbled themselves for a time and sought forgiveness, but later returned to idol worship and world conquest.
Carrying the Warning Today
When God commands men to bear His message to the people it means something, for He speaks to whom He will to carry His message and requires unreserved declaration of the message given. He commanded Jonah to proclaim the destruction of Nineveh, and those commanded must move out although obstacles of a forbidding character are in the way. Jonah for a time refused to speak the words given him of God, fainting with fear and wild with the awful message committed to him, hurrying away from the place where he was sent as a disobedient prophet fleeing from duty.
Nineveh stands as an example of a place to which God may call someone with a duty even when the assignment is unpleasing, and the call should be obeyed rather than avoided. God sends people to particular places where others need their help and guidance, and the duty is to follow the direction given. People there may be pleading with God for light and need the way of salvation made plain. The command to go and cry against the great city was a call to preach a message of coming judgment, and it illustrates that God calls His people to carry a warning and prepare the way of the Lord in neglected fields even when the work is difficult and unpromising.
The history of Nineveh teaches that God's servants should care for and help people who are ignorant and need guidance. Its wickedness had come before Him and called for a warning, and He sent Jonah to warn the city and preach to it. That same history teaches a duty to help people who are ignorant and morally defiled, applied here to the people of the Southern States.
Jonah was given a specific work to do to carry God's message to Nineveh, but he fled instead and his journey to Joppa by way of flight was not prosperous. Turning from God's assigned work can hinder it and dishonor God. Turning away and directing effort and resources elsewhere can frustrate selfish plans and make it impossible to do work that should have been done.
Those who claim to know the truth and yet lay every obstacle in the way so that light shall not come to the people will have an account to settle with God that they will not be pleased to meet. God manages His own work, and woe to the man who puts his hand to the ark of God.
God first charged Jonah the son of Amittai to rise and travel to Nineveh, that great ancient populous city built by Asshur on the Tigris, to preach openly against it because its wickedness had risen before Him and made it answerable to coming judgment. The charge laid a grave and difficult trust on him that God was able to sustain and protect until finished, yet Jonah disliked the errand, hesitated, and fled by ship from Joppa toward Tarshish, bringing bitter affliction by which God taught him obedience and renewed his resolve to obey at any cost. When sent again he obeyed and cried through the city that in forty days it would be overthrown, and the king and people believed, humbled themselves in fasting and sackcloth, and a merciful God accepted their repentance and turned away His fierce anger to lengthen their probation. So a command to carry His warning means what it says and must be declared fully even where obstacles forbid and the place seems unpromising, for God sends His servants to particular neglected fields where ignorant and defiled souls need guidance and may be pleading for light, and to turn aside to other work hinders His work and dishonors Him.
Commission to Warn Nineveh
The verse is God's first commission to Jonah, the son of Amittai, to arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it because its wickedness had come up before Him. After deliverance from the sea Jonah received the commission again and obeyed.
Nineveh was that great, ancient, populous city founded by Asshur, the son of Shem, who went forth from the land of Shinar about the time of the dispersion from Babel. He built along the fertile bank of the Tigris over two hundred miles north of Babylon.
The command to go and cry against the city was a call to preach a message of coming judgment. It was given for the good of its inhabitants. It made Nineveh's sin the reason for the warning and presented the city as answerable to God's judgment.
The commission entrusted Jonah with a grave responsibility involving great difficulty. But the God who sent him was able to sustain him, protect him, and grant success. He sends angels to protect His servant until the assigned work is done.
Disobedience, Discipline, and Mercy
Jonah hesitated and doubted whether to obey the command to arise and warn Nineveh, being averse to bearing such a message because the assignment was not pleasing to him. He rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord by ship from Joppa, going instead to Joppa rather than to the place of duty. The call to Nineveh was unpleasing, yet it was to be obeyed rather than avoided.
Had he obeyed without hesitation or questioning he would have been spared bitter experiences and richly blessed. Instead his journey was not prosperous, and God in providence taught him obedience through severe affliction so he could fulfill God's purpose for the city. Turning from the assigned work in this way hinders the work, dishonors God, and frustrates selfish plans, making it impossible to do work that should have been done. God did not abandon Jonah in despair, and the trials that followed renewed his confidence in God's power to save and strengthened his resolve to obey, whatever the personal cost.
His disobedience, in which he was overcome by temptation and fell into sin even as other favored men did, is faithfully recorded as justice requires and not glossed over. It stands as a warning and lesson for later generations to warn readers against disobedience. It also encourages desponding sinners that those who fall can gain fresh vigor through God's grace, rise above evil nature, and conquer rather than despair, renewing the conflict instead of giving up hope.
In obedience Jonah afterward cried through the wicked city that in forty days Nineveh would be overthrown. The king and people believed the warning and humbled themselves in fasting and sackcloth. A merciful God accepted their repentance, turned away fierce anger, and lengthened their probation to await the fruits of humiliation.
The command and the message were truly from God even though the destruction did not occur, because God willed for a wise purpose that His servant proclaim the approaching end and the message accomplished the purpose He designed. In the same way the solemn 1844 proclamation of the coming of the Lord was from God though the expected event did not occur, with subsequent light showing Christ the High Priest entering the most holy place in heaven to finish atonement. God's mercy granted longer time to prepare, to test the people with greater light, and to let the warning of judgment be heard more widely. Disappointed servants should therefore trust God's wisdom and mercy, rejoice in the reprieve, gather the precious light given, and patiently labor to bring sinners to repentance rather than sorrow over personal humiliation or fear of being called false prophets.
The Assyrians humbled themselves for a time and sought forgiveness, but later returned to idol worship and world conquest.
Carrying the Warning Today
When God commands men to bear His message to the people it means something, for He speaks to whom He will to carry His message and requires unreserved declaration of the message given. He commanded Jonah to proclaim the destruction of Nineveh, and those commanded must move out although obstacles of a forbidding character are in the way. Jonah for a time refused to speak the words given him of God, fainting with fear and wild with the awful message committed to him, hurrying away from the place where he was sent as a disobedient prophet fleeing from duty.
Nineveh stands as an example of a place to which God may call someone with a duty even when the assignment is unpleasing, and the call should be obeyed rather than avoided. God sends people to particular places where others need their help and guidance, and the duty is to follow the direction given. People there may be pleading with God for light and need the way of salvation made plain. The command to go and cry against the great city was a call to preach a message of coming judgment, and it illustrates that God calls His people to carry a warning and prepare the way of the Lord in neglected fields even when the work is difficult and unpromising.
The history of Nineveh teaches that God's servants should care for and help people who are ignorant and need guidance. Its wickedness had come before Him and called for a warning, and He sent Jonah to warn the city and preach to it. That same history teaches a duty to help people who are ignorant and morally defiled, applied here to the people of the Southern States.
Jonah was given a specific work to do to carry God's message to Nineveh, but he fled instead and his journey to Joppa by way of flight was not prosperous. Turning from God's assigned work can hinder it and dishonor God. Turning away and directing effort and resources elsewhere can frustrate selfish plans and make it impossible to do work that should have been done.
Those who claim to know the truth and yet lay every obstacle in the way so that light shall not come to the people will have an account to settle with God that they will not be pleased to meet. God manages His own work, and woe to the man who puts his hand to the ark of God.