And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
After fleeing his first commission in disobedience, suffering affliction, and being delivered, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, giving him another opportunity to obey and renewing his prophetic mission. The renewed commission was to go to Nineveh and warn of its destruction by delivering exactly the message God would give, requiring unreserved proclamation from the messenger God chose. At first he had refused to speak the words given him and hurried away from his duty, fainting with fear and overwhelmed by the awfulness of the message of Nineveh's destruction. On the second call he obeyed without questioning or doubting, went according to the Lord's word, and preached the warning God gave him.
From the least to the king, the people of Nineveh believed God, humbled themselves, sought forgiveness, and turned from evil and violence, so God saw their changed conduct, heard their plea for mercy, and spared the city at that time. The reprieve was conditional and temporary, for after a time they returned to idol worship, world conquest, and idolatry, and their sins reached to heaven, and their destruction then came.
The second coming of the word shows that God's command to bear His message is serious and must be obeyed and acted on even when forbidding obstacles stand in the way. Those who profess truth yet lay every obstacle in the way so light shall not come to the people will face an account with God they will not enjoy, for God manages His own work and woe comes to the one who puts his hand to the ark of God. Together with Eden, the flood that left only Noah and his sons, and Sodom destroyed by fire from heaven, the threatened warning to Nineveh proves that God means what He says and that steadily increasing sin brings judgment.
After fleeing his first commission in disobedience, suffering affliction, and being delivered, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, giving him another opportunity to obey and renewing his prophetic mission. The renewed commission was to go to Nineveh and warn of its destruction by delivering exactly the message God would give, requiring unreserved proclamation from the messenger God chose. At first he had refused to speak the words given him and hurried away from his duty, fainting with fear and overwhelmed by the awfulness of the message of Nineveh's destruction. On the second call he obeyed without questioning or doubting, went according to the Lord's word, and preached the warning God gave him.
From the least to the king, the people of Nineveh believed God, humbled themselves, sought forgiveness, and turned from evil and violence, so God saw their changed conduct, heard their plea for mercy, and spared the city at that time. The reprieve was conditional and temporary, for after a time they returned to idol worship, world conquest, and idolatry, and their sins reached to heaven, and their destruction then came.
The second coming of the word shows that God's command to bear His message is serious and must be obeyed and acted on even when forbidding obstacles stand in the way. Those who profess truth yet lay every obstacle in the way so light shall not come to the people will face an account with God they will not enjoy, for God manages His own work and woe comes to the one who puts his hand to the ark of God. Together with Eden, the flood that left only Noah and his sons, and Sodom destroyed by fire from heaven, the threatened warning to Nineveh proves that God means what He says and that steadily increasing sin brings judgment.