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Post by jsmith on Feb 15, 2022 14:04:04 GMT -6
I know God had mercy on the people of Nineveh-relenting of the destruction they deserved, but in the historical context what is significant about the timing of when the judgement did take place? What did the postponement accomplish in God’s plan? Thanks so much!
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Post by brianwagner on Feb 21, 2022 4:30:38 GMT -6
Hi JSmith! I think the obvious benefit of the delay was to give time for spiritual growth of the new converts to salvation in Nineveh.
Jesus said -
Matthew 12:41 NKJV — “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."
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Post by CowboysDad on Feb 21, 2022 10:46:00 GMT -6
Jeremy, when I study a book I always try to get at the purpose of the writing of the book because it typically answers a lot of questions for me. Let me suggest that the book of Jonah demonstrates God’s mercy toward even repentant, wicked Gentiles in order to expose the anger and pride of his own covenantal people. It’s a lesson for the people of Israel and Judah as much as it is a snapshot of mercy for the people of Nineveh. My best guess for the writing of Jonah is about 759 B.C., and if Nineveh was finally destroyed around 612, then the nation of Israel was actually judged long before Nineveh, for Israel was invaded and conquered around 722. Obviously Nineveh’s heart of repentance didn’t have long-lasting roots since Assyria invaded Israel within forty years of Jonah’s preaching. Not long after Assyria’s conquest of Israel, Assyria also attempted to conquer Judah, destroying dozens of fortified towns in Judah and even attempting a siege of Jerusalem, but God intervened when King Hezekiah of Judah turned away from his pride and turned to the LORD for help. So, God used Assyria to expose the pride of the nations of Israel and Judah. Judah, on the one hand, showed flashes of obedience to the LORD under kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, but Israel never had one good king and never learned their lesson. As we see from the book of Daniel God uses the rise and fall of nations to work out his plans. One of my favorite parts of the book of Daniel is Daniel 2:21, “He removes kings and raises up kings.” In God’s plan Assyria would be followed by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and then Rome. He sovereignly controls the nations, and Assyria’s judgment must wait for Babylon to be raised up in God’s perfect plan.
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