10.p. “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish”

Jonah 3:1   Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Luke 15:18-20    I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’  And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Deuteronomy 8:20  “Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

Proverbs 1:32  “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

Isaiah 60:12   “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined.

Jonah repented and went back to Nineveh to speak the word of the Lord.  He called out against that great city as the Lord commanded. Nineveh listened and acted upon what they heard. They repented as a whole city, from the king down to every citizen, or at least most of them.  They heard the word spoke against their current way of living, they believed it to be a true understanding of their sinful ways.   They believed God.  They had to know something of God and both His promises of destruction and His gracious acts that turned away from anger when those condemned repent.  They believed in 40 days they would be destroyed because the word of God proclaimed to them.  Do you ever wonder what people would do if they were told in 40 days they would die because of their sin?   Some believe and some do not.  Some think all of this talk about God and sin is foolishness.  Others believe it to be true but will wait until later in life. And, still, others take immediate action and believe.  They understand the eternal consequence of dying in their sin.  They understand the frailty of life and that they could die at any moment for a host of reasons.  We have not been given a 40-day notice, but we have been given notice.  We can deny it, wait, or take repentant action.  It all depends on what you believe to be the truth.  Nowhere is it more clear than in John 3:16-19 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Punished us less than deserved

Psalms 103:10  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Daniel 9:18-19     O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Ezra 9:13     And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this,

Job 11:6    and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

Ephesians 2:4-7     But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 45:6     that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isaiah 43:25    “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Micah 7:18     Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Jeremiah 31:34     And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

It is hard to understand the grace and mercy of God if we do not have a means to judge our sinfulness.

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of examining the Word of God. Examination requires the use of our minds, and the Bible exhorts believers to use their minds to honor God.” “If we fail to eat well-balanced meals on a regular basis, we will eventually suffer the physical consequences. What is true of the outer man is also true of the inner man. If we do not regularly feed on the Word of God, we will suffer spiritual consequences.” In order for us to apply God’s directions to our every-day lives, we must first listen carefully as God speaks to us personally through His Word. Like Samuel, we should say, “Speak, [Lord,] for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10, emphasis added).One of the most amazing aspects of Scripture is that it is alive and active, not dead and dull. Indeed, God still speaks today through the mystery of His Word. The Holy Spirit illumines our minds to what is revealed in Scripture. The Holy Spirit makes us “wise up to what is written, not beyond it.” (Hank Hanegraaff)

We do well to read His word and seek understanding, knowledge, and wisdom from it.  We gain insight into His holiness, our sinfulness, His power, our weakness, His truth, our lies, His peace, our anxiousness, His joy, our dread, His love, our lack there of, His promises and purpose, our disbelief and lack of direction.  His word is a lamp unto my feet and comfort to my soul.