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Written By: Reverend Haskel Swain, May 24, 1993
Many sermons have been preached about Jonah. I too would like to
say a few things about Jonah. Although many of God’s servants have
been misunderstood by this present generation, God’s anointed
servants have always been very precious to Him.
Jonah was one of the greatest men who ever lived. There were many
prophets in the land which God himself ordained for His service, but
Jonah was the best of the best.
The city of Nineveh was a great city. The people had a king, but
their society had deteriorated insomuch that they did not know their
right hand from their left. The people did as they wished, and
violence overtook the city. This was a city of 120 thousand people
who had forgotten God. Finally, the anger of God rose up
against the city so great that He decided to destroy it. He wanted
to put fear into every man’s heart before they were overthrown. To
do this, God went to the country where Jonah lived and had a lengthy
conversation with him concerning Nineveh. God told Jonah that He was
so angry that He was going to destroy the city. Jonah saw the
anger coming from God, but he knew God better than God knew himself.
Jonah was so close to God that he knew the very heart and mind of
God.
God went to Jonah because there was not a man in all the land as
great as this man. God told Jonah, "I am going to overthrow Nineveh
in 40 days" - Jonah knew that God was very angry. He said to God, “I
know you better than you know yourself. If I go to Nineveh, the king
and his people, knowing I am a prophet, will repent and your heart
will turn from anger to love. I know you are a gracious and
merciful God and have kindness. You will not overthrow them,
but will repent of the evil you have against themâ€.
Now, Jonah would rather die than preach something that would not
come to pass. Therefore, Jonah, knowing the heart of God, desired to
go to Tarsus hoping God would not come looking for him. The book of
Jonah has only four chapters - Read them over a few times and take a
good look at Chapter 3:10 and Chapter 4:1-3.
To speak evil against Jonah is to speak evil against Jesus Christ.
Consider the similarity.
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