SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/07/2025 8:12 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “PT-3 “The Lord’s Directive” 1:1-3)”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 1:1-2
Message of the verses: “1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’”
Notice the highlighted part of verse two “the great city” which is how the Lord described Nineveh, and in part this is because of its size. Now the city was founded by Nimrod, see Gen. 10:8-9; and Mic. 5:6, and it was on the east bank of the Tigris River, a location that provided the city with ample irrigation for crops and natural protection from potential invaders. Archaeological discoveries indicate that the population of Nineveh during the time of Jonah was approximately 600,000 people. The city was 55 miles wide in the metropolitan area and it required three days to walk through it as seen in Jonah 3:3. Nineveh was not merely a great city, but the great city, and because of its size, infrastructure, wealth, and political power, it was one of the most formidable metropolitan centers of the ancient Near East. Now the city was also of importance to God who cared about its many inhabitants (see Jonah 3:5, 10: and 4:11). By sending Jonah to t his Gentile capital, the Lord demonstrated His compassionate commitment to the nations and here are some Scriptural references to go along with that statement as we can compare it with (Gen. 12:1-3; 22:18; Isa. 49:6; and Rom. 3:29).
John MacArthur writes “Though He intended to show mercy to the Ninevites, Yahweh summoned Johan to call out against the city. God commissioned His spokesman to proclaim both judgment and mercy (cf. Jonah 4:2), but that full declaration was not given here. Nevertheless, judgment was an essential part of Jonah’s message especially since Nineveh’s wickedness had come up before God. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, which were described with similar language (cf. Gen. 18:20-21), Nineveh’s depravity was rampant and repugnant. The prophet Nahum depicted Nineveh as a bloody city full of fraud, lies, theft, sensuality, violence, witchcraft, and idolatry (Nah. 3:1, 4). Their soldiers were infamous for barbarism and brutality (3:1-3). God knew their wickedness, and His wrath was kindled against them. But the deep darkness of their iniquity would provide a vivid backdrop against which God’s saving grace would shine (cf. Pss. 51:1-19; 130:3-4; Isa. 6:5-7; Acts 2:37-40; Rom. 1-3; Eph. 2:1-10). No presentation of the message of God’s grace is complete without a clear explanation of God’s judgment against sin (cf. Isa. 53:5, 10-12; Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:3). For this reason, Jonah’s message of divine mercy began with the truth of divine wrath being stored up against sinners for their wickedness.”
That is the end of this section and Lord willing we will begin to look at “The Prophet’s Defiance” beginning tomorrow. 9/7/2025 8:33 AM
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