SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2025 9:11 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “A Restored Missionary”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 3:1-3a
Message of the verses: “Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh.”
Now Jonah was back where he started when the Lord called him to go to Nineveh as mentioned before it is believed that the great fish spit Jonah out where he started in Israel, the northern part of Israel (“Hometown: Jonah was from Gath-hepher, which was a border town in the territory of Zebulun in the northern kingdom of Israel.”) When Jonah “landed” on the shore near his hometown we see “the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time.” Now as we look at this opening statement we can see that it is nearly identical to the one in Jonah 1:1, so basically this could be called a “do over” for Jonah. “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" (Jonah 1:1-2). Now despite Jonah’s initial disobedience, the Lord called the same prophet (Jonah) to be His messenger. We surely can see God’s mercy and long-suffering here as Jonah 1:1 and 3:1 are the same call from the Lord to Jonah, and I suppose that three days in a giant fish was enough for Jonah to get some revival into his life. The repetition in these tow commissions is intentional—producing the sense of what is called déjà vu that highlights the grace of God in giving His runaway prophet a second opportunity to serve.
John MacArthur writes “To emphatically punctuate that reality, the text of Jonah 3:1 adds the phrase ‘the second time.’ This second commission reflected the patience and mercy of the Lord toward Jonah. Instead of replacing him with another, more worthy messenger (cf. 1 Sam. 15:26-28), the Lord forgave Jonah and restored him to the rare privilege of being God’s instrument in the repentance of an entire city of idolaters (cf. Ps. 103:12).” “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Whenever I see read this verse I am thankful that it does not say “as far as the North is from the South.” (Think about that and then praise the Lord He did not write it that way.
I will quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary and then, Lord willing keep on working on it tomorrow as I have had a rather long day with my wife helping her get some things done to help out with the effects of her cancer.
“Yahweh’s command to Jonah on this second occasion was a repeat of His previous commission: “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out to it this very call which I am going to speak to You.” That God gave the same commission with the same commands (arise go) further demonstrated His kindness to Jonah, even though he had failed in a colossal way the first time.”
10/20/2025 9:36 PM
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