SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/06/2025 10:15 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3“A Reliant Meekness”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 3:9
Message of the verses: “Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
I hope that all who read my Spiritual Diary from yesterday liked what they read, as that tract was written many years ago, and the reason that I was looking at it is because I believe that the Lord put it onto my heart to use it to be able to talk to some men who are now in a home getting physical needs done.
Now let’s go back to where we left on in this section of Jonah a couple days ago as we now read that the king discerned, likely from Jonah’s preaching, that unlike the pagan gods that Yahweh is a God of forgiveness and compassion who offers salvation to those who repent and call on Him. Now think for a moment about how the king knew that Yahweh was not like their pagan gods. The pagan gods were certainly works of Satan, and therefore these so-called gods could never forgive anyone for that is not in the heart of Satan, where Yahweh is the true God who does forgive and Jonah knew this from experiencing the fact that Yahweh saved his life through providing a great fish to swallow him up so that he would not drown, and then allowed him to go to Nineveh to do what he had called him to do in the first place. Now Scripture attests to the uniqueness of God’s saving character. Micah explains, “Who is a God like You, who forgives iniquity?” (Mic. 7:18). Yahweh is full of lovingkindness and truth, forgiving sin and showing lovingkindness to thousands (Exodus 34:6-7). The Psalms repeatedly celebrate this truth about God, and here are some examples: Ps. 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1. Notice all of these Psalms begin with this truth. Jonah himself experienced such compassion inasmuch as he should have died in judgment, something I mentioned earlier. God allowed Jonah to live on account of God’s grace (cf. Jonah 2:3-10). The prophet Joel had proclaimed this grace to Israel, as he called Israel to repentance and saying to the Lord the following “Who knows whether He will not turn and relent” (Joel 2:14). In God’s providence, the king of Nineveh expressed the same words to his Gentile citizens. This, however, was not the only time that text of Jonah alluded to Joel’s prophecy. I will now look at the following examples:
Jonah 3:5 and Joel 1:14: “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.” “14 Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.”
Jonah 4:2 and Joel 2:13: “2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.” “13 And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”
John MacArthur then writes: As these parallels demonstrate,” “(those above)” “ God was offering the same grace to the Gentiles (through Jonah) that He had extended to the Israelites (through Joel). The hope of the Ninevite king was that if each citizen would ‘turn from his evil way’ (Jonah 3:8), then God would turn away from His burning anger (3:9). While the king did not know whether God would act in mercy, the Lord used the king’s words to indicate His benevolence and compassion toward the Gentiles. As God promised to forgive Israel, so the Lord also demonstrated His willingness to receive the genuine repentance of all sinners who turn to Him, including Gentiles.”
Spiritual Meaning for My Life Today: I am very thankful for the forgiveness that Jesus Christ has provided for me at the cross, but in no way do I just want to take that forgiveness for granted, and what I mean to say is that when I sin, I am to confess my sin to the Lord realizing that it took the blood of my Savior and Lord to be forgiven of my sins.
My Steps of Faith for Today: It is my desire to pray for my wife whenever I have some kind of sinful thought in order to change that thought into a prayer for my wife who is dealing with cancer.
11/6/2025 10:50 AM
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