Preaching to Enemies

May 30, 2021 Background Scripture: Jonah 3 Lesson Passage: Jonah 3 Go warn the enemy of your people that they are headed for danger. That was the assignment God gave to Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of God who was from the northern portion of the northern kingdom of Israel. That region, that would later be known as Galilee, was prone to attacks by Israel’s enemies to the north. At that point in time, disaster had recently been averted when the Assyrians had defeated the Arameans. The Arameans had wage war over the years with Israel. Having another potential threat to the north was no comfort to Israel. It was in that political climate that the word of the Lord came to Jonah. “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the preaching that I bid you.” Nineveh was Assyria’s capitol city. With the Arameans out of the picture, Assyria was a growing threat to Israel. To preach to Nineveh was the same as preaching to the Assyrian kingdom. Again, Assyria was a threat to Israel’s security. Any danger Assyria faced would have been to Israel’s advantage. Afterall, it has been said “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This only mattered because Israel trusted in herself for her security. It should be noted that these were God’s people who were attempting to live independent of God. As a prophet of God, Jonah knew all too well that the word of God would accomplish whatever God sends it to do. For this reason, Jonah decided to travel in the opposite direction from Nineveh. To be clear, Jonah was not running from his calling to be a prophet. Jonah was already serving God as a prophet as noted in 2 Kings. Jonah was running from the assignment to warn the enemy of his people. At that point, Jonah felt more patriotism towards Israel than loyalty to his calling to obey God. If Nineveh is destroyed, then Israel would be even safer as a result. No kingdom could stand if it could not defend its capitol city where the king and his family resided. If Nineveh is destroyed, then the Assyrian empire would fall apart, and Israel would not have an enemy on its northern border. However, this thinking does not consider that God desires mercy—even when He is about to deliver judgment. There is no biblical record that Jonah, as a prophet of God, ever resisted an assignment to preach to the people of God. But this assignment was to preach to the enemy of God’s people. Again, Jonah’s patriotism for the nation of Israel was stronger than his desire to warn Israel’s enemy as an assignment from God. After three days and nights in the belly of a large fish, Jonah repented. Jonah cried out to God from within the fish. God commanded the fish to regurgitate Jonah. Our lesson passage finds a repentant Jonah receiving God’s calling for the second time to go and warn Nineveh. Jonah went into Nineveh and preached the message God had given him. The results of Jonah’s preaching were powerful. That city of Gentiles responded in a remarkable way. The king declared a fast that involved people and livestock. Both people and livestock were ordered to be covered with sackcloth as a sign of repentance. The entire city of Gentiles humbled themselves before God. And to think, this was a God they did not even know. They believed the word of God proclaimed by God’s prophet and prayed that God would not destroy them. Their response was greater than is often seen in the people of God. God’s word accomplished what He sent it to accomplish. God’s message to Nineveh was delivered because the prophet preached to the enemies of his people. Robert C. Hudson April 21, 2021