Jonah, Nineveh, and the Day of Atonement

Well, as has been mentioned, today is the Day of Atonement, and it's the fifth Holy Day in God's annual Holy Day cycle that portrays His plan of salvation for all of mankind. We've come through the Feast of Trumpets portraying the return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the reign of the kingdom of God over this earth, and the resurrection of the saints, and we're looking forward to the Feast of Tabernacles and that thousand-year millennial reign of Christ and saints on the earth, and the time when knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as waters cover the sea, and the peace, and the tranquility, and the prosperity will abound. And it's a wonderful vision that we have set before us. We're tucked right between those two Holy Days today, right, the Day of Atonement, and a time that pictures reconciliation, forgiveness, mercy, and the peoples of the earth as they respond to a calling of God. You see, we're in the church age today. We're part of the church, and we are the called out of the world. The day is coming that the the church age will be over, and it will be the called the world, and we look forward to that day and that time. And it's very encouraging to consider what God has done and what He will do through this Holy Day. This day is connected in the Bible with concepts like humility, and specifically humility through fasting, as we've already heard. We've afflicted our souls.

We're humbled in terms of physical strength and hopefully humbled in our spirit before God that we're yielded to Him. Here to hear what it is that He has for us. This day is also connected with repentance, with God's mercy and reconciliation, and ultimately it's a reconciliation with God.

We want reconciliation with each other, and to degree we have that with each other will be largely dependent on our reconciliation with God. This day involves not only the forgiveness of sin, but it also pictures the complete removal of the primary cause of sin, Satan the devil. He is the instigator. Human beings can light the flame of sin on their own by our own carnal nature, but Satan is like the accelerant. He's like pouring the can of gas on the open flame, and the inferno just explodes. So there's a time when he will be removed at the return of Jesus Christ. And these are exciting concepts that we look forward to as they pertain to this holy day. I want to begin back in Leviticus chapter 23 by acknowledging the instructions that were given to observe this day.

It was given to ancient Israel through Moses, and it comes down to us today as God's covenant people now. Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 26, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement. Whereas it can be called as well, Yom Kippur, we call it the day of atonement, it shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall afflict your souls, such as we're doing through fasting, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. Verse 29, we'll pick up that in a moment, but again, this is atonement, as it's saying, the day of atonement, as we have it translated, and would express ourselves. And the word atonement essentially means to make amends, or it means to cover over.

And atonement, as it's portrayed by this day, is a sacrificial cleansing that covers over the sins of the repentant man and woman, and reconciles us to God. And of course, we understand that Jesus Christ is that atoning sacrifice. His blood atones for our sin as we come under His sacrifice. Verse 29 says, For any person who is not afflicted in soul in that same day shall be cut off from His people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among His people. You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in your dwellings. Verse 32, It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth day of the month at even from evening to evening. You shall celebrate your Sabbath. So God has given us this day as a very important day of remembrance, not only on what He has done, but on what He will do yet in the future.

Now, the Old Testament rituals surrounding the Day of Atonement carry with them very rich and important symbolism. Leviticus chapter 16 shows that the main feature of this day and the main feature of the ceremony under the Old Covenant focused around two goats. And I'm not going to go to Leviticus 16 today. We've covered that extensively here in recent years, but I would like to, as we get going, just give us a reminder and overview of what is contained there, because there are two goats in a ceremony which takes place. The first goat was to serve as an atoning sacrifice for the cleansing of the people's sins committed in ignorance. And this goat was killed.

This goat was at its throat slit, its blood drained out from it, its blood was shed, and the blood of that goat was taken into the holy of holies in the temple. And this was a special ceremony that could only happen once a year. Any other time anyone went behind that veil, they were under the death sentence, but once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest could enter behind the veil, not without blood, but it was blood that he offered then on behalf of the sins of himself and the people. And so he would pass through the veil, take that blood, and would sprinkle it on the mercy seat, which was the lid to the Ark of the Covenant, God's presence being above the mercy seat and between the carobim. We understand this was symbolic. That goat, that blood, that atonement that was offered was symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ, who gave his life for the world. And the high priest as well was a type. He pointed to Jesus Christ himself, our high priest, who has passed into the heavens before the throne of God with his own blood on behalf of all mankind.

So that was the first goat which was offered on this day. The second goat in Leviticus chapter 16 is the Azazel, and it represented the removal of the instigator of sin. And that goat was not killed, as the sin offering was. That goat remained alive. The sins of the people were confessed over that goat, and it was taken by a suitable man out into the wilderness where it was released, where it was to be banished, essentially, not to re-enter the camp of Israel and among those people. And again, it was to remain alive in the wilderness to wander outside the assembly of God's people.

I think we all understand that that goat was a type and a representation of Satan the devil, the instigator of the sins of the world. And the Bible shows that he too one day will be banished. He will be put outside the camp of humanity for God's purpose. In return to Revelation 20, this is such an important point that I want to read it, at least in the context of what will take place upon return of Jesus Christ.

Revelation chapter 20 and verse 1 says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, in a great chain in his hand. This is the angelic, suitable man who will bind the adversary.

Verse 2, And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil in Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit, shut him up, set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more, not having his part to play in injecting sin into this world. Till a thousand years were finished, but after these things he must be released for a little while. And so the David's Atonement involves not only the forgiveness of sin, but it also pictures the removal of the primary cause of sin, our adversary.

Satan is bound at the return of Jesus Christ, and he is restrained. And following that, Christ begins the process of extending reconciliation to all peoples, and the opportunity for salvation, Atonement, reconciliation with God will begin. God's calling goes out to the nations, not to a small first-fruit group at this time, and all of mankind will come to understand the truth as the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea.

And so it's an incredibly beautiful time to consider, to look forward to, to be inspired, as we consider all that God will do. And so it wasn't my intent to necessarily go through that in detail, but we do need to be reminded of these things year after year as we assemble on the day of Atonement. And if you have time this evening, I encourage you to read through Leviticus chapter 16. With that in place, I'd like to take the sermon today in a little bit different direction. Earlier this week, I was reminded of a book in the Bible that the Jews often read through during the day of Atonement. And it's a short book. It's only four chapters. We've actually been there today. It's, thank you, Mr. Wilson, it's tucked into the minor prophets. And this book is often read in the synagogue on the day of Atonement. It is the book of Jonah.

And as I got to thinking about it, I just questioned to myself, okay, that's interesting. Why Jonah? Well, I begin to look and I begin to consider. I had a clue, but it's interesting as you begin to look. The Jews read from it for, I would say, their perspective on this day. I want to look at it from our perspective on this day as the Christian perspective, which would be perhaps a little bit differently. But looking through the book of Jonah, what I found is that, you know, it's not a story of Atonement, okay, and it's not a story of reconciliation in the spiritual sense. But I did find it contains elements that pertain to this holy day. And we touched on one of them in the sermonette today. Elements like humility through fasting, repentance, forgiveness, God's mercy and grace as he desires to pour it out. So from that perspective, I'd like to go through the book of Jonah today, see what lessons that we can learn that apply to this day of Atonement and principles that God would have us keep in mind. The title is Jonah, Nineveh, and the Day of Atonement. Jonah, Nineveh, and the Day of Atonement. And, you know, everything you thought you learned from the veggie tales, just, you know, let the got get swept away with the ocean waves, because we want to look at what the Bible says and pull the lessons here that God would have us to learn. Primary lesson I want us to take away from the sermon today is that God's grace and mercy extends to all nations and all peoples. God's mercy and grace extends to all nations and all peoples as something we see portrayed by the future fulfillment of this day of Atonement. And it will be realized that a God who loves to be abundant in mercy pours that mercy out on all nations and all peoples. We have a choice to make. How will we respond? You know, will we do what is needed to be recipients of that mercy? But we worship a God who loves to be merciful. And that is the central key to this day. So let's go to the book of Jonah, if you're not already there. Jonah chapter 1, we're going to read through the entirety of the book, but it reads rather quickly, four chapters, and we'll pick up some lessons along the way.

Jonah chapter 1 in verse 1 says, Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it. You know, it's going to be a proclamation of judgment. For their wickedness has come up before me. So right off the bat, we're told what Jonah's commission is going to be, God sending him to Nineveh to preach a message, a message of God's judgment against them. And, you know, this might seem straightforward enough, but it's important to understand who and what Nineveh was if we're going to understand why Jonah responds to God and the way we'll see him respond. In Jonah's day, Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, and the Assyrians were a major superpower of the day. They were on the rise, and more than that, they were Israel's enemies. They were Israel's enemies. They had had dealings with the Assyrians, and not good ones. You recall that it is the Assyrians that would eventually overcome the northern king of Israel and haul them off into captivity, eventually to be dispersed among the nations. And the Assyrians were people who were well known for their cruelty, and for their violence, and for their paganism, and their godlessness. So this wasn't by any stretch of imagination a good people. They're very cruel. Archaeological findings, other findings, have showed that the Assyrians, when they hauled people out and they conquered their lands, they did things like they filleted people alive. They impaled people on large hooks and just carried them away. They're very gruesome, very vicious people in many respects. And God used terminology similar to Sodom and Gomorrah when he says, their wickedness has come up before me.

Aninova is situated in the region of what is today modern-day Mosul, Iraq. And, interesting enough, it is a place of trouble today, and a place of difficulty. And when you consider as well if you take it all the way back into antiquity and the founding of Nineveh, it was founded by Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah. So you have this place, you have this people, and I would say you have the spiritual influence that seems to drive the people of that region down through history. And this was Nineveh, and Jonah was told he's being sent there to cry out against them, to pronounce a judgment from God. And so let's notice Jonah's response.

Verse 3, it says, but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and he went down to Japa, found a ship going to Tarshish, and so he paid the fare, went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah gets this commission, and he runs away as fast as he can run. He doesn't run anywhere in the direction of Nineveh. If you pull up a map of the Middle East and you find Japa where he went down to, Nineveh, he could have caught a boat from Japa and gotten a good portion of the way up there, Nineveh being to the north east about 550 miles. But Jonah boarded the ship to Tarshish, going completely the opposite direction, due west, 2,500 miles. He was going to get as far away from God, from Nineveh, and from his calling as he could possibly get. He ran. Of course, we know that running from God is a lost cause, right? We've talked about the presence of God, the fact that where can you go that you're apart from God? And even David, Psalm 139, verse 7, asks the question, where can I go from your spirit, God?

Or where can I flee from your presence? And of course, the answer is nowhere, and Jonah should have known that. Hopefully we know that. Hopefully we don't ever try to flee from what it is that God has given us as his people in the day and age in which we live, and the message he's called us to proclaim. But Jonah tried. He ran completely the opposite direction. We actually see the answer as to why Jonah ran in chapter 4 and verse 2. So let's just flip over there for a moment.

Jonah chapter 4, verse 2, you know, because maybe you're thinking big, mean, cruel people. Jonah's afraid of them. What was he afraid of? Jonah chapter 4, verse 2, says, so we prayed to the Lord and said, Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish, for I know that you are a gracious and a merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness, one who relents from doing harm. God, you're a God of mercy.

Jonah ran completely the opposite direction because he didn't want to bring a message to Nineveh that they might repent from. He'd probably been happy to bring judgment and destruction upon the enemies of Israel, but he says, God, I know you're a merciful God. You love to extend mercy, and they just might repent, and I don't think I can handle that.

And in fear of Nineveh actually turning from their wicked ways and responding to God, Jonah ran completely the opposite direction. Remember, this was an increasingly growing enemy of Israel, and Syria had come in and encroached into Israel already in the time of Jehu. They had imposed tribute upon Israel, and so what would Jonah want? He wanted to see that oppressor, that strengthening enemy against them removed by God. Not showing mercy.

On the day of atonement today, I would ask us the question, is there anyone or any group of people that we don't want to see receive God's mercy? You know, is there anyone that we want to see get what they have coming to them? You know, judgment upon them. Atonement's about forgiveness, mercy, the blood of Christ, reconciliation with God. Is there anyone that we want to see outside of that process? You know, God sent Jonah to Nineveh. You know, what if he sent one of us and said, I want you to go over to Kabul, Iraq. Excuse me, Afghanistan. I want you to go to Afghanistan, okay? Speak to the Taliban. Give them a message of repentance. And what if they repented?

You know, is there anyone that we say, I want mercy for myself, but they deserve judgment?

Jonah looked at Nineveh in this way.

Jonah chapter 1 and verse 4, let's go back. He's on the run.

Jonah chapter 1 verse 4, but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. You know, just tossed to and fro. Then the mariners, not Seattle, but experienced seamen, the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his God, and they threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship. He had laid down, and he was fast asleep.

You know, I don't know about you, but I've noticed personally stress makes me tired.

And if I'm in a position where almost I'm feeling overwhelmed by stress, I just want to go to sleep, you know, take a nap, or go to bed early, because you know what? When you're asleep, you can escape, and you can just sort of, maybe for a time, turn the stress off. Jonah was running from God, and he was depressed, he was stressed, and maybe he even thought, if I'm asleep, God won't find me. And he's hiding down in the hold of this ship, and the storm is raging.

Verse 6, so the captain came to him and said, what do you mean, sleeper?

What's the point? We're up here throwing off the cargo, we're rowing for our lives, we're praying to our God. What are you doing down here, sound asleep? Arise, call on your God, perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish. And they said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know whose cause this trouble is, and why this trouble has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

And they said, aha, you're the guy. Verse 8, then they said to him, please tell us, for what cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? And what is your country? And of what peoples are you? So he said to him, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven.

And this is a distinction, right, from the gods they prayed to. Many of the gentiles believe that there are multiple gods in multiple regions, and if you pass from this region to that region, you now pray to the God that had power over this region. Jonah says, I'm not my God, as in any of those gods, my God is Yahweh, the eternal God, the one who is over all God, small g, the one who created the heavens and the earth, just so maybe they get an idea who they're dealing with here.

Again, he said, I'm a Hebrew. Verse 9, I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm for us, for the sea was growing even more tempestuous.

So there's an acknowledgement here that the God who made the sea is the one who can control the sea, control the storms, is the one who has actually orchestrated this storm, and he wants Jonah. Verse 12, when Jonah said to him, pick me up, throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that the great tempest is because of me. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to return to land, because why would you throw a man overboard?

Why would you, you knew what would become of Jonah, at least by the logical mind, in this tempest? So they tried their best to preserve not only their lives, but his life as well. They rode hard for the land, but they could not, for the sea, continue to grow more tempestuous against them. Therefore, they cried out to the Lord, and they said, we pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with the innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleases you.

So they picked up Jonah, they threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and took vows. And it's interesting that sometimes God's dealings with us can actually be used to bring others to a recognition of him.

You know, Jonah's response to God in his calling was contrary, and he ran completely the other direction, but it was used even as an opportunity to bring these Gentile sailors, at least to a recognition of who was God and his power. And it says, they cried out to him, they sacrificed to him, and they made a vow to him, Yahweh, fearing him, because they saw the hand of his power in action. Verse 17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

You know, if you thought he was in a bad spot before, but actually this is grace. This actually is mercy. Kind of makes me wonder if this wasn't an indication of how far he had come from Joppa before God intervened. You know, three days and three nights as the fish swims. Maybe a little different measurement than as the crow flies.

But three days and three nights is what God used in terms of a transpiring of time to bring Jonah back to where he wanted him to be. You also recall that three days and three nights was the sign that Jesus Christ gave as proof of his messiahship. In Matthew 12, verse 40, Jesus stated, As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So you have this messianic connection to this circumstance and the fact that Christ would be in the grave the amount of time that Jonah was in the belly of the great fish. You can read commentaries. You could read various opinions on the story of Jonah, and there's actually many that say this couldn't have happened or surely it wasn't as the Bible portrays. It must have been this or it must have been that because nobody can survive for three days in the belly of a fish. And I would just say, humanly so, right? Logically so. But don't we worship a God of miracles?

Don't we worship a God who isn't restrained but our physical limitations in order to accomplish what he purposes? And so this story is true. Jesus Christ himself confirmed that it was so. Three days, three nights, the belly of the great fish. And no doubt that was a pretty uncomfortable place, a pretty gross place to be. You know, this wasn't the Holiday Inn, continental breakfast, and Starbucks coffee. I was missing that this morning, kind of halfway to Kennewick, usually have my coffee. But this was a difficult spot, but it was also mercy. God pulled Jonah out of death. You think about the belly of that fish, it probably stank a lot worse than the belly of that cargo ship. If you've ever been down in a hold of a boat and doesn't smell so good, well, multiply it 100. The belly of the fish, the gastric juices moving around. What else was swimming around or contained in the belly of the fish? Pitch black, dark as night, no light. It would have been a constant state of motion. This fish is swimming for three and a half days to where God is carrying him. And, you know, don't even really want to think about what he ate and drank. I say probably whatever the fish ate and drank. And this is Jonah's spot. This was the cost of running away from God, the cost of rejecting God's calling and what it was that God had given him to do. And yet through it all, God was miraculously bringing him back to the place where Jonah would again be given an opportunity to fulfill the purpose and the plan that God had for him.

Chapter two covers Jonah's prayer while he's in the belly of the fish. Jonah chapter two, verse one, then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. And he said, I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All your billows and all your waves passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of your sight, yet I will look again towards your holy temple. It's a, I would say, a repentance in one sense of Jonah, of now a change of focus. Verse five, the water surrounded me even to my soul. The deep closed around me. Weeds were wrapped around my head. You get this image that Jonah was in the spin cycle, I want to say, down in the raging storm in the sea, waves crashing, obviously driven down into the deeps, wrapped up in the seaweed, obviously knowing he is on the brink of death. He says, the water surrounded me, even my soul. The deep closed around me. Weeds were wrapped around my neck. I went down to the moorings or the foundations of the mountains, just way down deep. The earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Probably he caught a glimpse of what he thought would be his last glimpse as the water just closed over him. And God intervened. He says, yet you have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer went up to you into your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. So from within the belly of the great fish, from within the belly of the great fish, Jonah acknowledges God's saving grace upon him. And he's thankful for it. He acknowledges the fact that he was right at death's door when God intervened and grabbed his attention. And now he's alive, and he's proclaiming a willingness to serve God as he's commanded. Again, verse 9, he said, I will pay what I have vowed. Verse 10, so the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Not a very lovely experience, I'm sure. Get vomited out of a fish. What must that be like? You know, just all kinds of things we can imagine on the day of atonement.

That's not one of them you really want to linger on for long. Covered with slime, probably. Fish parts hanging on them. Squinting in the sun. This is worse than coming out of a movie in a bright sunny day, you know, three days and three nights apart from the daylight. He stinks, he's wet, yet he is alive. Now, the Bible doesn't exactly say where this dry land is that God brought him. It's perhaps a speculation where that could be. I think it's likely, or possibly, the same place he started his journey in Joppa. It's like God, he's running from God, and God grabs him, puts him in the fish, brings him back, spits him out on the land, and says, okay, shall we try this again? Jonah chapter 3 verse 1, now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.

Again, same instruction, same thing Jonah ran for the first time. Let's see what he can do with it this time. Verse 3, so Jonah arose, went into Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. So he does obey God, at least. He makes the trek to Nineveh. He comes up face to face with that city, a city of tens of thousands of people, possibly hundreds of thousands of people. There's actually a little bit of discussion as to exactly in the translation what a three-day journey in extent means regarding Nineveh. Some commentaries say that it included Nineveh and sort of the surrounding suburbs, because they've excavated at Nineveh. It basically had a wall eight miles in circumference perimeter around Nineveh. You could walk around that in less than three days, but if you took in the suburbs in sort of the many cities that were all sprawling and tied to that, you get out about a 55 mile range, which could take three days to walk around. Or the other explanation is that this was a three-day visit to Nineveh proper, but it would take three days to walk through in public place the public place, proclaiming the message that God had given him to declare. I tend to think the latter is the case. Either way, we have Jonah here face to face with the Ninevites. Verse four, and Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk, then he cried out and said, yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Very simple message, very basic message. It doesn't seem like there was maybe a whole lot more connected to it than that, but forty days in Nineveh will be overthrown. And as you think again of some of the terminology of Sodom and Gomorrah, comparing to the type of place, you know, in terms of the wickedness before God, overthrown was described in the Bible multiple places, as in God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. And this message was forty days, Nineveh is going to be overthrown by God. So they're given forty days, and in the Bible forty days is a time frame of significance. There's actually a number of places you can go and consider. Forty days in the Bible. During the flood it rained for forty days. Moses up on the mountain, forty days. The spies spied out the land of Canaan for forty days.

And Jesus Christ fasted in the wilderness for forty days. So forty days is often tied to things like preparation, a preparation period, or a repentance period, or a judgment period.

We know in the case of Christ, forty days, it was fasting, drawing close to God, preparing for his ministry, and facing the devil, which would come to him at the end of those forty days.

So forty days is what Nineveh is given. Turn their act around to repent to whatever degree they knew how and receive mercy from God. Again, it's repenting. It'll be destroyed in forty days. Verse five, so the people of Nineveh believed God. This is an incredible response. They believed God. They proclaimed a fast, okay, such as we're doing today. It's an act of humbling oneself before God.

And they put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least. Then the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Do not let them eat nor drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way. If you're looking for a description of repentance from Nineveh, this is it. Cry mightily to God, and let everyone turn from his evil way.

Because that's what repentance is by definition. It's a turning. I was going this way, and now I've turned. I've relented, I've repented, and now I am going in the opposite direction. Let everyone turn from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

So this is an incredible response when you think about it from a pagan king, from a Gentile king, from a Gentile city, and perhaps as it would even extend into the nation. Nineveh was on the brink of being overthrown, and they humbled themselves, and they afflicted themselves through fasting, and they put on sackcloth, and they cried out to God, seeking mercy. It wouldn't be reconciliation as we understand it according to what we've received from God, but in the fashion that these Gentile people understood, they cried out, and they repented before God. It's pretty amazing, really. You see God's response in verse 10, then God saw their works that they had turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. He did not do it. This is an incredible turnaround for both parties.

Again, Nineveh on the brink of destruction turns around, pulls back in their behavior, but God responds as well in mercy, and in light of their actions, God's grace was upon them.

Right? He relented. He relented. As I mentioned earlier, the primary lesson I want us to take from the message today is that God's grace, God's mercy, extends to all nations and peoples.

It's not like because Israel was God's covenant people, God couldn't show mercy to anyone else, and it's not like because we are the church of God, his covenant people today, that God can't show mercy to anyone else. God is the God of mercy, and he will show mercy to whom he will. We see his mercy displayed here on the people of Nineveh, upon a people that weren't even part of his covenant nation at that time, and we're going to see it on display again at the fulfillment of this day of atonement following the return of Jesus Christ. We're going to see God's mercy on display to all the nations, all the people of the earth, as he desires repentance and reconciliation, as he desires a relationship. This is why he has created mankind for sons and daughters in his family for eternity. So we have, in a sense, in a very limited sense, a foreshadow of repentance and mercy.

The Bible talks about God's love for mercy. Let me just give you a few, a couple of verses to consider. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. I'll read it for you. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9, it says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And that's the incredible God we worship. Again, a God of mercy, God of grace. He's not willing that anyone should just simply perish. That's a waste. That's a loss from God's perspective. He desires all to come to repentance, and that his mercy can be poured out, and reconciliation can take place. It's important we understand that with Nineveh, this was not a covenant relationship that God was forming with them.

Okay, they weren't being reconciled to God as a part of his holy people. This was repentance in a limited form. We don't see him giving them the Sabbath and the holy days and them coming into compliance with all that God's covenant people will do. But they are turning from evil to a degree, and God is showing mercy appropriately. But it reveals the extent to which God delights in mercy. Ezekiel chapter chapter 33 verse 11, Ezekiel 33 verse 11, God says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. So God's not sitting on his throne just happy when he sees somebody fall, when he sees the wicked perish. That doesn't give God joy. What gives him joy and rejoicing is when the wicked turn from their ways and live, because God is a God who takes pleasure in extending mercy. So that's what we find here with Nineveh. The warning came, they humbled themselves, they repented, and God relented. A very, very wonderful example. Unfortunately, Jonah didn't respond to Nineveh's repentance quite in the same way God did. Jonah chapter 4 verse 1, Jonah 4 verse 1, it says, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

He became angry that God extended mercy to Nineveh instead of giving them what they deserved. God, these are our enemies. These are pagan people. These are godless people, ruthless people. How can you give them mercy? It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. Again, brethren, this is an attitude that you and I must watch out for in ourselves. We're in preparation for being a part of those who will help Jesus Christ bring people to God, and to understand this mercy and this reconciliation. This can never be our attitude. We need to watch for that in ourselves. The toment should be a recognition of our own weaknesses, of our own human frailties, apart from God. It should bring me a reminder as we sit here kind of trembling in the flesh, because we haven't eaten and drank, that apart from the mercy of God, there go I.

And there's really nothing that separates us from the most miserable sinner, other than the mercy of God. That he's called us, he's opened our mind, he's given us his word, and a relationship. But we can never afford to be like Jonah and fall into a mindset of being put off, because God has chosen to show mercy to someone else who we personally don't think is worthy of receiving it. It is God who makes that choice, and it is God who is the God of mercy. The Day of Atonement reminds us that God is a compassionate God, and we need to be like him. We need to be like him. Merciful, compassionate, we need to have a desire to see those who do wrong, turn and repent, not get what they have coming to them. Jonah had his priorities backwards a bit in this perspective. We must always remember that mercy triumphs over judgment. You can find that in James chapter 2 and verse 13. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Thank God that it does. That's the symbolism. Mercy triumphing over judgment. That is the symbolism of the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat by the high priest on the Day of Atonement for the covering over of the sins of the people, because that mercy seat, again, was the lid to the Ark of the Covenant. And what was in the Ark?

What was the Ten Commandments? The law. The law which they broke, which penalty was death. And on top of that was the lid, the mercy sees, upon which the blood was splashed, mercy triumphs over judgment to those who would come under this sacrifice. And it is what we remember on this Day of Atonement. Mercy upon repentance is a mindset of God that you and I must never forsake.

Because God is a God of mercy, and the whole world will be the recipients one day of His mercy. They are the recipients today. They're just not responding in a manner that brings the blessing of that mercy. But mercy and blessing one day will follow. So Jonah's angry. Verse 2, So we prayed to the Lord and said, Ah, Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish. For I know that you are a gracious and a merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. Jonah didn't appreciate that merciful aspect of God's nature as it pertained to Nineveh. He said, I knew you would forgive them. I just knew it. God, how can you forgive them? How can you even forgive them? Jonah was finding fault with God as God really is. In the reality, the fault was with Jonah and his attitude. Verse 3, Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Jonah wanted to die rather than to see God's mercy extended. And this wasn't rational thinking. But if you consider in the background, this was motivated by, you know, who was Jonah? He was a prophet of Israel. Who would he have prophesied to outside of Nineveh, the people of Israel? And who would he have preached to and preached to and preached to and not seen repentance like this? It would have been the people of Israel. So, you know, Jonah, I think, is probably kind of angry here in part really over deep emotion that his own people, the covenant people of God, would not turn and repent. And upon warning up front and quick, Nineveh responds, responds in a way he wishes his own people would. And God now is going to relent and grant them mercy. And they were Israel's enemies. And this distraught Jonah so much that he said, God, I want you to kill me. Can you imagine? Can you imagine?

Verse 3, again, therefore, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Maybe he's thinking he's a disgrace. What kind of a prophet am I? I can't even get my own people to turn. I certainly don't want these to turn. Verse 4, then the Lord said, Is it right for you to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, sat in the east side of the city, and he made himself a shelter, sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. You know, he's still hoping God will do something. He's still hoping for the destruction of the city. You know, maybe the repentance is short term, and, you know, in a week or so, they're going to go back to business as usual, and God will destroy them. He's sitting there literally waiting, waiting to see what happens, hoping Nineveh gets what they have coming to them. Verse 6, And the Lord prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. You see, he loved mercy for himself. He wanted judgment for Nineveh, and even as he sat in the shade of God's mercy, he was looking for judgment upon Nineveh. But he loved mercy for himself. It's a very dangerous mindset. Verse 7, But as the morning dawned, the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened when the sun arose, God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint, then he wished for death for himself, and he said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? And he said, It is right for me to be angry, even to death. Can you imagine talking to God like this, responding to God, a prophet of God, one of his covenant people? It is right for me to be angry, even to death, because God of what you have done. Pointing the finger at God. Okay, verse 10, but the Lord said, You've had pity on the plant, right, the miserable little plant, which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern their right hand and their left, and much livestock. God's point to Jonah is that if the plant was important, how much more the people of Nineveh? That was a plant. You did nothing. You did nothing to receive it. What about the people of Nineveh? The description of those, the 120,000 who can't discern their right hand from their left, the thought is that very likely actually applies to the children, young babes, the innocent ones, innocent babes, innocent livestock.

You're more worried about the plant, Jonah, than the destruction and the mercy and all it is that I would do for these people. And the story ends there, right? Just close the book. The story ends there. No ribbon or bow on the package, no more telling about what happened to Jonah, no concluding comments. We do know what happened to Nineveh. God spared Nineveh for a time.

His relenting from the harm he would bring upon them because of their repentance was there for a time, but it was temporary. A hundred years later, the prophet Nahim, just turn over a couple more minor prophets in your Bible. The prophet Nahim proclaims the downfall of Nineveh because the Assyrians forgot their revival and they turned to their wickedness again. So ultimately, Nineveh fell, and ultimately Israel fell because Israel would not relent from its wickedness and return to God either. In fact, Israel fell by the hand of the Assyrians, the enemy, again, who Jonah despised. But Israel fell as well. So we leave Jonah sitting outside the city, baking in the sun, baking in the heat, baking in the wind that's blowing upon him. Did he ever repent? That's the question, right? What happened to Jonah? Did he repent? Well, we're not told. It'd be kind of nice to think that he did, but you know, he was struggling with some pretty big issues even unto death by his own perspective. Did Jonah repent? We don't know. If he did not, Jonah is in a worse place than the people of Nineveh who did receive the message of God and did repent.

Jonah was part of God's covenant people. And God's covenant people have a higher accountability because we have a relationship with God. We are in covenant with God. Jesus Christ attested to the amazing repentance of the Ninevites and, sadly, to the fact that they set a better example than the people of God, even of his day, of the Jews and the Jewish leadership who confronted Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 11 verse 32, Jesus stated that the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here. Even at the presence of Jesus Christ in their midst, they could not see the mercy that God was extending to them as a people. They killed the Messiah and shed his blood, the blood that we now come under for the remission of sins. As the Church of God today, brethren, we are blessed to be the recipients of God's mercy right now, and it's an incredible blessing. I hope we understand what a big and incredible gift it is from God. We are under the blessing and the shadow of his mercy today. Let us be careful never to fall into the mindset of Jonah, desiring mercy for ourselves but demanding justice for others. It's a very dangerous trap to fall into in a rough and rocky road to go down. Let us remember that the God we serve is a God of mercy, and his mercy, his grace, extends and will extend to all nations and all peoples. Following the return of Jesus Christ, all the nations of the earth will have the opportunity to repent of their ways and to receive God's mercy unto salvation and to live in a reconciled relationship with him. That is what this day of atonement points forward to as what is yet to be fulfilled. Let us never run away from our responsibility as the people of God who have been given a commission by the people of God today with a message. Let us never run away from our responsibility to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the good news, to be a witness and to sound a warning. Judgment is coming on this world. But, brethren, we serve a God of mercy, and that mercy is the greatest blessing of all.