Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Obadiah 1 – Jonah 1-4
Obadiah 1:6
How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
With God, hidden things are not so well hidden. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother. Genesis 36:8 states clearly, …Esau is Edom. From the time that Esau ate that red stew in Genesis, the Edomites have been the enemies of Israel. Obadiah the prophet pronounced God’s judgment upon Edom in response to their treatment of Israel. That judgment is summed up in verse ten, For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever.
Yep, with God, hidden things are not so well hidden.
Jonah 3:8
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
These are not the words of Jonah; they are the words of the king of Nineveh (whose name is not known). Upon hearing of Jonah’s proclamation, the king commanded national repentance through which the Lord may spare them. They did, and He did. Notice carefully in chapter three that it was the common people that heard and responded to Jonah before the king did (see verse 5). There is a lesson there for those who will think upon it.
Nineveh experienced a great revival, for God saw their works and turned away His wrath. To this preacher this is an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) God changed His mind about their destruction when He saw their repentance. This happened sometime around 760 BC. Then, around 612 BC, Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, was destroyed by the Medes. Their repentance when Jonah preached brought a delay of God’s judgment for about 150 years.
During those 150 years, precisely in 722 BC, the Assyrians destroyed and carried away Israel (the northern kingdom) just as God’s men prophesied. Many have claimed that Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh was because he was a citizen of Israel. Jonah knew these things could happen, he knew that God could spare Nineveh, Jonah 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. He also could have known that the Assyrians would capture and destroy Israel.
Regardless, Jonah is a story of a Jewish missionary going to a Gentile city to proclaim God’s Word. In many aspects his story is the same and, at the same time different, than Bible based missionaries in the modern world. They both are full of complexities and require the power, protection, and provision of Almighty God.
Dr. William T. Howe
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