Thursday, March 12 || REPENT OR YOU WILL PERISH

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“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed - without remedy.” - Proverbs 29:1

Nineveh was a cruel, violent, idolatrous city, ripe for divine judgment. God commanded Jonah to go and warn Nineveh that God’s judgment would fall upon it. But Jonah refused to go because he knew that Assyria was the enemy of his own country Israel. Therefore, Jonah was reluctant to carry the message to Nineveh which, he thought, might avert God’s impending judgment upon the city. However, he went to Nineveh and proclaimed to the people a simple message - “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4) What was the response? Verse 5 says, that the Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.” History records that Nineveh, thus spared at the eleventh hour, continued as a more or less stable and prosperous city for about 150 years and was finally destroyed in 612 BC.

During the same period, the northern kingdom of Israel heard the repeated warnings of the Lord, from atleast four prophets - Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. Yet they rejected all these warnings and refused to repent. What was the outcome? In 721 BC, the kings of Assyria captured and destroyed Samaria, and carried away the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity. Israel, the nation of God, heard many prophets, rejected their warnings and faced judgment; whereas Nineveh, a Gentile country heard one prophet and repented.

Dear friends, let us be warned. God is often calling us to repent, fast and humble ourselves. If we obey Him, we will find mercy. If we reject Him, we will face His wrath.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, just a simple message from Jonah touched the hearts of the Ninevites and they repented. They received Your mercy and were spared from judgment. I confess that even after hearing many warnings from You through many sermons, I have not yielded fully to You. I humble myself and come to You now. Have mercy on me. Amen.

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