Transcription
His name was Jonah, and he was a prophet from the tiny village of Gath Hephir. He was called to preach to the massive city of Nineveh. However, the Assyrians were pagan and savage, without mercy or decency. And so, the city of Nineveh was synonymous with cruelty and brutality.
But even though this wicked empire would be totally destroyed just a century later, God wanted to offer one last chance, one last opportunity of repentance to the generation of Ninevites who were alive in Jonah's day. You see, judgment was coming, but there was still time. And we live in a very similar hour. Only this time, it's not one mega city named Nineveh. It's the whole world. Judgment is coming, but thank God, there's still time, and that's what we're about.
So, the Lord called Jonah to carry a message of mercy across borders that had never been breached and boundaries that had never been broken. And that's where the story begins. Because Jonah was a rebellious prophet. He knew if the Ninevites repented, God would forgive them. And quite frankly, he didn't want them to be forgiven. He didn't want to carry a message of mercy to these pathetic pagans. He hoped God would despise them just like he did. He wanted Jehovah to judge them and wipe them out. So yes, Jonah the prophet, the main character of this little book, he resented God for loving his enemies.
And so Jonah did what he thought was best. He ran from the presence of the Lord, and that's how he ended up on a ship sailing in the opposite direction. That's how he ended up in a terrible storm, and that's how he ended up eventually praying in the belly of a great fish. The prophet who did not want to extend mercy to Nineveh suddenly realizes that if God doesn't extend mercy to him, he has no hope. But God does extend mercy to this rebellious prophet, and Jonah ends up on dry land once again.
Now, you want to believe he's willing to go to Nineveh. But there's much more to Jonah's story than what we see on the surface. Jesus actually identified himself with Jonah's 3-day burial in the belly of the great fish. He used Jonah's story to foreshadow his own death and burial and resurrection. So when the Pharisees came to Jesus and wanted a sign to prove that he was who he said he was, Jesus declared, "Only one sign is going to be given to you. It's the sign of the prophet Jonah." And that sign, brothers and sisters, is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. And that sign is what identifies him as God manifest in the flesh, because only God can raise the dead.
Matthew chapter 12: Jesus answered and said unto them, "An evil and adulterous generation is always seeking after a sign. And there shall be no sign given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah." For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. But here's what he ends with: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it." This generation will stand side by side with the citizens of Nineveh, and they will condemn this generation. Why? Because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, Jesus said, "A greater than Jonah is here." And I would say to you, a greater than Jonah or any other prophet is here tonight among us.
So the sinful city of Nineveh is about to have an uncommon encounter with an unusual prophet. They will repent with far less revelation. While, brothers and sisters, we know so much more truth because a greater than Jonah is here.
So, chapter starting chapter three: "And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time." Everyone say, "the second time." "Saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." In scripture, the phrase "the second time" appears when God is reconfirming his promise, or restoring his people, or renewing his purpose. The second time speaks of a defining moment where God reveals his mercy, or clarifies his direction, or empowers his servants to rise again, because our God is the God of the second chance. And this is where Jonah gets his second chance.
But boy, this isn't the first time. On Mount Mariah, when God provided a lamb for the sacrifice, the day that Isaac was saved and Abraham rejoiced, the Bible says in Genesis 22, "The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and promised that all nations would be blessed because he had obeyed." In Egypt, God caused Pharaoh to look for a man who could interpret dreams. And the Bible says in Genesis 41 that Pharaoh slept and dreamed the second time. And by the next day, Joseph had been exalted to be the second most powerful ruler in the land. And he was able to save his family and the entire world. In Jerusalem, at the dedication of the temple, the Bible says in First Kings 9, the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, and he promised to put his name on that mountain forever, and he blessed Solomon with wisdom and wealth, and Israel became the envy of every other nation of that day. In the wilderness, after his encounter with the prophets of Baal, Elijah was so discouraged that he prayed to die. But the Bible says in First Kings 19, the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and revealed to him, you know what? There's 7,000 other people that haven't bowed their knee to Baal, and so you're going to be okay, Elijah. And then, when Babylon's army had besieged Jerusalem and King Zedekiah shut up Jeremiah in prison because he didn't like the prophet's call to repentance, the Bible says in Jeremiah 33, "The word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time." And so Jeremiah gets this word of Judah's eventual restoration.
Every time you see that phrase, "the second time," "the second time," "the second time," God is allowing his people to overcome their past, their mistakes, their failures, and God is doing something new. So now, with 120,000 young children at stake in the city of Nineveh and a total population of over 600,000, when rebellious Jonah refused to go preach to them, God first sent a storm, and then he sent that great fish to swallow him. But now, the Bible says in chapter 3, "The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time." This repentant prophet is about ready to see a revival that will shake the king of Nineveh and the entire city.
Now, we've already said this, but a century from now, when a different generation of Ninevites threatens God's people once again, God's going to raise up another prophet. His name is Nahum. And Nahum is going to have a different message because the Assyrians eventually resume their attacks on God's people. The Lord eventually declares, "I'm going to end your empire." And Nahum, he declares this promise in Nahum 1:9: "God will make an utter end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time." You got away with it once, Nineveh and Assyria, but not the second time. But for the Ninevites who are alive right now, a hundred years before Nahum, there's still time to repent. And there's still a second chance. And there's still a second chance for Jonah. Judgment is coming, but there's still time.
Nineveh was called a great city. It was large in size and strategic in importance, and it had an overall population of more than 600,000. The name means "seat of Nenus" after its founder Nimrod, who the Bible declares to be a mighty hunter. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that when Nimrod built the Tower of Babel, he wanted to avenge himself on God because he wanted a tower that would be high enough that if God ever sent another flood, it would protect them. Nimrod was a wicked and rebellious leader.
The ancient cuneiform script for the name Nineveh shows a fish inside an enclosure. So the name Nineveh, that's the name Nineveh in their ancient language. So the name can mean "house of fish." It's like a fish inside an enclosure. And that's significant because Nineveh, located on the banks of the Tigris River, was also linked to Ninua, who was the fish god. This was the main idol worshipped by that empire. Other names for this deity included Dagon, that you see in the Bible, or Oannes. But each one of them, no matter whether it's Dagon or Oannes or Ninua, they're all depicted the same way: either as part man and part fish, or as a man clothed in a fish, or as a man emerging from a fish. Ancient Assyrian artwork depicts the priests and the prophets who served in this pagan religion as wearing cloaks resembling fish, with the fish's head serving as a head covering. Their god was believed to ascend from the sea in order to bring divine wisdom to humanity and to receive their worship. And this pagan religion dedicated to a fish deity was especially prevalent in cities like Nineveh.
So, it's easy to understand why Jonah's sudden appearance in Nineveh, with his skin shockingly wrinkled and bleached to the color of parchment from the acids in the whale's stomach, and accompanied by his wild tale of "I emerged from the belly of a great fish," that would have had an immeasurable impact on the citizens of Nineveh. In their primitive superstition, they thought Jonah was Oannes, the fish god, arising from the sea with a divine message from the heavens. To them, he was a living sign from their own mythology, even though his message came from the true God of Israel. Jonah had probably no idea about any of this because he hated Ninevites. But his message, his story rather, had been specifically designed by God to command the attention of these pagan worshippers, the Ninevites. Jonah had no idea about that. His message resonated powerfully with them.
But his message didn't endorse their false religion. It commanded them to repent. Even the Babylonian name Oannes is the same as the Hebrew name Jonah. No wonder that entire city immediately chose to repent. God used imagery familiar to Assyria. Then he proved himself superior to their false gods. And that, brothers and sisters, is how the symbol of a false religion became a catalyst for true repentance. And the result was one of the greatest revivals ever recorded in scripture.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Well, wait a minute, Pastor Raymond. The only reason that Jonah resembled Oannes is because of his rebellion and his failure. It's because he ran from God and ended up in the belly of that great fish. That's exactly what I'm saying. Because God knew about Jonah's rebellion and failure before he ever called him to be a prophet. God knew about Adam and Eve's sin before he ever created them. God knew about David's sins of adultery and murder before he ever anointed him. And God knew about your failure before he ever saved you. God chose Jonah. And God chose you and me not because he thought your performance would be perfect or your faith would be flawless. God chose you because he already knew that his grace could write a sequel to your sin, far greater than any of your guilt and shame.
So here it is from the story of this rebellious prophet. Before you ever stumbled, before you ever whispered the words you wish you could take back, before you ever walked the paths you wish you had avoided, God already knew before he called you and before he saved you. He knew the weaknesses you would battle. He knew the doubts that would cloud your faith. He knew the moments when you would run and rebel instead of trust and obey. None of that surprised God. But here's the good news. And none of it disqualified you from experiencing God's grace. God's hand can reach further down than you can ever reach up toward him. God's grace can abound even more than sin abounds. God's mercy is so deep and so wide and so high. It is everlasting. God already knew that he was going to turn your darkest mistakes into a miracle of his grace. Before he ever saved you, God knew your story from beginning to end. He knew the good and the bad. He knew the glorious and the grievous. And he still said, "Yes, I'm going to save them. I'm going to redeem them. I'm going to put them in my family."
This is not because the commandments of God don't matter and you can just live however you want. No, it's because God's grace is so powerful. He knows he has the ability to write a final chapter after you stumble, after you fall, after you fail. So, I want to say to every backslider that's sitting here tonight, and you were away from God for a while, or maybe you're watching online tonight, your sin is not greater than God's grace. Your mistake is not greater than God's mercy. You falling down is not some insurmountable obstacle, because God can reach down and pick you up. That's what he did for Jonah. So, always remember this: You are not loved because you amazed God with your goodness. You are loved because his mercy is greater than your failure. That's why you are loved. That's worth thanking God for. I think in the middle of Bible study, I'm grateful for God's mercy. And the scripture everywhere says it: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and God delights in his way. Though he fall, good men fall. Yes, people who serve God fall. Yes. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly finally, irreparably cast down." Why? "For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." That's why the prophet Micah, also a minor prophet just like Jonah, he said, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." You need to get that verse burned in your brain. And you need to learn how to say it every once in a while. When you make a foolish mistake or you take a stupid wrong turn, you need to say, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. Even when I fall, even when I falter, even when I'm fragile and fickle and frail, I'm getting back up and I'm going to keep walking with God."
God spoke to the prophet Joel, also a minor prophet, just like Jonah. "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." God is saying, "You experienced destruction because of your sin. You experienced chaos and carnage because of your rebellion, because you turned from me and you walked away. But I am so merciful that I'm going to look at the years you wasted, and I'm going to give them back to you. I'm going to look at the years you squandered, and somehow, I can't tell you how this works, but I'm going to make your end so great that people won't even remember that sojourn in sin. I'm going to bless you, and you shall eat in him plenty and be satisfied, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never be ashamed."
[applause] In the middle of Bible study. I come against guilt and shame. I come against all that humiliation and embarrassment from your past. And the devil keeps reminding you of that all the time. He talks in your ear all the time. Let me quote this to the devil: "If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new." So, rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. I may have fallen, but I'm getting back up. I may have stumbled, but I'm going to keep walking. And God is going to restore to me all of that mess that I created. God is going to restore to me those years that I wasted. Don't you ask me how that works. I don't know how that works except for two words: Your grace and your mercy brought me through. That's all I know how to tell you. His grace is so great, and his mercy is so miraculous. God can bring you through and give that back to you.
You know what's next right after that verse? "And it shall come to pass afterwards, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." You know how God does that? It's with the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can course correct. The Holy Ghost can lead you out of the valley you're in or out of the pit that you fell into. That's the power of the Holy Ghost. I wish somebody would take a time out and thank God for the Holy Ghost. Thank him for grace. Thank him for mercy. Thank him for forgiveness. Thank him for a new start. We, we're church folks, but every once in a while, we need a new start. Every once in a while, we need to turn away from where we've been mired down, and we need to get back up and get walking with God again. Every once in a while, we all need that fresh touch of anointing and that fresh touch of mercy. Thank God, his mercies are new every morning. "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great are his mercies toward them that fear him." That's you and that's me. [laughter] And that's us. [applause] Oh, thank you, Jesus. I know if you're doing good this year, if you're doing good this month, you can sit in your self-righteousness and you can say, "Well, they shouldn't have fallen and they shouldn't have made a mistake." But boy, when it's you that's fallen down and you need Jesus, then the attitude changes. Then the mercy, you want that mercy. It's just like Jonah. He didn't want Nineveh to receive mercy. But when he got in the belly of that fish, he knew, "If I don't get God's mercy, I don't have a hope, I don't have a chance, I don't have a prayer." Well, let me tell you something. Every once in a while, life will conspire against you, and you'll be flat on your face or flat on your back. And that's when you know, if it's not the mercy of God, it's not going to be survival. If it's not the grace of God, I'm probably not coming out of this. But thank God, his mercy never fails. His grace never runs out. His love never gives up. It's the relentless love of God. [applause] I'm sorry. I'm just stuck, or I'm enjoying it. I can't tell which. But I wish you'd lift up a great praise to the Lord for every time he saw you through and brought you out and forgave your past and gave you a new start. He's worthy of all of that praise.
[cheering and applause] The church isn't a collection of the perfect. This is not a museum with saints in glass cases and a tour guide is the pastor. That's not what this is. This is a hospital. Many times, it's an emergency room and a triage center and an operating theater. And we all have needed the surgery of the Holy Ghost from time to time. And we've all come in the door beaten and bloody and broken down. But the mercy of God reached us just like it reached Jonah in the depths of the sea. I've been in the depths, but God brought me out, and he's worthy to be praised. [applause and cheering] Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. [cheering] [applause] We do have time for this. We do have time for this. If you're filled with the Holy Ghost, I wish you'd use that powerful gift and just pray in the spirit for a moment. Just worship God. Just give him glory. God has been good to us. CCC, God has been faithful to you and your family. [cheering] We've all needed that faithfulness on occasion. We've all needed that mercy to come by. We've all needed that grace to lift us up. [applause] Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Remember Jesus said it in the Gospels before we get too high and mighty about how faithful we've been. Jesus said, "The one who is forgiven much loves much. I love him because he first loved me."
Nineveh was a great city in every sense of that word. Scholars believe its population numbered more than 600,000 citizens, which included 120,000 children. And its sheer size required a three-day journey just to get from one side to the other. It was the largest and wealthiest city of the ancient world for more than half a century, and its military power made it the logical choice to become the capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire. Its gardens and gates, temples and towers, walls and statues, all reflected in the beautiful waters of the Tigris River. And its influence reached everywhere. But Nineveh was great for a much more important reason. God was the one who said, "Nineveh, that great city," because God could see its potential. God could see that its lost people could be found. Even a great mega city like Nineveh was not beyond the reach of the relentless love of God.
"So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter the city a day's journey." He got about a third of the way through the city, and he cried. And here was his message: "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Jonah only preached an eight-word sermon. In fact, it's just five words in the Hebrew language. That is the shortest sermon in the Bible. He gives no altar call. He offers no hope. And it's an understatement to say that this reluctant prophet disdains the congregation he's preaching to. But shockingly, above all expectations or predictions, Nineveh repents. It's amazing.
"So the people of Nineveh believed God, and they proclaimed a fast, and they put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh. He arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and he covered himself in sackcloth, and he sat in ashes." The king of Nineveh. That ruler who probably had a big pile of the skulls of his enemies decorating his throne room. That king who probably had some human skins hanging on the city walls at that very moment. He is the one who leads in repentance. Don't you ever say God can't. Don't you ever say God won't. Don't you ever say anybody is beyond the redemption of the Lord or the reach of the Holy Ghost. [applause]
The king even leaves his throne. They all wear rough sackcloth. That's a sign of mourning over their sin. And the king puts aside his royal robes, signaling that he's surrendering before a higher power, and he sits in ashes. All through the Old Testament, that symbolizes frailty and mortality. So this is not just a little private prayer. This is not just secret remorse. This is a very public rejection of Ninevite pride and a very public repentance to the God of Israel. And here it is: That pagan king of a cruel and brutal empire. He repented more sincerely and more completely than most of the kings of Israel and Judah did in the Old Testament. And it's safe to say that he repented more sincerely than the prophet Jonah ever did.
That citywide repentance was even enforced on their animals, which are covered with sackcloth and not fed or given water during these days. That prayer of repentance and that fasting is unprecedented in scripture. And the king caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. Yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." The most violent empire of the ancient world is now repenting on a citywide scale. I know you look at the geopolitical map of the world and you think that region is beyond God's reach. That nation is beyond desiring God. We have no idea what Jesus is going to do before he returns. No one is beyond the reach of the gospel. No one is beyond the reach of God's mercy. If Nineveh could repent, I don't put anybody outside the possibility of repentance.
Now, the Ninevites would have been familiar with the idea of repentance. Not so much from their false religion, but from their exploits in battle. Because the ancient Hebrew word for repent is "shub," which means turning away from a previous life. When a powerful army like Assyria captured a city, they would take its people captive. And the very last thing they would do as they led the people away from their previous life, the Hebrews called it "shou." It literally means "destroy the house." They would burn that city to the ground. Why? Because when you have nothing left to go back to, it is easier to embrace the new reality. That's repentance in the Old Testament. When you burn that old life to the ground, you say, "I'm not going back there. I'm not going to keep all those familiar relationships. I'm not going back to those activities or those places." That's what Isaiah was talking about: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon."
In the New Testament, it's the Greek language, of course. And the word is "metanoia," which literally means a change of mind resulting in a change of direction. That's what repentance is. Repentance always involves turning away. It doesn't just involve regret. Repentance is not just feeling sorry for your sins. In fact, repentance is not at all about what you feel. It's about what you do. You see, you may feel great emotion when you come to the altar, or you may feel very little or nothing at all. But that doesn't matter because repentance is not an emotion. Repentance is a decision. Worldly sorrow, the Bible says, only brings us regrets. But godly sorrow brings us results. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of this world worketh death." You can feel sorry for getting caught. You can feel sorry that you made a mess in your family. You can feel sorry that you're humiliated and shamed and you got in trouble. That's worldly sorrow. But godly sorrow makes you turn around. Godly sorrow makes you turn away from that. It's not just about regret. It's about results.
And Paul says, "For behold this selfsame thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!" What in the world is that? You will want to vindicate yourself against the devil and his kingdom. Brother Stone King used to say, "Devil, I'm going to make you regret the day you ever heard my name." That's what Paul's saying. If you really repent, you're going to take revenge on the kingdom of the devil. And you're going to live just as hard for God as you ever lived for the devil. You're going to live just as passionate for God as you ever lived in the world. [applause and cheering] Man.
And we can stay there for a while. But this is the amazing thing. Nineveh repented even when they didn't know if it would work. These are not Jewish people, Hebrew people, Christian people. These are pagan people. They repented even if, even when they didn't know that repentance would work. And here's what the king said: "Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" Who can tell? We don't know. But we sure don't want to perish. And this prophet came in, and he looks like our fish god, and he came out of the sea, and he said he emerged from a fish. We better listen. That's our whole religion. We don't want to perish. So we better try repentance. They didn't even know if this would work. "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" Watch this. "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
Now, when the Bible says God repented, this happens in the book of Exodus, happens here. When God, when the Bible says God repented, it we would say God relented. He, he backed away from what he was going to do. He didn't change his mind. He changed his response based on their repentance. So just like repentance means us turning away from sin, when it says God repented, he turned away from that judgment because they had repented. God didn't change; they changed. And God wanted to show them mercy. God was never hating on the Ninevites the way Jonah was. God didn't ever have an attitude toward Assyria like Jonah did. God was cheering them on, hoping that they would repent. God intended to show Nineveh mercy if they would just repent. And God intends with every fiber of his being, or however we would describe a spirit, with every fiber of his being, God intends to show you mercy if you will just repent. I know it's Bible study. It's the core of the church and the cream of the crop. But if there happens to be somebody in this room, and there's something in your life that's not right, God intends to show you mercy, but you've got to turn away from that and turn to him. And then he's going to turn away from judgment and show you mercy. [applause]
Now, we will find out much more about Jonah's sincerity in the last chapter of this little book next week, but suffice it to say that just like the pagan sailors on the ship in chapter 1, just like them, the people who are pagan in Nineveh in chapter 3, the sailors, chapter 1, the citizens of Nineveh, chapter 3, they are much more responsive and repentant than God's own prophet. We will soon discover next week that Jonah wasn't very pleased that his message resulted in a massive revival. He's the only preacher in history that got mad because he had a revival. Lots of preachers mad because they're not having a revival. Jonah got mad because he had a revival. The greatest revival of the Old Testament. It shook an entire city right up to the king. And Jonah was mad about it.
But see, Jonah, he didn't call the shots in his own story. God did. God sent Jonah to Nineveh with that message: "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Now, you got to imagine Jonah parading around those streets feeling really good, cuz that's what he wanted in the first place before he ran away to Tarsus and before he got on the boat and before they threw him overboard and he got in the belly of the fish and and he prayed and God brought Jonah. Jonah wanted them to be destroyed. He wanted them to be overthrown. He wanted them to be judged. So you got to imagine this arrogant, rebellious prophet who's just narrowly escaped from the sea because of the mercy of God. He still doesn't want to show them mercy. He still doesn't want God to extend mercy to them. So he's parading around the streets of that great city of Nineveh saying, with with pride, I guess, with arrogance, I guess, with a smug smirk of judgment, "Yet 40 days, you got 40 days and God is going to waste this place. Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." And he's speaking the word of God, but he's speaking it with an attitude. He's speaking the word of God, but he's speaking it in the spirit of judgment.
But God pulled a fast one on Jonah. That Hebrew sermon is only five words long. Eight words in English, five words in Hebrew. And the very last word in his Hebrew sermon, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." The Hebrew word is "hafak." Hafak. That's what he's saying. It means overthrown, overturned, or it means turned over. Jonah doesn't know what he's saying yet. 40 days of Nineveh is going to be turned over. He doesn't have a clue that that's exactly what God intends to do to Nineveh. You see, that Hebrew word "hafak" can mean destroyed, like Sodom. Sodom was overturned in Genesis 19, or it can refer to people being transformed, like Saul in 1st Samuel 10. The Bible says Saul was turned into a new man. So it can mean overturned, or it can mean turned over. So Jonah's prophecy came true just like he said it, but certainly not in the way he intended it. Jonah is thinking, "I'm going to pronounce judgment on Nineveh just 40 days from now, and you're going to be overthrown." And God is saying, "No, no, no, no. They're going to be turned over in 40 days." In fact, it's going to take less time than that because the king led his people in repentance immediately.
And so the whole lesson of Jonah is probably something like this: If Nineveh can repent, we can repent. If Nineveh can have revival, we can have revival. But more than just us, if Nineveh can repent, Fredericton can repent. New Brunswick can repent. Canada can repent. A Muslim nation can repent. If Nineveh can be turned over, then anybody and anything and any people can be turned over. That's the message of the book of Jonah. Nineveh was turned over, not overturned. God was working through Jonah, even when Jonah was acting stupid and rebellious and arrogant.
And I want to say to you tonight that the message of Jonah is very, very important for us because, just like him, we face a generation. Judgment is coming. Judgment eventually came to Nineveh, and judgment will eventually come to our nation. Judgment is coming. But as for right now, there's still time. And so our message is not—I know we got prophecy preachers, and I love them all. Even the ones that are wrong. I love them all. [snorts] I love them all. But the message of prophecy is not given by God to intrigue us. Prophecy is given by God to inspire us that Jesus is coming, and whatever we're going to do for him, we should get at it. We should get to it. We should be about our Father's business. And the message of Jonah to those people is our message today: Jesus is coming. Judgment is coming. But for right now, there's still time for anybody who turns to God in repentance. There's still time. And then you're not going to be overthrown. You're going to be turned over, turned into a brand new person. That's the message of the church. That's the message of the gospel. That's the message of the Bible. That's even the message of this crazy little book of a rebellious minor prophet named Jonah. If there's anybody in your family, anybody among your friends or co-workers that you're praying for and you're reaching for, don't stop praying and don't stop reaching because they can be turned over by the power of the living God. If Nineveh could have revival, our city can have a revival.
Our city's a tenth the size of Nineveh was 4,000 years ago. We're a tiny little place. If they could have revival, we can have revival. If God could set them up by using certain facets of their culture to make them hungry for God, don't you think the same God who we say is today, yesterday, today, and forever the same, he never changes? Don't you think the same God could put little things in our culture, little things in our nation's history at this moment in time to make people hungry for him? I know he can. Because God's desire is for lives to be not overturned, but turned over.
Would you lift up your hands and lift up your voice at the end of Bible study, and would you begin to pray? Uh, we've worshipped, but I want you to pray this time. Pray for somebody that you know needs God's mercy. Pray for somebody that you know needs God's grace. We can get pretty intense when we worship. Let's get a little bit intense in our prayer right now. Would you lift up your voice? Lord Jesus, my goodness, there has been such a powerful spirit of prayer at the end of every one of these lessons. There, there's this reaching. It's it's the reach that God wanted Jonah to do, and Jonah refused. But we're not refusing. We want to be involved in this. We want to reach. We want to see revival. We want to see a city turned around. Let's stand and let's launch ourselves into prayer right now. For I want to obey the Lord. I feel a little nudge from the Holy Ghost, and I'm not going to keep you. Would you turn to somebody near you, and I want you to do something that I don't know that we've ever done before. I want you to tell them a name that you are praying for. You don't have to give them the details and the last name and the address. I want you to tell them a name of somebody you're praying for. And I want them to tell you the name of somebody they're praying for. And then I want you to bind together and pray for those people. Would you do that right now? It'll just take you a second. Just give them a first name. Say, "I'm praying for so-and-so." And then I want them to tell you the same thing. Now, would you take them by the hand or put your hand on their shoulder, and let's pray for the people that we have influence over? Let's pray for the people that we love. Let's pray for the people that we are reaching for. Would you lift up your voice with them? And would you pray for the person they said, and they'll pray for the person you said? Let's pray together. A prayer meeting, it doesn't have to be six hours. A prayer meeting like this can impact a backslider. A prayer meeting like this can impact a lost loved one. Cuz God doesn't want them to be thrown into judgment. God wants them to be turned over. God wants them to repent. God wants our city to experience a great revival.