“But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For 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. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” Matt. 12:39-41
By Michael Adekoya – Dear Reader, in “Greater Than Jonah Part 1”, we can see how gracious, merciful and compassionate our God is. He forgave the wickedness of the people of Nineveh, He relented from carrying out what He intended to do during the time of Jonah because of His nature and their repentance. But mind you, God eventually destroyed the people of Nineveh as their repentance was short lived. They went back into their old ways, the Bible says, “Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.” Nah. 3:1. Nineveh was a city of violence, known for its brutal treatment of those it conquered. The Assyrians were notorious for amputating hands and feet, gouging eyes, and skinning and impaling their captives. The final verse of Nahum’s book emphasizes the violence of the Assyrians in the form of a rhetorical question: ““Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?” Nahum 3:19.
My friend, when other nations heard about the destruction of Nineveh, they rejoiced because of their cruelty and merciless wickedness. They were shown mercy by God during the time of Jonah but they chose to go back to their wickedness afterwards. Please let’s learn from this, for the fact that you were forgiven does not give you licence to fall back into sin again claiming the grace of God covers you. The Bible says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Rom. 6:1-2. It’s the same grace that forgave us that enables us to engage in holy lifestyles after our forgiveness and salvation. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14.
My friend, having been forgiven and saved by God’s saving grace, let’s submit and surrender to the enabling grace of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live holy and righteous so that, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”” 2Pet. 2:20-22.
That’s exactly what happened to the people of Nineveh, they went back into their old lifestyle after the initial repentance and forgiveness. The word of Jesus in Matt. 26:52, “….for all who take the sword will perish by the sword”, was fulfilled in the case of Nineveh, whose warlike people were known for their brutal treatment of enemies. Despite the military might of Nineveh, they were no match for the God of heaven. Nineveh’s downfall was greeted as good news by Judah (Nah. 1:15) and all who had suffered under their merciless rule (Nah. 3:19). Nineveh was eventually destroyed and the site was hidden for some time (Nah. 3:11 ff).
My friend, God have shown you mercy by forgiven you, reciprocate this forgiveness by forgiving those who had offended you too. The people of Nineveh received God’s mercy at the boiling point of His wrath. But they failed to show mercy to others around them. No wonder, God eventually orchestrated their total destruction. The Bible says, “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5:7. Your spouses, colleagues, parents, congregations, children, spiritual leaders, superiors, subordinates or your neighbours might have offended you, my friend, you need to find a space in your heart to forgive them too or else you’re setting yourself up for the wrath of God. Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in the book of Matthew chapter 18. His master forgave him a huge sum of debt, “sin” but he refused to forgive his own subordinate his tiny debt, “sin”, when his master heard. The Bible says, “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.” Matt. 18:32-34.
Many are being “delivered to the torturers” of sicknesses, blood pressure, heart attacks, depressions, misfortunes, confusions, bitter memory experiences and satanic oppressions today just because of unforgiveness. My friend, if you’re one of them, forgive and let go so that you may experience the time of refreshing. The One greater than Jonah is still alive to forgive. Jonah was reluctant to preach the mercy of God and couldn’t stand it when God showed them mercy. But the One greater than Jonah – our Lord Jesus is the embodiment of mercy Himself. Jonah’s three days in the belly of fish was just a sign, a typology and a symbol of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. He had come to fulfil this sign. Jonah was reluctant to to go Nineveh, but our Lord was willing to come to this “…evil and adulterous generation …” Matt. 12:39. He came to live over thirty-three years among the religious, sinful, wicked and selfish people. Jonah was preserved by God for three days in the belly of the fish, but Jesus willingly laid down His life and picked it up again after three days – He is indeed greater than Jonah.
Jesus is the One greater than Jonah, He did not preach repentance alone, He is the One who can forgive and willing to forgive sins. Jonah reluctantly preached to the people of Nineveh to avert the impending judgment of God, but Jesus is the One appointed by God to judge the world. Jonah was a servant and a prophet, Jesus was a Son and the fulfilment of prophesies. Jonah’s life was preserved in the belly of a fish, Jesus is the giver, the sustainer, the preserver, He is the Life and Resurrection Himself. Jonah was saved and experienced several miracles of God, Jesus is the miracle Himself, the Creator and the Controller of all what Jonah was exposed to and went through. Jonah was a disobedient run away Prophet, Jesus was a willing and obedient Son of God and Son of Man. My friend, Jesus indeed is greater than Jonah.
Therefore, stop running after the “Jonahs”, that is, men of God, Prophets, miracle workers, rich people, men of timber and calibre, famous people, men in high positions and the people of influence of this world, but rather pursue and surrender your life to the One greater than Jonah – our Lord Jesus. He created all things including your pursuits and those you’re pursuing. You may be one of the “Jonahs of this world”, who has been given the opportunity to set other free from the impending wrath, punishment and anger of God but you’re withholding it, the One greater than you, who is the Judge shall one day judge you if you continue to refuse to deliver the message of mercy, repentance and reconciliation that you’ve been commissioned – 2Cor. 5:18-20. Jesus is the ultimate, we are just given temporary privileges, let’s use it to better the lives of others, to populate the Kingdom of God and not to derive pleasure in seeing others punished and destroyed, that’s not our commission but rather the ministry of Satan, that is, to steal, to kill and to destroy, but we belong to the One greater than Jonah whose mission, passion and desire is to give life and life in abundance – John 10:10. Let’s celebrate the One greater than Jonah not during the Easter season alone but everyday of our lives. Remain blessed!
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