“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.”
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Jonah’s obedience was now as striking as his past rebellion. Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. It was a city of great significance militarily, economically, and religiously. Jonah went right into the teeth of the Assyrian Empire with his message from the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
A “three-day journey” indicates that it took three days to walk around Nineveh. A person can walk about 20 miles a day so that would mean Nineveh was about 60 miles in circumference. Nineveh was the largest city in the world at this time. The city had 1,500 looming towers. There were 120,000 children who could not tell they’re right hand from their left (4:11).
PRINCIPLE:
God has marching orders for every believer.
APPLICATION:
The personal element in evangelism is critical for effective evangelism to happen. Someone must say, “I am going to do something about this.” Ideas are not enough if they are not clothed in flesh.
Some people feel that God has placed them on the shelf and is through with them. Even churches and Christian organizations get this idea. God can rescue individuals and organizations from shipwreck. He can salvage us. He can move us beyond our holding patterns.
Many of us are unaware that we are dead to the dynamics of God in our lives. This is certainly true with some churches. This is a serious problem to the cause of Christ because they become bound by tradition. They will not let the old ways die. They cannot communicate to non-Christians and they lose relevance to where people are. These churches are unaware that they are dying.
Being used of God flows from the obedience of faith. What mandates does God expect His people to obey so He can grow his church? A mandate is an authoritative command, a directive from a higher authority to a lower one??in other words, marching orders. Have you responded to God’s marching orders?
