Christians like to brag
about being first to try to love the enemy. We ignore our Bible.

This section of Jonah
looks at bringing gospel to the enemy.

God calls a second
time. This time Jonah, instead of fleeing, walks into the great city
of Nineveh, near present day Mosul, Iraq..

I love the comic
touches here. The city is huge.(In Hebrew the city is even great to
God)

The word overturn is
ambiguous as it can mean destruction or deliverance.

Everybody repents when
the king says repent. I love the image of poodles in sackcloth and
ashes.

The people respond,
indeed believe, this short word from Jonah (dove) Its speed is funny,
but their readiness to change marks a contrast to Israel. Even the
king acts properly and humbly. Again, the idea of the Assyrian acting
like an Israelite is funny.
the enemy acts more religiously than
the people called by God.

Being a king, he has to
make a command, even though everyone is already repenting. With
bureaucratic coverage, he includes the animals. The fast moves into
water, a dangerous proclamation. He does get the link of fasting and
prayer.

The wrongs are violence
and evil. They hope God will repent from anger (burning nostrils) to
prevent their perishing. Deliverance comes through repentance here,
for an enemy; don’t forget.

Who know? It sounds
like a roll of the dice. Still, Jonah came unbidden to them, so it
would seem like an game of chance. Who knows admits that the act of
repentance still does nto control God.

God’s response is
changing the intended harm. The story started because the evil of
Nineveh cam before God.

Nineveh today?Tehran/
Las Vegas? What would be the reaction if we walked in, uninvited and
preached? Why do you think the sermon was so effective?

How do you react when
God shows mercy to enemies?

This great story shows
the moral danger of assuming being a chosen people and then realizing
that god’s mercy is universal.