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God's
judgement - Averted
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Another
messenger is sent
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Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son
of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness has come up before me."
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Jonah
1v1-2 (RSV)
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God
sees everything
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For
his eyes are upon the ways of a man, and he
sees all his steps. There is no gloom or deep
darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.
For he has not appointed a time for any man to
go before God in judgment. He shatters the mighty
without investigation, and sets others in their
place. Thus, knowing their works, he overturns
them in the night, and they are crushed.
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Job
34v21-25 (RSV)
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Once
more we read of a city upon which judgement was to come.
However in this case the outcome was different.
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. . and they believed God
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Arise,
go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto
it the preaching that I bid thee. 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
into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and
said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
So the people of Nineveh believed God,
and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them even to the least of
them.
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Jonah
3v2-5
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Nineveh
had just 40 days remaining in which they could change
their ways. After being shown the error of their ways
they decided to accept God's judgement and so repented,
turning from their evil ways they averted a catastrophe.
How
long does our world have before God decides to bring
His wrath upon the earth?
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The
natural state of man
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Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign
from thee. But he answered and said unto them,
An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after
a sign; and there shall no sign be given to
it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as
Jonas 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. The men
of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn it: because they repented
at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold,
a greater than Jonas is here.
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Matthew
12v38-41
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The
people of Nineveh had the evidence of a large empty
fish, and a revived prophet Jonah. We have the evidence
of an empty tomb and a resurrected Lord, who is no longer
subject to death. God has blessed us with His Word and
sufficient time to search out His message. One question
remains - how are we using this opportunity?
From
these 4 case studies we have clearly seen that God's
judgements will soon be performed on this world as the
wickedness of man is great. We have also understood
that it is necessary to change our ways and believe
God, and that time is short.
In
the next section we will examine what the exact details
of God's calling are.
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