God and Nineveh

This morning I decided to read the book of the Prophet Nahum.  It is interesting that this whole book, as well as the book of the Prophet Jonah are concerned with the city of Nineveh.  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and considered an evil city, and at one point the Assyrians defeated Israel and took its leaders into exile. So the question in my mind this morning was why the Lord dedicated 2 books (even though they are small) to this city, which was effectively the enemy of His people?

For me the answer lies in the book of Jonah, where we see God's heart best portrayed for the people of Nineveh.  God sent Jonah to warm them so He didn't have to bring judgement upon them (Jonah 1:1-2).  Nahum spoke long about the wickedness of Nineveh, and the anger of God towards that city, yet we find God specifically sending a prophet to the city to cause them to repent.  Much to Jonah's chagrin, the city from least to the greatest, even the King, repent and change their ways (Jonah 3:5-10).  God relents and Jonah gets angry that God relents and does not bring judgment upon these people.  Here is what Jonah says to God - Jonah 4:2 NIV: "He prayed to the Lord, “Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."

I believe that God speaks about Nineveh to help us understand His heart towards those who are lost, those who are reviled, those who seem evil and caught up in their own ways, ways that are offensive. Here is God's response to Jonah - Jonah 4:11 NIV: "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left---and also many animals?”

God was concerned about the lost, even about the animals and it was not His desire to bring about judgment.  Nahum paints the picture of God being an angry God, (it is important to note that is due to Nineveh's treatment of Judah) but in Jonah, towards the very same people, we see God being gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in Love.  When we look at both books through the revelation of Jesus - we see that the Story of Jonah is a more accurate portrayal of the heart of God, who desires to have mercy and compassion on us all. We see in the story of Jonah, a somewhat prophetic picture of what Jesus did for us.  God sent Jesus to earth to bring salvation and forgiveness to all, and Jesus through His perfect obedience (where Jonah as far from obedient) obtained forgiveness for all our sins, and allowed us to have a chance to repent and seek the Father.

So for me the application of this today would be correctly understanding God's heart towards those who seem far away, even hostile towards God.  We have many voices in the church who call out judgment, or prophesy judgment on "evil" cities, regions or people groups. It seems to me that they are adopting a Nahum heart or unrepentant Jonah heart towards these people.  The purpose of God is always to bring about repentance and extend forgiveness where possible, and like the people of Nineveh, we all have the opportunity to repent.  God is a just, but He is first of all gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Jonah 4:2).