Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 22: "Nineveh, That Great City"
Among the cities of the ancient world in the days of divided
Israel one of the greatest was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm.
Founded on the fertile bank of the Tigris, soon after the dispersion from the
tower of Babel, it had flourished through the centuries until it had become
"an exceeding great city of three days' journey." Jonah 3:3. {PK 265.1}
In the time of its temporal prosperity Nineveh was a center
of crime and wickedness. Inspiration has characterized it as "the bloody
city, . . . full of lies and robbery." In figurative language
the prophet Nahum compared the Ninevites to a cruel, ravenous lion. "Upon
whom," he inquired, "hath not thy wickedness passed
continually?" Nahum 3:1, 19. {PK 265.2}
Yet Nineveh, wicked though it had become, was not wholly
given over to evil. He who "beholdeth all the sons of men" (Psalm
33:13) and "seeth every precious thing" (Job 28:10) perceived in that
city many who were reaching [266] out after something better and
higher, and who, if granted opportunity to learn of the living God, would put
away their evil deeds and worship Him. And so in His wisdom God revealed
Himself to them in an unmistakable manner, to lead them, if possible, to
repentance. {PK 265.3}
The instrument chosen for this work was the prophet Jonah,
the son of Amittai. To him came the word of the Lord, "Arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up
before Me." Jonah 1:1, 2. {PK 266.1}
As the prophet thought of the difficulties and seeming
impossibilities of this commission, he was tempted to question the wisdom of
the call. From a human viewpoint it seemed as if nothing could be gained by
proclaiming such a message in that proud city. He forgot for the moment that
the God whom he served was all-wise and all-powerful. While he hesitated, still
doubting, Satan overwhelmed him with discouragement. The prophet was seized
with a great dread, and he "rose up to flee unto Tarshish." Going to
Joppa, and finding there a ship ready to sail, "he paid the fare thereof
and went down into it, to go with them." Verse 3. {PK 266.2}
In the charge given him, Jonah had been entrusted with a
heavy responsibility; yet He who had bidden him go was able to sustain His
servant and grant him success. Had the prophet obeyed unquestioningly, he would
have been spared many bitter experiences, and would have been blessed
abundantly. Yet in the hour of Jonah's despair the Lord did not desert him.
Through a series of trials and strange [267]
providences, the prophet's confidence in God and in His infinite power to save
was to be revived. {PK
266.3}
If, when the call first came to him, Jonah had stopped to
consider calmly, he might have known how foolish would be any effort on his
part to escape the responsibility placed upon him. But not for long was he
permitted to go on undisturbed in his mad flight. "The Lord sent out a
great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the
ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man
unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to
lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he
lay, and was fast asleep." Verses 4, 5. {PK 267.1}
As the mariners were beseeching their heathen gods for help,
the master of the ship, distressed beyond measure, sought out Jonah and said,
"What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God
will think upon us, that we perish not." Verse 6. {PK 267.2}
But the prayers of the man who had turned aside from the
path of duty brought no help. The mariners, impressed with the thought that the
strange violence of the storm betokened the anger of their gods, proposed as a
last resort the casting of lots, "that we may know," they said,
"for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell
upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause
this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is
thy country? and of what people art thou? [268] {PK 267.3}
"And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the
Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. {PK 268.1}
"Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto
him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence
of the Lord, because he had told them. {PK 268.2}
"Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And
he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea
be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. {PK 268.3}
"Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the
land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against
them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we
beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us
innocent blood: for Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee. So they took up
Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the
Lord, and made vows. {PK
268.4}
"Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. {PK 268.5}
"Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the
fish's belly, and said:
"I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord,
And He heard me;
Out of the belly of hell cried I,
And Thou heardest my voice. [269]
"For Thou hadst cast me into the deep,
In the midst of the seas;
And the floods compassed me about:
And Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me.
"Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight;
Yet I will look again toward Thy holy temple.
The waters compassed me about,
Even to the soul:
"The depth closed me round about,
The weeds were wrapped about my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
The earth with her bars was about me forever:
"Yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O
Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the
Lord:
And my prayer came in unto Thee,
Into Thine holy temple.
"They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord."
Verse 7 to 2:9. {PK 268.6}
At last Jonah had learned that "salvation belongeth
unto the Lord." Psalm 3:8. With penitence and a recognition of the saving
grace of God, came deliverance. Jonah was released from the perils of the
mighty deep and was cast upon the dry land. {PK 269.1}
Once more the servant of God was commissioned to warn
Nineveh. "The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that
I bid thee." This time he did not stop to question or doubt, but obeyed [270]
unhesitatingly. He "arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of
the Lord." Jonah 3:1-3. {PK
269.2}
As Jonah entered the city, he began at once to "cry
against" it the message, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown." Verse 4. From street to street he went, sounding the note of
warning. {PK 270.1}
The message was not in vain. The cry that rang through the
streets of the godless city was passed from lip to lip until all the
inhabitants had heard the startling announcement. The Spirit of God pressed the
message home to every heart and caused multitudes to tremble because of their
sins and to repent in deep humiliation. {PK 270.2}
"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. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and
he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And he causeth it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree
of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock,
taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be
covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn everyone
from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell
if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we
perish not?" Verses 5-9. {PK 270.3}
As king and nobles, with the common people, the high and the
low, "repented at the preaching of Jonas" (Matthew 12:41) and united
in crying to the God of heaven, His [271] mercy was granted
them. He "saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did
it not." Jonah 3:10. Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted
and honored throughout the heathen world, and His law was revered. Not until
many years later was Nineveh to fall a prey to the surrounding nations through
forgetfulness of God and through boastful pride. [For an account of the
downfall of Assyria, see chapter 30.] {PK 270.4}
When Jonah learned of God's purpose to spare the city that,
notwithstanding its wickedness, had been led to repent in sackcloth and ashes,
he should have been the first to rejoice because of God's amazing grace; but
instead he allowed his mind to dwell upon the possibility of his being regarded
as a false prophet. Jealous of his reputation, he lost sight of the infinitely
greater value of the souls in that wretched city. The compassion shown by God
toward the repentant Ninevites "displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was
very angry." "Was not this my saying," he inquired of the Lord,
"when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for
I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil." Jonah 4:1, 2. {PK 271.1}
Once more he yielded to his inclination to question and
doubt, and once more he was overwhelmed with discouragement. Losing sight of
the interests of others, and feeling as if he would rather die than live to see
the city spared, in his dissatisfaction he exclaimed, "Now, O Lord, take,
I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to
live." [272] {PK 271.2}
"Doest thou well to be angry?" the Lord inquired.
"So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and
there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what
would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to
come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him
from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd." Verses 3-6. {PK 272.1}
Then the Lord gave Jonah an object lesson. He "prepared
a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east
wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in
himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live." {PK 272.2}
Again God spoke to His prophet, "Doest thou well to be
angry for the gourd?" And he said, "I do well to be angry, even unto
death." {PK 272.3}
"Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd,
for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a
night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great
city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern
between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"
Verses 7-11. {PK 272.4}
Confused, humiliated, and unable to understand God's purpose
in sparing Nineveh, Jonah nevertheless had fulfilled the commission given him
to warn that great city; and though the event predicted did not come to pass,
yet the [273]
message of warning was nonetheless from God. And it accomplished the purpose
God designed it should. The glory of His grace was revealed among the heathen.
Those who had long been sitting "in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being bound in affliction and iron," "cried unto the Lord in their
trouble," and "He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them
out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder."
"He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions." Psalm 107:10, 13, 14, 20. {PK 272.5}
Christ during His earthly ministry referred to the good
wrought by the preaching of Jonah in Nineveh, and compared the inhabitants of
that heathen center with the professed [274] people
of God in His day. "The men of Nineveh," He declared, "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." Matthew 12:40, 41. Into the busy world, filled with the din of
commerce and the altercation of trade, where men were trying to get all they
could for self, Christ had come; and above the confusion His voice, like the
trump of God, was heard: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?" Mark 8:36, 37. {PK 273.1}
As the preaching of Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so
Christ's preaching was a sign to His generation. But what a contrast in the
reception of the word! Yet in the face of indifference and scorn the Saviour
labored on and on, until He had accomplished His mission. {PK 274.1}
The lesson is for God's messengers today, when the cities of
the nations are as verily in need of a knowledge of the attributes and purposes
of the true God as were the Ninevites of old. Christ's ambassadors are to point
men to the nobler world, which has largely been lost sight of. According to the
teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the only city that will endure is the city
whose builder and maker is God. With the eye of faith man may behold the
threshold of heaven, flushed with God's living glory. Through His ministering
servants the Lord Jesus is calling upon men to strive with sanctified ambition
to secure the immortal inheritance. He urges them to lay up treasure beside the
throne of God. [275] {PK 274.2}
There is coming rapidly and surely an almost universal guilt
upon the inhabitants of the cities, because of the steady increase of
determined wickedness. The corruption that prevails is beyond the power of the
human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of strife, bribery,
and fraud; every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and
lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish
destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity,
murder, and suicide. {PK
275.1}
From age to age Satan has sought to keep men in ignorance of
the beneficent designs of Jehovah. He has endeavored to remove from their sight
the great things of God's law—the principles of justice, mercy, and
love therein set forth. Men boast of the wonderful progress and enlightenment
of the age in which we are now living; but God sees the earth filled with
iniquity and violence. Men declare that the law of God has been abrogated, that
the Bible is not authentic; and as a result, a tide of evil, such as has not
been seen since the days of Noah and of apostate Israel, is sweeping over the
world. Nobility of soul, gentleness, piety, are battered away to gratify the
lust for forbidden things. The black record of crime committed for the sake of
gain is enough to chill the blood and fill the soul with horror. {PK 275.2}
Our God is a God of mercy. With long-sufferance and tender
compassion He deals with the transgressors of His law. And yet, in this our day,
when men and women have so many opportunities for becoming familiar with the
divine law as revealed in Holy Writ, the great Ruler of the universe cannot
behold with any satisfaction the wicked [276]
cities, where reign violence and crime. The end of God's forbearance with those
who persist in disobedience is approaching rapidly. {PK 275.3}
Ought men to be surprised over a sudden and unexpected
change in the dealings of the Supreme Ruler with the inhabitants of a fallen
world? Ought they to be surprised when punishment follows transgression and
increasing crime? Ought they to be surprised that God should bring destruction
and death upon those whose ill-gotten gains have been obtained through
deception and fraud? Notwithstanding the fact that increasing light regarding
God's requirements has been shining on their pathway, many have refused to
recognize Jehovah's rulership, and have chosen to remain under the black banner
of the originator of all rebellion against the government of heaven. {PK 276.1}
The forbearance of God has been very great—so
great that when we consider the continuous insult to His holy commandments, we
marvel. The Omnipotent One has been exerting a restraining power over His own
attributes. But He will certainly arise to punish the wicked, who so boldly
defy the just claims of the Decalogue. {PK 276.2}
God allows men a period of probation; but there is a point
beyond which divine patience is exhausted, and the judgments of God are sure to
follow. The Lord bears long with men, and with cities, mercifully giving
warnings to save them from divine wrath; but a time will come when pleadings
for mercy will no longer be heard, and the rebellious element that continues to
reject the light of truth will be blotted out, in mercy to themselves and to
those who would otherwise be influenced by their example. [277] {PK 276.3}
The time is at hand when there will be sorrow in the world
that no human balm can heal. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn. Disasters by
sea and by land follow one another in quick succession. How frequently we hear
of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss
of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of
disorganized, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the control of man;
but in them all, God's purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by
which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger. {PK 277.1}
God's messengers in the great cities are not to become
discouraged over the wickedness, the injustice, the depravity, which they are
called upon to face while endeavoring to proclaim the glad tidings of
salvation. The Lord would cheer every such worker with the same message that He
gave to the apostle Paul in wicked Corinth: "Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt
thee: for I have much people in this city." Acts 18:9, 10. Let those
engaged in soul-saving ministry remember that while there are many who will not
heed the counsel of God in His word, the whole world will not turn from light
and truth, from the invitations of a patient, forbearing Saviour. In every
city, filled though it may be with violence and crime, there are many who with
proper teaching may learn to become followers of Jesus. Thousands may thus be
reached with saving truth and be led to receive Christ as a personal Saviour. [278]
{PK 277.2}
God's message for the inhabitants of earth today is,
"Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometh." Matthew 24:44. The conditions prevailing in society, and
especially in the great cities of the nations, proclaim in thunder tones that
the hour of God's judgment is come and that the end of all things earthly is at
hand. We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the ages. In quick
succession the judgments of God will follow one another—fire, and
flood, and earthquake, with war and bloodshed. We are not to be surprised at
this time by events both great and decisive; for the angel of mercy cannot
remain much longer to shelter the impenitent. {PK 278.1}
"Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her
blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21. The storm of
God's wrath is gathering; and those only will stand who respond to the
invitations of mercy, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh under the preaching of
Jonah, and become sanctified through obedience to the laws of the divine Ruler.
The righteous alone shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation be
overpast. Let the language of the soul be:
"Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, O, leave me not alone!
Still support and comfort me.
"Hide me, O my Saviour, hide!
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!" {PK 278.2}
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"The Assyrian Captivity"
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