To all those who would seek to take justice into their own hands – both Christian and non-Christian alike – and would call for violence and revolution, beware the lessons of Jonah! If you are Christian, consider this carefully. But if you are not, do not dismiss this warning. Find a Christian friend who you know to be strong in their faith and to know their Scripture and ask them to explain. But to all who are seeking to take matters into their own hands in this nation, to those who are calling for revolution, you will bring desolation down upon this nation if you do not stop! Turn back and seek the Lord. Trust in Him and not your own efforts. Follow the example of this nation’s founders, and of the leaders of Nineveh!
Many know that the story of Jonah involves a whale, but few know the full story. Jonah was sent by God to warn Nineveh to repent or face His judgment. But before we look at what this implies for America today, we must look at the setting of the times. Israel had just regained the Northern Kingdom, and she was feeling smug and complacent. She thought she enjoyed God’s favor and that no harm could befall her, so she turned her religion toward expectation of “The Day of the Lord”—judgment day! Israel believed that this would be the day when God would destroy all other nations and leave Israel alone to bask in the light. But Israel was wrong! She did not realize that she had been neglecting her part of God’s covenant with her. As a result, Israel would soon be sent into exile again, this time beyond Damascus (i.e. Assyria).
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the same Assyria that God’s prophets were warning Israel would come against them for neglecting their part of God’s covenant. So, when God told Jonah to go and warn Nineveh of impending doom, Jonah – seeing Assyria as an enemy of Israel – tried to run the other way. This is where the whale comes into the picture. God took hold of Jonah and forced him to deliver his warning to Nineveh, where the leaders of Nineveh took the warning seriously and led their people in repentance and seeking the Lord’s forgiveness. For this reason, God spared Nineveh – but not Israel. Why? God did not spare Israel because Israel did not repent and seek the Lord.
Here is the warning in this message for America today. Think of Washington D.C. as Israel. It has forgotten its part of the Social Contract: the Constitution. It is looking now only to the time when it can seize all power in this nation. We, the People, need to be Nineveh. Not that we need to see ourselves as an enemy of Washington, but as the instrument of God’s judgment against a Washington that has gone bad. But before we can be that instrument, we must follow Nineveh’s example and repent. We must turn back from violence and trusting our own efforts and seek the favor and assistance of the Lord. We must follow our founders example, who were following the examples of Scripture – and said so. The Lord is a God of justice and of laws. He abhors lawlessness. We must use the law to right the wrongs that have been forced upon us, but to do that, we must become righteous again. And righteousness comes from submission to God. Unless we repent and seek to get right with the Lord, we will fail in anything we do to set things right because we will be as wrong as those who have been wronging us. Two wrongs do not make a right, and a lesser evil is still evil.
So, be warned: we must turn from violence and lawlessness and humble ourselves before God. We must repent of our ways and seek to restore the covenant our founders made with God which led to this nation and our early prosperity. Anything less than this and anything other than this will bring desolation to this nation, and it will come suddenly!
The Oil for Your Lamp 