I laugh each time I read the account of Jonah and his warning to Nineveh. It is funny when we can look from a safe distance back in time, and are removed from the immediate circumstances. But, Jonah had very real feelings about what God had told him to do, and most of us today have those same feelings. I really marvel at God’s loving patience.
It took Jonah three days to travel to Nineveh after being spit out by the great fish. (We don’t know that it was a whale, as the Bible does not say what kind of fish.) Then, once Jonah arrived at Nineveh, it took another day to walk into the city itself. (Jon. 3:1-4)
Nineveh was a large city of its time with over 120,000 people whom God described as not knowing their right hand from their left hand (Jon. 4:10). Though we casually use these words today to describe very uneducated, ignorant people, that does not necessarily agree with history’s description of the trained and skilled people of Nineveh.
The people of Nineveh made several contributions to the progress of mankind including locks and keys, paved roads, the first postal system, the first libraries, the first plumbing, flushing toilets and aqueducts, and a few other inventions.
So, God was most likely speaking of young, innocent children; ones who had not yet learned the difference between their right and left hands. It’s probably best not to assume that the 120,000 people was indicative of the total population. Most likely the population was many times larger.
Located about 250 miles north of Babylon, on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, Nineveh was known in the ancient world as the center of the idolatrous worship of the fertility goddess Ishtar (Astarte). They practiced “sacred prostitution” and employed the use of drugged wines and other intoxicating herbs in their rituals. (See link at further reading below. See also Nahum 3:1-5)
Sennacherib would later make Nineveh the capital city of Assyria, about 705 BC. But, Jonah’s mission to Nineveh occurred most probably during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of the northern tribes of Israel from 793 – 753 BC. This places God’s warning to Nineveh about 150 – 180 years before Nineveh fell to the Babylonians and Medes about 612 BC.
They were a brutal people, whose kings insured peace by violently punishing rebellions. Descriptions of the consequences are upsetting, including flaying and skinning their prisoners and nailing the skins to the walls of the city, posting their heads before the gates of the city to rot, cutting out their eyes and tongues, bleeding them dry, crucifying them, and walling them up alive to slowly die.
We are looking at the biggest bully of the local neighborhood, a corrupting influence upon the surrounding nations, one of which was Israel. Jonah had cause to dislike and even hate Nineveh. They were murderers, thieves, idolaters, practicing much wickedness. Jonah knew they were deserving of death and he wanted justice to prevail.
We can bring this closer to home with a simple analogy. Suppose you live on a nicely appointed street, your neighborhood is civil, your neighbors kind, and most are living in peace. But, down the street a new family moves in, and they turn out to be drug dealers, with all the violence and prostitution it brings. Now, there are cars parked along both sides of the street, and people going in and out at all hours of the day and night.
Soon, your children begin displaying signs of drug use. Soon, others go missing. Then, police are constantly raiding the house, and the neighborhood is descending into chaos. You just want your children and your neighborhood to be safe again, and you want the police or the authorities to get rid of that family who is destroying your children and your peace. You want to see them go to jail and to be punished. Right?
While some commentators speculate that Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh was due to fear of the king and his violent military generals, I believe Jonah’s anger is a more prevailing indicator of his attitude. He just did not want God to have mercy upon those very wicked people. He would rather that God had struck them down. He even told God, in so many words, that he had predicted the outcome.
Jon. 4:1-3, ” But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” ” (NKJV)
Paraphrasing….. See, I knew this would happen! I told you so.
Jonah was so angry that God had shown mercy upon those wicked people who were deserving of death, that he went out of the city to sulk and pout.
God created a plant to provide shade for Jonah while he sulked and pouted. Some translations say a “gourd plant”, others a poisonous castor bean plant. While there might be some merit in the contrast of Jonah’s benefiting from a poisonous plant, the real point to consider is his reaction to its withering away.
Jon. 4:10-11, ” 10 But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”” (NKJV)
Jonah had more compassion and pity for a plant that had provided him shade than for any of the innocent children in Nineveh.
And, isn’t that just what many of us are doing today? So many people are calling for the end of the world; they are clamoring for God to do something to end the wickedness that surrounds us, and which seems close to overwhelming us. So many people are turning their desire for justice and recompense into a call for God to come in judgment, even up to and including destroying the entire world in an “end of the world” scenario which is nowhere depicted in the scriptures.
They are waiting for God to bring world-wide destruction even though it would mean the death of many innocent people, and deprive God of souls that would otherwise turn to Him. It is not only NOT God’s plan, it is very short sighted.
God knows who His people are, and He knows who else may be coming along that are not yet here, and that we are not yet aware of, or those wicked who may yet repent and turn back to Him.
Ezek. 18: 23, “ Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”
John 10:2-4, ” But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”
By praying for a final judgment to come, or praying for a nation to be destroyed, praying for a “second coming” end of the world, you are in essence assuming Christ’s role of judge. Who are we to do so?
All of us will stand before Him. All of the wicked are going to answer to Him for what they have done, even if it must wait for their death. They are not going to get away with anything. He will take care of the nations that are wicked, and of those that will not repent of their sins. We have the example from the Old Testament.
Jer. 12:16-17, ” 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. 17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.”
If the United States and Israel continue in their sins, that is exactly what will happen to them both.
But, until God has determined that judgment, how many innocent lives will you deny in your thirst for His judgment to come? How many are you willing should die and be denied the opportunity to answer the gospel call of Christ?
Would you consider, please, that the end-times teaching in which you may have been indoctrinated, is from these very same wicked people who think of themselves as elite, intelligentsia, and more worthy than all the rest of us?
Would you consider, please, that by following their teaching of some future Armageddon WWIII battle, that you are playing into their hands, and into their conspired and deliberate designs for death and destruction of a major part of the world population?
They have twisted the word of God into a future prophesy that God never foretold. Revelation is not about the end of the world, and we are not in the last days. The evil ones are using your fears against you. The Bible does not teach about a reign of Christ on earth, and it does not teach about a rapture, and it does not teach about the end of the world.
The proof from the scriptures that we are not in the “last days” are listed in the previous posts Daniel and The End Times, and in the series of It’s Not The End of The World, Part I – X; The Whore of Babylon; The Beast of Revelation; the eight parts of The Signs of Revelation and others at the right margin.
Sources: KJV, Young’s, and the NKJV. All bold emphasis is mine.
Edited April 4, 2024 – updated links.
Further reading:
Shredding The Veil 
Revelation is not about the end of the world, and we are not in the last days. The evil ones are using your fears against you. The Bible does not teach about a reign of Christ on earth, and it does not teach about a rapture, and it does not teach about the end of the world.
Liar, Liar pants on fire. You are in the last days and the rapture is Sept. 23rd, 2017. Creation ofthe earth was in 4004 BCE or 4001 BCE which makes the Earth 6033 years of age. 3983 BCE-6000 years =2017 year = Psalms 117 which is 2 verses and refers to Deliverance from Babylon. Deliverance means freedom, liberty, or Jubilee (Isa 61:1-2). 2017 is the 120th Jubilee since Creation, the 70th Jubilee from 1441-1446 BCE and the 40th Jubilee from Yeshua’s death.
2017 2018 Psalm 117 118
Leviticus 23 Feast Dates and Second Coming (Jardalkalatgmail.blogspot.com)
Nibiru and Isaiah 24 (Jardalkalataol.blogspot.com)
Both blogs have dates from Creation to 3017. Both deal with signs in the Sun, Moon, and Stars. Both partially deal with Leviticus 23. John Ashcraft, Albuquerque, NM on facebook.
What do these years have in common? Abraham’s birth (1947 BCE) +2017 years = 70 CE Destruction of the Temple; Matt 24:1-2) + 1947 years = 2017. 6th day war 1967+50 years = 2017. Battle of Jerusalem 1917+100 years = 2017. Israel became a nation in 1948 1 to 2 days prior to Pentecost (Matt 24:32; Psalm 90:10) but the proclamation went out in 1947+70 years = 2017. Judah ben Samuel Prophecy 1517-1917, 1917-1967, 1967-2017 The Messiah comes and Armageddon. Woman clothed with the Sun in 2017 (Day of Trumpet with Virgo and Leo). Giza Pyramid Lineup of 2017 (Day of Trumpet). August 21 (4th day event) Solar Eclipse over North America (Propheciesoftheendtimes.com) in 2017. 2017 minus generations 38, 40, 50, 70, 80, 100, and 120 line up to significant events with Israel. Miracle of the Sun (Oct. 13th, 1917) +100 years = 2017. (It was on the 7th Day of Feast of Tabernacles). Psalm 117= 2017
4 views of September 23, 2017
End of Humanity and Armageddon on the Day of Atonement (Rev 14:20ff; Rev 15 Day of Atonement Typology; Rev 16/19 Armageddon)
Beginning of the Day of the Lord which is a one year event according to Isaiah and covers both the Trumpet and Bowl Judgments and ends on the Day of Atonement with Armageddon.
Mid point of the 7 year tribulation.
Beginning of the 7 year Tribulation
The problem I have with numbers 3 and 4 is that if the beginning heavenly sign begins in the 7th month such as 5 planets lining up in a row on the 7th Day of Feast of Tabernacles in 2010, then the end sign 7 years later should be on the Day of Trumpet according to Revelation 12:1 and 11 –7th Trumpet and the only one between 2017 and 2100 + is the one on Sept. 23rd, 2017.
Day of Trumpet –rapture (Lev 23:24-25; Zeph 1:14-16—Day of the Lord is a Day of Trumpet and Alarm; Matthew 24:31 (Day of Trumpet; I Cor 15:52 (Day of Trumpet); I Thess 4:16-18 (Day of Trumpet); Rev 6:12-17 (Day of Trumpet/Day of Atonement); Rev 11:15 ff-Day of Trumpet Typology; Rev 12:1 (Virgo/Leo, Sept 20-23, 2017.
Sept 20/21 Rapture
Sept 23 Restrainer taken away and Antichrist (Obama) comes on full force including the Mark of the Beast
Day of Atonement (Lev 23:25-36; Joel 2:15; Rev 6:12-17; Rev. 8:5 (global earthquake—axial poleshift); Rev 14:20ff; Rev 15—Day of Atonement Typology; Rev 16/19 Marriage of Groom to Bride and Armageddon (Joel 3—Valley of Decision/Jehoshaphat).
Sukkot 1/Feast of Tabernacles 1 Trumpet Judgment 1 Meteorite storm blankets 1/3rd of the earth (all of North and South America is 1/3rd of the earth). Feast of Tabernacles is also known as the Millennium/Messianic Kingdom/7th Day.
After that each Trumpet Judgment and then the Bowl Judgment should be poured on either on Rosh Chodesh (first sliver of the New Moon) or on the Full Moon.
Christians teach this Day of the Lord will occur over a seven year period. What is shorter? Is 360/365 days shorter or 1260 days or 2550 days? If the Exodus 10 plagues can be poured out over a 5 month period why should it take 12 Judgments to be poured out over a 7 year period?
The Day of the Lord
Prophecies about the coming Day of the Lord can be found in the writings of many of the Old Testament prophets, and Isaiah is no exception. This subject is covered from chapters 2 to 66. Unlike the dualism of the prophecies to Israel and Judah, most prophecies about the Day of the Lord are for an event yet to come. These foretell a time of awesome and frightening events leading to the return of Christ. Many people think of it as “the end of the world,” although it is really just the end of this present evil age.
Isaiah explains that the Day of the Lord will last for one year (Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 61:2; Isaiah 63:4). The principle of a day for a year in prophecy also applies to the Day of the Lord (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6). It is the year of the “Lord’s vengeance” or God’s wrath (Revelation 6:17). Other verses: Deut 24:4; John 6:40, 44,54 –Last Day = Last year.
In the earlier chapters on this subject (2, 13 and 24), Isaiah describes the effects of God’s wrath on this world. Men will hide in caves in terror (Isaiah 2:19-21), the earth will be shaken and possibly moved from its orbit (Isaiah 13:13), and the earth will become almost empty and a total waste (Isaiah 24:1, 3, 6). Isaiah also speaks of the Day of the Lord as a time of war (Isaiah 31:8-9). These events are also described in the seven trumpets of Revelation 8-9.
God further reveals through Isaiah that the “daughter of Babylon” will be destroyed in the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 47:1, 5, 7, 9). These verses are almost identical to those of Revelation 18:7-8, 17-19, 21. This Babylon is the final end-time government and its religious system that will be destroyed at Messiah’s return.
The time of God’s wrath will come to an end when “the great trumpet will be blown” (Isaiah 27:13) and Jesus Christ will return to the earth (Revelation 11:15—7th trumpet; Rev 12:1 Day of Trumpet with Leo and Virgo).
While the Day of the Lord often focuses on the wrath of God (the punishment that will come upon the disobedient for one year before Christ returns), this term is also used in a broader way by John in Revelation 1:10 to describe all the events—including the wrath of God, the Millennium and events thereafter—that will occur after Christ’s return. Virtually every Old Testament prophet who warned of God’s judgment on the Day of the Lord also spoke of restored peace and prosperity that will follow the judgment.
So according to Isaiah the Day of the Lord lasts one year or 360 Biblical days.
This time of God’s special intervention known primarily as The Day of the Lord has been referred to by other terms in scripture, such as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7); His Strange Work/Act (Isa. 28:21); the Day of Israel’s Calamity (Deut. 32:35); the Indignation (Isa. 26:20; Dan. 11:36); the Overflowing Scourge (Isa. 28:15, 18); the Day of Vengeance (Isa. 34:8; 35:4; 61:2); the Day of Wrath/Distress/Wasteness/Desolation (Zeph. 1:15); the Day of Darkness/Thick Darkness/Gloominess (Zeph. 1:15, Joel 2:2); the Day of Trumpet and Alarm (Zeph. 1:16); the hour of trial (Rev. 3:10); the Wrath to Come (1 Thess. 1:10); the Wrath (1 Thess. 5:9), and the Hour of His Judgment (Rev. 14:7) and Lord’s Day in Revelation.
In some instances, the Day of the Lord, due to its unique nature and importance, has been referred to as simply “that day” (Isa. 2:11, 17; 2:20; 4:2; Joel 3:18; Mark 13:32; Luke 21:34; 2 Tim. 1:12, 18; 4:8), and Day of the Lord in the major prophets.
Other verses: I Thess 5:1-3 5:1 Seasons=Gen 1:14 Seasons = Lev. 23/25.
Rev 2:10 Ten Days of Tribulation =10 years of tribulation from Day of Trumpet to Day of Trumpet, then to Day of Trumpet to Day of Atonement. These are called the Days of Awe.
Planet X/El Shaddai (destroy)/The Destroyer/ Nibiru
This red dwarf or brown drawf star giant with 7 planets will bring in the Trumpet and Bowl Judgments of Revelation. The timeframe is Sept 23rd 2017 to Sept 30th, 2018.
These Judgments are:
Trumpet 1: Horrific hail and fire, 1/3 of plants burned up. (Rev 8:7) Day of the Trumpet (Lev 23:24ff), Meteorites. Rev 6:13; Affects Day 3 of Genesis 1. 10 Plagues: Exod 9:23-25.
Trumpet 2: Meteorite/Volcano explodes in the ocean, 1/3 ships and sea life destroyed. (Rev 8:8,9) Affects Day 5 of Genesis 1. Exod 8:20-21.
Trumpet 3: Comet explodes on the earth, 1/3 of fresh water poisoned, many men die. (Rev 8:10,11) Wormwood. Bolides or aerolites. Affects Day 6 of Genesis 1. (Isa_14:12; Jer_9:15; Exo_15:23).
Trumpet 4: 1/3 of sunlight removed. (Rev 8:12) Affects Day 4 of Genesis 1. (Exo_10:21-23)
Trumpet 5: First woe—Demon locusts, men tortured. (Rev 8:13-9:12, Ezekiel, Isaiah) C.E.R.N. Project. Isa 13:2-3 Emblem has a triple 6 and a dual 6. (Exo_10:12-15; Joe_2:3; Joe_2:4-10) (Rev_22:16; Rev_1:18)
Trumpet 6: Second woe—Demon army, 1/3 of men die. (Rev 9:13-21) CERN Project 2015 September/October (Gen_15:18; 1Ki_4:21; Isa_8:5-8; Hab_1:5-10)
Ministry of 2 witnesses ended. (Rev 11:1-13).
Trumpet 7: Third woe—7 Vial Judgments. (Rev 11:14-19)
Vial 1: Boils on men. (Rev 16:1,2)
Vial 2: Sea turned to blood. (Rev 16:3) Pacific Ocean?? Fukushimi accident??
Vial 3: Freshwater turned to blood. (Rev 16:4-7) Began in 2012 and continues to present with different rivers turning to blood.
Vial 4: Great heat. (Rev 16:8,9) 500 to 1000 degrees or enough to melt the elements. 16 hour days. israel.html;
Vial 5: Darkness. (Rev 16:10,11) 3 days of darkness July 21-23 (Sabbath to Rosh Chodesh) Friday to Sunday or Saturday to Monday).
Vial 6: Euphrates dries up. (Rev 16:12-16)
LikeLike
Name calling? Really? You have just repeated back to me all of the propaganda the enemies of God have developed to deceive the nations. Did you read any of the previous posts on this blog to see the scriptural proofs I have offered. You need to start over, and go to the first post bottom right margin, Part I of It’s Not The End of The World to check your what you currently believe. If you are honest with yourself, I think you will be surprised.
LikeLike
Well said! Many Christians are following a script that was written by their enemies and not the Lord!
LikeLike
Thank you, Ron. Yes, most are not aware that they are walking a path prepared by the enemies of God. The wicked ones have been very successful over the last one hundred years or so of blinding people.
LikeLike
Thank you Lord for this post. Many times my heart breaks when I am seeing online the hidden narrative of destruction that Lordship salvation, dispensationalism cause. I am in so much pain that being raised in a Christian home means nothing. It is almost worst. Christianity is breading skepticism and atheism and a worldview that is more closely connected to the old. The house of bondage. They think that apologetics is going to hold the world accountable. It’s really pushing people further from the simplicity of Christ and the Gospel.
LikeLike