-Nineveh: A Lesson In God’s Longsuffering

The story of Nineveh begins very early in Scripture. Shortly after the Flood, mankind, “although they knew God … did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful.” The result was that they “became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:21-22 NKJV). This turning from God soon led to idolatry and immorality.

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.

Jonah 3:2

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Its Beginning

The story of Nineveh begins very early in Scripture. Shortly after the Flood, mankind, “although they knew God … did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful.” The result was that they “became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:21-22 NKJV). This turning from God soon led to idolatry and immorality.

According to Genesis 10, an early leader among the people was Nimrod, whose name means, “we will rebel.” We read that “he began to be a mighty one on the earth.” He is referred to as “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” the expression “before the Lord” having the significance of “in defiance of the Lord.” A hunter is usually seen as a contrast to a shepherd in God’s Word. Godly kings and leaders among God’s people are often presented as shepherds. From being a hunter, Nimrod went on to become a hunter of men, or a warrior.

Many have concluded from Genesis 10 and 11 that he was a leader in the rebellion against God’s will that led to the construction of the Tower of Babel. At any rate, Nimrod became the first king and the first empire builder in Scripture. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel (or Babylon), and one of the cities later founded by him was Nineveh, some 300 miles north of Babylon on the Tigris River. God’s Word records and seemingly does nothing about these things, passing on to the story of Abraham whom He called out of this background and culture.

Its Ongoing History

In time, Nineveh became the capital of the Assyrian Empire and a huge city, both in area and in population. In Jonah’s day God’s Word records that there were more than 120,000 little children in this great city, “persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left — and much livestock” (Jon. 4:11). Thus Nineveh may have had a population of as many as 600,000 to 1,000,000 people. Ancient writers speak of greater Nineveh as having been at least 30 miles long and 10-14 miles wide, having swallowed up several cities that were originally cities in their own right.

Nineveh can be regarded as typical of the world in its haughty pride, glorying in its prowess. The Assyrians were known for their fierce cruelty to the peoples they subjugated. As they expanded their empire, they ultimately became a menace first to Israel and then also to Judah. Isaiah 36-37 portrays to us the proud boastfulness of the Assyrians and their defiance of the true God, whom they classified with the idols of the nations whom they had conquered. God destroyed their mighty host by a single angel in one night, and their king had to return to Nineveh in confusion and shame. There, in the temple of his idol, he was assassinated by two of his sons.

God’s Warning Through Jonah

Earlier, God had used the prophet Jonah of Gath-Hepher in Galilee to foretell the blessing and expansion of the kingdom of Israel (2 Ki. 14:25). He was also told to “arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness” had come up before God (Jon. 1:1-2). The story is well known, even to children, how Jonah attempted to flee to Tarshish, a distant place in exactly the opposite direction, to avoid carrying out God’s command. Knowing God’s character, how He delights to forgive rather than to punish, Jonah was concerned about his reputation as a prophet (Jon. 4:2-3; Dt. 18:20-22). God had to deal severely with him before Jonah finally obeyed and went to Nineveh.

Proceeding into Nineveh, Jonah “cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” (Jon. 3:4). We don’t know to what degree Jonah’s outward appearance, after being in the belly of the great fish, may have impressed the Ninevites. But we are told that “the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them” (Jon. 3:5). According to Hebrews 11:6, “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The king himself “arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.” He issued a public decree that man and cattle were all to fast, cover themselves with sackcloth, cry mightily to God, and turn from their evil ways and violence (Jon. 3:6-9).

God saw the reality of their repentance: “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jon 3:10). So God ever speaks to wicked men, denouncing the evil of their ways and warning them of sure judgment to come. Yet He has no pleasure in judgment. In Isaiah 28:21 we read of judgment as being “His work, His awesome work … His act, His unusual act.” He assures us that He does not delight in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from their ways and live (Ezek. 18:23,32). The 40 days till Nineveh’s threatened overthrow passed without God executing His judgment upon the city. God spared Nineveh and Jonah had to learn God’s grace and pity, and the book he later wrote justifies God and condemns himself.

God’s Righteous Judgment — Nahum And Zephaniah

As is so often the case, it didn’t take long before Nineveh went right back to its old ways. This always makes the case more serious. One divine principle we must learn is that “if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor” (Gal. 2:18). And transgressors must be punished.

Still, God takes His time. As with mankind in Genesis 6 and with the Amorites in Genesis 15:16, God ever allows iniquity to ripen fully before executing His just judgment upon it. How great is His longsuffering with wicked mankind! But 150 years after Jonah’s day, God pronounces His final sentence upon Nineveh, that city of blood, in eloquent, fiery language through His prophet Nahum, and confirming it briefly through Zephaniah (Zeph. 2:13-15). This is part of His long-deferred judgment upon the arrogance and haughtiness of the Assyrians, whom He terms “the rod of My anger” (Isa. 10:5). The Assyrians had lifted themselves up against God who had been using them for the chastisement of Israel. Nineveh “said in her heart, ‘I am it, and there is none besides me’” (Zeph. 2:15) — an arrogance God will not tolerate forever.

A holy God had used this plundering, cruel, bloody city to lead Israel into captivity and to greatly chastise Judah. The book of Nahum shows God’s, not Nineveh’s, greatness in creation — and the power of His anger. Yet it presents the Lord as “good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” and says, “He knows those who trust in Him” (Nah. 1:7). He then points out in lyric, graphic language how severely God would punish His enemies, specifically Nineveh! Its destruction is detailed in vivid, yet tremendously accurate poetry, showing that God was well aware of all the details of what this people had done throughout the course of their history as well as of their motives in so doing.

The terrible destruction of Nineveh predicted by the prophet very literally came to pass not many years afterwards. The warfare the Assyrians had carried far and wide was brought to their own capital city. Through an inexplicable rising of the Tigris River, a part of the great wall around the city was destroyed, and so also the palace of their king. The invading Medes and their allies then broke into the city and devastated it. Nineveh is reminded of all that it had done, and it becomes evident that the principle, “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap,” which is later enunciated in Galatians 6:7, is applicable not only to individuals, but also to nations and other collective groups of people.

God’s longsuffering, which had extended through so many centuries of Nineveh’s proud wickedness, finally came to an irrevocable end. His righteous judgment fell. By His command, Nineveh’s name was to “be perpetuated no longer” (Nah. 1:14). For many centuries the site of the great city of Nineveh, unlike that of many other ancient cities, was completely lost from sight. Only in recent times have archeologists again discovered it. Their excavations have merely confirmed how Nahum’s prophecy was literally fulfilled, something which ancient historians had also written of, but which many had strongly questioned.

And Today?

God’s longsuffering with regard to sinful mankind continues because He desires their salvation (2 Pet. 3:9). But tremendous judgment, a judgment of fire, is in the future for this impenitent world. This is absolutely sure. Yet while He is waiting in tremendous longsuffering, God patiently appeals to man to flee from the wrath to come. He still encourages His suffering people, telling them, “Behold, on the mountains the feet of Him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!” (Nah. 1:15). Let’s not neglect these vital lessons found in the brief but often overlooked books of Jonah and Nahum along with all the Scripture passages that go with them.

By Eugene Vedder

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA.

Website: www.gtpress.org

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