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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuuZMg6NVeA
I'm sitting here watching this video and thinking to myself, is this what it was like in Nineveh?
Take away the traffic lights.
Take out the cars.
Take out the tall buildings.
Is this how the Ninevites accepted the words of Jonah? Did they turn with one accord and give praise to their God and Creator; to our God and Creator in such a manner? Did our loving Father and God and Creator hear such praise being sung from the hearts of the people as Jonah explained their soon coming destruction because of their wickedness.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw
May God bless the children of God as they also consider the truth of God. I often give pause to conjure an image of what those living in the days of God's mighty works would have looked like. The actual reality of the life of those living in those days.
Consider the shepherds in the field when the host of heaven burst forth from a quiet and darkened sky to proclaim the birth of our Savior. I imagine that like a group of shepherds might have done every night in their vigil of watching over their charges, that they sat around small fires that they had burning. Maybe in a group of a few with some off by themselves doing whatever it was that they would do to wile away the hours of quiet. Some probably sleeping on the ground covered by a blanket and some sitting around a fire making small talk and keeping each other company through the watch.
Suddenly, with no apparent warning an angel of God appears before them. The shepherds would begin to cower in fear of who or what this apparition that all of them were seeing before their eyes could mean. Those asleep would be immediately wakened by the sudden disturbance and sit up and some jumping up ready to defend themselves and their charges. All with a feeling of foreboding and trepidation of what was about to happen to them.
But the angel, understanding their fear attempts to calm them, "Fear not. I bring you good tidings of great joy." Yet still fearful of the unknown and what lay ahead, they are not readily put at ease. The angel continues, "Tonight, in the city of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. You will find him lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes."
Maybe by now they would begin to relax their nervousness. Some looking at the others in the gathering wondering to themselves if they were hearing and seeing the same thing. But then again, without warning the dark night sky lit up with a whole host of angels proclaiming the glory of God to them before their very eyes and ears.
What exactly would I have seen if I had been out in that field? They stood among themselves and nervously and excitedly discussed what they had just seen. One saying, "Did you see that?" Looking from one to the other to confirm that what they had just witnessed really happened. Then as the message that the angel had delivered to them began to sink in and they were confirming it one with another, one speaks up and says, "Let us go into Bethlehem and tell the people what we have just witnessed. Let us go find this child that the angel spoke of. Let us see if this thing we've all seen really happened or are we all just somehow deluded."
And so they leave their flocks, maybe they were all so excited that they all went leaving no one to tend the flocks. Maybe they took the time to pick one or two to stay behind and mind the flocks. Then the rest head quickly into the city still discussing excitedly what they had seen and heard. What was it really like on that night in that field?
What we do know is that when they reached the manger and found the child and recounted their great story, that Mary treasured all these things in her heart. Mary knew.
In Christ, Ted
I'm sitting here watching this video and thinking to myself, is this what it was like in Nineveh?
Take away the traffic lights.
Take out the cars.
Take out the tall buildings.
Is this how the Ninevites accepted the words of Jonah? Did they turn with one accord and give praise to their God and Creator; to our God and Creator in such a manner? Did our loving Father and God and Creator hear such praise being sung from the hearts of the people as Jonah explained their soon coming destruction because of their wickedness.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw
May God bless the children of God as they also consider the truth of God. I often give pause to conjure an image of what those living in the days of God's mighty works would have looked like. The actual reality of the life of those living in those days.
Consider the shepherds in the field when the host of heaven burst forth from a quiet and darkened sky to proclaim the birth of our Savior. I imagine that like a group of shepherds might have done every night in their vigil of watching over their charges, that they sat around small fires that they had burning. Maybe in a group of a few with some off by themselves doing whatever it was that they would do to wile away the hours of quiet. Some probably sleeping on the ground covered by a blanket and some sitting around a fire making small talk and keeping each other company through the watch.
Suddenly, with no apparent warning an angel of God appears before them. The shepherds would begin to cower in fear of who or what this apparition that all of them were seeing before their eyes could mean. Those asleep would be immediately wakened by the sudden disturbance and sit up and some jumping up ready to defend themselves and their charges. All with a feeling of foreboding and trepidation of what was about to happen to them.
But the angel, understanding their fear attempts to calm them, "Fear not. I bring you good tidings of great joy." Yet still fearful of the unknown and what lay ahead, they are not readily put at ease. The angel continues, "Tonight, in the city of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. You will find him lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes."
Maybe by now they would begin to relax their nervousness. Some looking at the others in the gathering wondering to themselves if they were hearing and seeing the same thing. But then again, without warning the dark night sky lit up with a whole host of angels proclaiming the glory of God to them before their very eyes and ears.
What exactly would I have seen if I had been out in that field? They stood among themselves and nervously and excitedly discussed what they had just seen. One saying, "Did you see that?" Looking from one to the other to confirm that what they had just witnessed really happened. Then as the message that the angel had delivered to them began to sink in and they were confirming it one with another, one speaks up and says, "Let us go into Bethlehem and tell the people what we have just witnessed. Let us go find this child that the angel spoke of. Let us see if this thing we've all seen really happened or are we all just somehow deluded."
And so they leave their flocks, maybe they were all so excited that they all went leaving no one to tend the flocks. Maybe they took the time to pick one or two to stay behind and mind the flocks. Then the rest head quickly into the city still discussing excitedly what they had seen and heard. What was it really like on that night in that field?
What we do know is that when they reached the manger and found the child and recounted their great story, that Mary treasured all these things in her heart. Mary knew.
In Christ, Ted
