Contemplative Bible Reading

Jonah 4:10-11 (New Living Translation)

¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. ¹¹ But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

I find that the (hi)story of Jonah to be one of the more enlightening ones in the Bible. Here, at the end of the (hi)story, Jehovah God tells Jonah that the great city of Ninevah had 120,000 persons living in spiritual darkness. God wanted Jonah to show them spiritual light—to show them Jehovah God the Creator.

Back up a bit. Nineveh is the capitol of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians, no doubt, killed, murdered, raped, pillaged, and plundered the know world on their way to become the great Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians killed etc. more than needed in the land of Jacob’s descendants.

Jonah hated these people for what they had done to his people.

Still, Jehovah shows his pity for these people living in spiritual darkness. He sends Jonah—the most effective evangelist in recorded history. Jonah “converted” 120,000 people in a few days without TV, Radio, or the Internet.

Jehovah shows pity for me—a little guy who tries to live in spiritual light, but tends to fall behind too often. Thank you God for your grace shown to all; grace shown to the people of Nineveh, and grace shown to me.