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God Forgave Nineveh Through Jonah

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Jonah 3:10[NIV]

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.

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The people in Nineveh sinned much before God.

So God decided to punish the city of Nineveh.

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God came to meet the prophet Jonah in the land of Israel.

"Jonah, go to the city of Nineveh and say that it will be destroyed after 40 days."

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Jonah, who received the order of God, did not want to go to Nineveh.

Because he didn’t want to be punished from other people, so he violated God's order and decided to run away.

He went to the port of Joppa to ride a ship.

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At that time in the port there was a ship which was going to Tarshish. Jonah was thinking that it was lucky and gave a fee for riding a ship and went down to the most bottom of the ship. Jonah thought God would not find him if he went to that place.

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The ship that Jonah was on departed to Tarshish.

There were no waves and it was a nice day to set sail.

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When the ship was in the middle of the sea from the port, God suddenly let loose a storm.

The ship that Jonah was on was trapped in a great storm.

The ship almost sank because of the great storm.

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People started to throw the baggage overboard to make the ship lighter.

At last, they became so desperate that they decided to survive by praying to every different god in whom they believed.

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But Jonah did not know anything and slept deeply at the bottom of the ship.

The captain awoke Jonah and said in an angry voice,

"Wake up and pray to your god to save us."

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People decided to draw lots to find out the one who was the cause of the storm.

And Jonah was picked by those lots. God made Jonah the one to be picked.

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Only then, did Jonah confess. "God punished me by what I have done to Him.

If you throw me overboard into the sea the storm will be still. "

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So the people threw Jonah into the sea for survival.

God prepared a huge fish to swallow Jonah.

Jonah was inside the stomach of that huge fish.

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Jonah repented and prayed for 3 days to God inside the stomach of the fish.

Jonah decided to obey God's order and go to Nineveh. So God forgave Jonah.

And ordered the fish to spit him out near the seashore.

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Jonah went to the city of Nineveh directly and started to spread the word of God. "God told me that he will let this city of Nineveh be destroyed after 40 days because of all of your sins. This city will receive great punishment from God after 40 days."

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After they heard what Jonah said, everyone, from the king down to the lowest person of Nineveh, began to repent towards God. Everybody sought for the forgiveness from God without eating. Everybody sincerely confessed their faults and sought God’s forgiveness.

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At first, Jonah disobeyed God's order because he did not know about God's mind. But God never gave up on Jonah and used him to make 12 million people from the city of Nineveh to be forgiven and not to be punished. What God really wants is not to punish us because of our sins, but he wants us to repent and come back to Him.

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Today, God wants to use us for the work of God just like what he had done to Jonah. When God calls us and gives us a job which looks too hard to do, we should be faithful obedient children who obey God and believe that He will help us and protect us. Start to obey God with the smaller matters now and then later He can let you do bigger things for His Glory!