This daily Bible reading contains the account of God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh, a very large city of 120,000 people. Jonah was to tell the people to turn from their wicked ways. Evidently, Nineveh was a city steeped in sin, much like Sodom and Gomorrah. God was intending to destroy Nineveh for its wickedness, but He was giving them a chance to change their ways.
Jonah resisted God and tried to run away because Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh. Jonah boarded a ship sailing from Joppa. God then caused a great storm which led to Jonah being thrown overboard to appease God. However, God saved Jonah by having a great fish swallow Jonah and bring Jonah to the seashore near Nineveh.
Jonah then obeyed God and went to Nineveh. Jonah told the people to repent of their wickedness or God would destroy them. The people and their king believed what Jonah told them, and they repented. The king commanded the people to pray and fast for God’s mercy. They did so, and God relented concerning the calamity with which He had declared He would bring upon them.
Jonah was not happy with the outcome, but God told Jonah that the people of Nineveh did not know right from wrong. However, after they became aware, their response was to repent from doing wrong. Had they not repented they would have been destroyed. They did repent and were spared. God’s mercy is indeed very great.
