Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

This daily devotion is presented with a "prophetic perspective" each day for your consideration. Today as we read Jonah 3, the "prophetic perspective" is the underlying theme of this passage.

After Jonah is "vomited" upon the "dry land", Jonah 2:10, the reluctant Jewish prophet makes his way to Nineveh where he enters the city with the message that God had given him. Jonah cried out, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown", verse 4.

Let me remind you that Nineveh was a well-fortified city with two high and wide walls around the city. The scholars tell us that the walls were around 100 feet high and about 50 feet wide. This was a well-fortified Gentile city and to have a Jew come tell them of a coming destruction seems to be beyond what that lonely man could do.

Basically that is the case, this wasn't just a man, he was a man of God with God's message to sinful people. Our reading, verse 5 tells us that the people of Nineveh "believed God". There was a major "revival" that would follow and even the King, verse 6, repented and gave a decree for all the people to honor God.

The desire of all those people in Nineveh was that God might not bring judgment upon them,verse 9. Verse 10 tells us that God did stop His hand of destruction on the city and the people of Nineveh.

Let the record show however, that the people of Nineveh did go back to their sinful ways and God destroyed the city around 150 years after Jonah’s ministry there, (see Nahum).

Now, to that underlying theme for the "Last Days" found in our passage for today. The prophetic Scriptures reveal to us that God will raise-up Jewish evangelists in the Last Days to go to the Gentile world.

Revelation 11:3 and following tells us of "two witnesses" who will preach to the world from Jerusalem in the first half of the Tribulation Period and at least one of them will be Elijah, Malachi 4:5, a Jewish man.

A result of these "two witnesses" preaching, 144,000 male virgin Jews, 12,000 each from the 12 tribes of Israel, Revelation 7:4-9, will have an evangelistic ministry for all seven years of the Tribulation. The outcome of their ministry is a multitude of people being saved.

Jonah was only a prototype of these evangelists to come. The practical lesson for each of us today is that we can be a part of God's plan if we obey Him all along the way.

How can they be saved unless they hear and how can they hear unless we go with the message. It is a message of salvation to some and a warning to be prepared for the Rapture for others. By the way, that Rapture could happen today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Help us Lord to do the ministry of reaching lost people with the message of salvation before it is eternally too late.