Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-04-23
REPENTANCE OF NINEvEH.
International Sunday School Lesson
for April 25, 1891.
Especially Arranged from S. S. Quarterly.l

4O4 6APA44 GOg LOOAs
Especially Arranged from S. S. Quarterly.1
LESSON TExE-Jonah 8: lilo.
GOLDEN TExT-The men Of Nineveh shall
rise up in judgment with this generation, and
shall condemn It; for they repented- at the
preaching Of Jonas; and, behold, greater than
Jonas is here.-Luke 1852.
CENTRAL TRUTH.-God forgives those who
believe and repent
TnE-B. c. 800, about During the reign Of
Jeroboam IL Of Israel.
PLACE.-Galilee and Nineveh.
PLACE IN BIBLE HIsTORY.-2 Kings "A: 25.
CIRCUMsTANCEs-Jonahh having been ordered
by God to preach to the Ninevites, had refused,
ard left his country and his prophetic Office
and set sail for Tarsessus. A storm overlook
him; he was thrown into the sea and swallowed
by a great fish, within which he was kept three
days, till he was thoroughly penitent, when ho
was cast ashore. Gods discipline Of his chill
dren ends as soon as its work IS accom-
plished. God loves mercy; he delights in doing
good to all, but the best good is right char
acter an obedient heart, holy life. When
these are attained, or in process Of attainment
then he can add worldly blessings and release.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs.-8 "City OF
three days Journeys" /. G, in circumference
the Jews called twenty miles a days journey.
4. "Began:" started on his tour through the
city, preaching as he went. "A days journey"
going hither and thither in the city for the
whole day. This may have been a specimen
Of other days. "NineYeh shall be oveFthroWn:'
This was the sum Of what he said. Probably
he told them why, and urged them TO repent
The fact that he was sent showed that the
warning was: Overthrow unless You turn
from your evil ways" 3. "Nineveh believed
Cod" believed the message He senti hoped,
too, in His mercy. There would have been no
repentance had they not believed the warn
ing. proclaimed fast" etc: as an express.
sion OF sorrow for sin and q means Of extend
ing and intensifying it. 'SackclOth:' a coarse
rough unpleasant cloth, woven from the coarse
hairs Of the goat. G. 7'For word came unto the
king" he may not have heard Jonah, but the
excitement in the city was intense, and came
70 the ears of the king. s 'Cry nightly unto
Cod" express in words what their outward
forms expressed. Turn everyone from his
evil way" forsalze the sins on account OF
which the calamity was coming. "Nlolence;
the kind Of sin TO which the Ninevltes were
specially addicted. g. ''Who can tell" etc;
they had hope, but were not sure 10. And
God repented:" He changed His purposes Of
destroying the city. He was the same Goa
but they were not in the same position toward
Elm. They had gone out Of the Shadow into
the sunlight; so that the sun shone upon
them but the real change was in them Ana
He did It not:" Nineveh was spared. It in
creased in ssplendor and glory. But in time
the people returned to their sins, and some two
hundred years after this, B. C. COO, Nineveh
was so completely destroyed that even its site
was unknown for more than two thousand
years. (See Nahum 3:5-?, 15-l9)
LESSON COMMENTS.
The repentance of a great heather
city like Nineveh is an event SO unique
that it startles the careful reader. All
the more are we surprised because 1t is
the only instance of the kind in the
word of God, and is not supported by
any secular testimony. There is, how
ever, no testimony from secular history
ayainstit, andthere is Divine testimony
IN its favor. For, besides the narrative
as we have-it in our lesson, we have the
clear Endorsement Of the Saviour Him
self. who declares that the Ninevites
did repent at the preaching of Jonah.
This is enough for anyone who believes
in Christ rs Divine. But for the sake of
any scholars in Bible classes, whose
minds are troubled by the singularity
of the story, and who are therefore in
clined to question its historical truth,
the teacher may well spend some time
on this point.
This story is no stranger or more
unique than that Of the degradation OF
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as
told in Daniel I. If we had no secular
testimony with regard to that strange
event, we might be tempted to feel
about it as some do about the repentance
of Nineveh. But when we find in an in
scription by Nebuchadnezzar himself
the following. we recognize the rclia-
4 ssTH0T-
Cp) the seat of the kingdom did not re-
ioice my heart. In all my dominion l
did not build an high place Of power.
The precious treasures of my kingdom
I did not lay up. In Babylon, build
ings for myself and the honor Of my
kingdom did not lay out. In the wor-
ship of Merodach, my lord, the JOY Of
nv heart, in Babylon, the city of his
sovereignty, and the seat of my empire,
did not sing his praises, I did not fur
nish his affairs with victims, nor did
clean out the canals" Commenting on
this remarkable inscription George
| Rawlinson says: I'VE can scarcely i'm
agine anything that would account for
it but some such extraordinary malady
as that recorded in Daniel" Yet until
| very recently the narrative of Daniel
had no support and proof of reliability
outside of the sacred Word. Men might
have said: ''This story is so unique and
| improbable that we can hardly credit
it." Now since Gods word has been
proved reliable in one unique instance,
we are legitimated in relying upon its
affirmatiOnS in another.
The great city is stirred increasingly
from day to day. The contagiOn of
fear, followed by the healing of re-
pentance and the outward manifesto
ton of sorrow, spreads until it en-
braces all classes, reaching even up TO
the throne. Reformation begins, and
is manifest; and many turn from their
evil WAYS, "and from the violence that
| is in their hands," Then Gods anger is
| turned away; and He spares the re-
penant city, because of its change of
heart and life. See! while Jonah fed,
he was balBed in his plans; when he
faced duty, his work prospered. Is
there no lesson for US here? God causes
many a mans oxen ''to stumble be-
cause the man is more bent on having
his own way than on obeying God.
Jehoshaphat's ''ships were broken" at
Ezion-gaber (see . ChTon. 2O:35-37) be-
cause his plans failed to coincide with
Gods plans. How many of your ships
have been broken? And have you ever
looked to see why they were brol1en?-
Rev. A. f. Schauffler D. D.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.