The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-04-23
REPENTANCE OF NiNEvEH.
A.tgvrational Sunday-School Lesson for
At,ril Oh. 1901.


Atsvnational sunday-school Lesson for
April &c, 1891.
Especially Arranged from S. S. QUARTERLY
LESSON TExT-Jonah 8: lilo.
GOLDEN TExT.-The men of Nineveh shall
rsse up in Judgment with this generation, and
shall condemn it: for they repented at the
prrsrhing of Jonas and behold greater than
1cu7s Is here.-Luke II: So
CENTRAL TRUTH.-God forgives those who
hsifeve and repent
TsAR- -B @. 800, about. During the reign Of
Jeroboarn IL of Israeli
PIACE-Galilee and Nineveh.
PLACE IN BIBLE HIsToRy.-2 Kings IA: 25.
CIHctJMsTA TANcEs.-Jonah having been ordered
1y God to preach to the Ninevites, had refused
xst tcfa his country and his prophetic office
md set sail for Tarsessus. A storm overlook
htrn; ue was thrown into the sea and swallowed
by a Sreat fish, within which he was kept three
days till he was thoroughly penitent, when he
was cast ashore. Gods discipline OF his chill
drea ends as soon as its work Is accom-
plishsd God loves mercy; he delights In doing
Eood 20 all, but the best good Is right char
scter, an obedient heart, holy life. When
the.,e ere attained, or in process Of attainment
then he can add worldly blessings and release.
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs.-3 City OF
three days Journeys" l. c., in circumference;
INC Jews called twenty miles days journey.
A Elegant" started on his tour through the
city. preaching as he wect. "a days journey"
eosng hither and thither IN the city for the
whole day. This may have been o specimen
Of oalser days. "Nineveh shall be overthrown:"
Tnis uas 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: "Overthrown unless you turn
sc,s ycur evil ways" 5. "N!neveh believed
Cod:~ believed the message He sent; hoped,
no in Ills mercy There you'd have bcen no
repentance had they not believed the warn
hz Proclaimed fast" ETC.: as an express
sson az sorrow for sin and means OF extend
ing md intensifying it. "Sackcloth:" coarse
rourA unpleasant cloth, woven from the coarse
ea5rs ry ,he goat g. For word came unto the
kina:~ he may not have heard Jonah, but the
sxcjlsrnent in the city was intense ana came
70 the ears OF the king 8. "Cry nightly unto
Cod express in words what their outward
FORMS expressed. Turn everyone from MS
eyfl way;" forsake the sins on account 0
.rnica Tie calamity was coming. "Violence;"
the kind of sin to which the Nipevites were
suscssuy addicted. q who can tell" etc. !:
sh,y had hope, but were not sure. 10 And
Goi repented:" He changed His purposes OF
destroying the city. He was the same Goo,
but they were not in the same position toward
Blo, They had gone out Of the shadow into
ahe punlight; SO that the sun shone upon
tasrn, out the real change was in them. And
He did 1t not:" Nineveh was spared. It IN
oreaned In ssplendor and glory. But In time
the pcople returned to their sins, and some two
Apaared years after this, 3. G. 600 Nineveh
was SO completely destroyed that even its site
Vas unknown for more than two thousand
years. (See Nahum 3:5-7, 15-1o)
LESSON COMMENTS.
The repentance Of a great heather
eity like Nineveh is an event so unique
TINT it startles the careful reader. ALI
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, 10 testimony from secular history
aaainst it, and there 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 as 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
elined 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 4. If we had no secular
testimony with regard to that strange
event, we might be tempted to feel
about 1t as some do about the repentance
of Nineveh. But when we find in an in
scription by Nebuchadnezzar himself
the following, we recognize the relia-
bility Of sacred history: "For four years
f2) the seat of the kingdom did not re-
joice my heart In all my dominion
did not build an high place of power.
The precious treasures Of my kingdom
/ 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 od
my 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 or
this remarkable inscription George
Rawlinson says: 1--WE can scarcely i'm
.gine anything that would account FOL
d but some such extraordinary malady
ss that recorded in Daniel" Yet until
very recently the narrative Of Danie
had no support and proof Of reliability
outside of the sacred Word Men might
have said: "This story is so unique ani
inprobable that we can hardly credi
H." Now since Gods word has beer
proved reliable in one unique instance
we are legitimated in relying upon IT
afirmations in another.
The great city is stirred increasingly
from day to day. The contagion O
fear, followed by the healing Of re
pentance and the outward manifesto
aon of sorrow, spreads until it EN-
braces all classes, reaching even up Il
the throne. Reformation begins, ani
Il manifest; and many turn from theil
evil ways, ''and from the violence thai
is in their hands" Then Gods anger 4
turned away; and He spares the re
penant city, because Of its change o
Heart and life. Seei while Jonah fed
Ne was balked in his plans; when b
AAeed duty, his work prospered I