The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-04-25

L.. vi i1G ~
MlsSlon Press, and We talked over the
Jonah story. He advanced the theory
eiat the nsh which held the roph
TOT al least parts of three DAYS. was
q surviving monster of the autedeluv-
ian period. He is OF the opinion that
in the depth OF the sea there may he
Such surVlvals, and that they may be
responsible Tor whatever truth thert
Is IN the occasional apparently we'll
responsible for whatever truth there
one OF these days a monster may be
found to put an entirely new complex
ion upon the episode of Jonah.s
strange return to the mission from
Which he was fleeing. Even though
the whole story be regarded as q par
able, the teaching remains the same
that a man cannot get away from
God.
Back to the Task.
Like most foreign missionaries.
Jonah found that his call involved q
deal of travcl. Nineveh lay weeks
away to the East. When Jehoyah's
call came to him a second time. re-
neWIng the first command, only this
time falling upon obedient ears. Jonah
had to set out upon q long and toll
some journey, almost as long as that
taken by the patriarch Abram, when
he heard and needed the call Of God.
Probably Jonah's route was the one l
am at this moment following, the his
'roric one betWeen Syria and the East.
He went up the smiling valley Of the
rontes TO Aleppo, that ancient and
acknowledgement city at the cross
roads. Then afoot or by animal, he
slowly made his way across the ru-
pirates q hope he also had a day OF
rest by the beautiful pools Of .Abra-
am at Urfa. the old Edessa}. until
he came to the Tigris. There, have
90 doubt, he followed the method Of
transportation which was in use in
his day. n which is still employed;
he came down the river on a raft
made Of inflated gOat skins. I am on
such a craft, a 'kelek," it is called,
and ] have just reached NineEeh. l
have been more than ten days on the
way.
Obviously. the Bible when it
says that "Nineveh was an exceeding
great city, OF three days Journey"
that it took this long to walk
trough or around it. Therein it &C
cords with modern archaeological dis
cOveries, which have proved the city
to be more than fifty miles in circum-
ference. as l have myself seen. Thus
Ne read that JONAH began to enter
into the city q days journey" All
this lies on the surface, yet / have
by iny side a. book showing that it
would be impossible for Jonah to go
from the Mediterranean to Nineych
by water. Of course it would; every
Hebrew rustic knew what this acute
writer thinks himself 50 clever for
having just learned In the wide
.pread ruins of Nlneveh. row farm,
cribs palace. and the other the re-
puted tomb OF Jonah, still called "Ncbi
Yunis," after the prophet.
There are many preachers today
in the great metropolis who can
sympathize with ona in his dread
e 80 - ~,ny-n =, oran e ai$yv TT
is at once the hardest and the most
important religious undertaking Of
! the time. The modern cry, Save h
city and you save the nation. was
especially applicable to Nineveh. As
| syria had succeeded to Babylonias SUI
premaCv. Its sway was to cover al
| most the whole Of the known world.
| But although its power ran far Comfy
a. few DAYS ago l bought an Assyrian
coin in a village on the upper Tigris).
| Assyria essentially was NineNeh. And
i Nineveh. the magnificent. was also the
wicked. It is We'll that both teachers
| and scholars In IL Sunday schools
are ignorant of the character OF the
W~ickedness of this ancient city. HUI
manly speaking, the task to which
Jonah was recalled was impossible.
The Prophet IN the streets.
Newly awake to the sole supremacy
of loyalty to the commands of God,
the propl1et essayed his task. Wha
= sensation this foreigner must have
created among the proud and pleas
ure-loving and ~self-assured citizens OF
Ninayeh. as he went through its
streets. needless of their magnificence
crying his message Of DOOM I ct forty
DAYS. and Nineveh OverthroWn" Some
thoroughly modern person may arise
and object TO the ~harshness Of Jonah 5
deliyerance; would it lot be better for
him to proclaim the innate diVinlt
of man. and other teachings OF sweet
ness and light? But the message
a,h;ob alane could stir NineVeh-and
sometimes il seems the message that
orr modern cities most nced-Was TINS
one OF the wrath Of an offended COD
only they who accept Jehovah as
lord have a right TO call Hin rather
Penitence and pardon must pfeceoe