The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1959-09-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
BY Rev. George A. Harper,
5u Avenue G.,
Greenwood, Miss.
GODS CONCERN FOR ALL
PEOPLE (JONAB
Lesson let Jonah.

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MEMORY SELECTION -
The Lord is coed to all; and
his tender mercies are over al
his worxs.--Psalm 1889. AS
ne is good, SO he does coed; he
is good to all, TO all mis- crea-
lures, from the highest angel
to the meAlese worm, TO all
but devils and damned sinners
that have shut themselves cut
from his goodness. His tender
mercies are over eli his works.
All his works, al his creatures,
receive the fruits OF his mecci-
full care and bounty. His good
ness is extended to all.
JONAH Is SENT TO MN
EVEN:
And the word of tins Lord
came unto Jonah the second
time, saying" - God had spok-
en- unto Jonah before this par
ticular time and gave him a
message which was to be deliv-
cred unto the people of Nine
veh, but Jonah refused to con-
vey the message to its proper
destination. Instead, he ran
away to go to Tarshish. God
often gives more than one OPP
portunity to hear and obey his
voice. Arise, go unto Nineveh,
that great city, and preach UNI
to it the preaching that l bid
thee" Great cities always
contain great spiritual needs,
but God has a message for
them.
Nineveh was indeed a great
city compared to others of an
cient times. 1t was the center
of trade as we'll as the capital
of Assyria, and its riches we're
unexcelled by any other of the
ancient world.
THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH
REPENT:
And God saw their works,
that they turned from their
evil way; and God repented of
the evil, that he had said he
would do unto them: and he
did it not Gods repen-
lance does not represent a
change in his nature but of
his action in response to a
change in man. God had told
Jonah in the beginning to go
unto Nineveh and preach, say
ing, ''Yet forty days, and Nine
veh shall be overthrown." This
alarming message so stirred
the people of Nineveh that
everyone in the city was order
ed by royal decree to put on
SackclOth and ashes. The king
also humbled himself and did
as he had ordered the people
of the city to do. The main
purpose of sending Jonah to
was to get the people
to repent of their evil ways
and to live righteously that
God might spare them. Here
tofore the people believed that
their land was controlled by
their own gods and that the
gods of other nations had no
jurisdiction over them. But
the doctrine of the Book OF
Jonah revolutionizes this CO.
cept of divine authority and
shows that God exercises au-
thority and dominion ont only
over Israel but over the other
nations as well.
JONAH'S EXTREME Sell
FISHNESS:
But it displeased Jonah exl-
ceedingly, and he was very
angry" Jonah was not
only displeased that the Lord
had shown mercy toward the
Ninevites and had spared
them, but he was very angry
about it. ''And he prayed un-
to the Lord, and said, pray
thee. o Lord. was not this my
saying, when l was yet in my
country? Therefore | fled be-
fore unto Tarshish: for ! knew
that thou art a gracious God,
and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and re-
pentest thee of the evil" -
Jonah admits that he ran off
the first time because he fear
ed his threat from God would
not be carried out and that he
would be left bearing the bur-
den Of proof for the predic-
ton he had uttered. There
fore now. o Lord, take, | be-
seech thee, my life from me;
for il is better for me to die