Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Jonah 3,1-10. 2. Trinity

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Jonah 3,1-10. 2. Trinity

Jonah 3,1-10 3422

2. Trinitatis 48

Jeremiah, Prophet, 629-580 bc

26. Juni 2022

1. ℣ Yahweh was my Stay:

℟ He brought me forth also into a large place. (Psalm 18,18-19).

O Yahweh, our Deliverer; we draw unto You in misery and sorrow, pour upon us all joy and happiness, so that we receive from heaven the mystery of salvation from Christ our Savior. Amen. (Kommt her, ihr seid geladen elkg 243,3 2021 Ernst Moritz Arndt 1819).

2. »Then the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying: „Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.“ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out: „Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!“ And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh: „By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.“ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it.«

3. Yahweh speaks through the Prophet Isaiah: »My Word that goes forth from My mouth shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it« (Isaiah 55,11). Yahweh had sent Jonah to Nineveh to announce the city’s imminent destruction at the hand of God.

4. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire; the Assyrians were a threat to Israel, Judah and the surrounding nations. Jonah describes the Assyrians as evil, which says they worship idols and such worship has effected thus morals so that love for their neighbor is lacking. This is the same judgment the prophets levied against the Israelites. Jonah lived during the reign of Israel’s king, Jeroboam II (793-53). His prophetic contemporaries were Hosea, Amos and Joel who were calling Israel to repent of its own idolatry.

5. Jonah expected Nineveh to reject His call to repent and thus be destroyed by Yahweh. Much to Jonah’s surprise and consternation: the people of Nineveh believed God! They repent, put on sackcloth, ashes and fast from food and water. The king, probably Adad-nirari III (reigned: 811-783), declared: »Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish.« The king was not referring to his Assyrian god, Ashur, but referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — Yahweh.

6. Jonah’s prophetic contemporary, Joel, proclaimed: »It shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the Name of Yahweh shall be saved« (Joel 2,32). When the Apostle Peter preached to the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household: »Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in very nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the 3. day. To Jesus all the Prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name« (Acts 10,34.38.39-40.43). Luther once preached about this: ,,It is common knowledge through the world that Christ was crucified and rose again and that this was the miraculous sign given to the unbelieving Jews, yes, proclaimed to the entire world through the gospel to inform all how they are redeemed by the same miraculous sign and eminent Divine work and that they must adhere to this in true faith” (Luther 102).

7. God the Father calls us to repentance in His Scriptures through His prophets and pastors. Jesus has redeemed us from all sins and delivers that gospel of forgiveness through the Word and Sacraments. We hear and receive this gospel, by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we believe this salvation obtained for us and given to us by Christ.

8. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

While the hope of endless flory

Fills my heart with joy and love,

Teach me ever to adore Thee;

May I still Thy goodness prove (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing Robert Robinson 1735-90 lsb 686,1)

This is most certainly true.

9. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Almighty and Eternal God, You have taught us to know and confess the true faith, that in 3 Persons, in the same power and glory, You are 1 Eternal God. Uphold us in this faith against everything that may afflict us. Amen. (Martin Luther, Die Gebete Luthers, #305; Stratman 51).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Jonah 3,1-10. 2. Trinity

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