Jonah and the Eclipse

I just heard a sermon on Jonah and the coming solar eclipse. (August 21, 2017) I will include a link to the hour long video at the end.* It is long, and the guy is not dynamic, but his message is scintillating. Regardless of how we view the "prophetic" aspects of the eclipse, we can look back at Jonah.

One thing that has always been a mystery to me was the response of the King of Nineveh, who I just learned was Ashur-Dan III. Just "out of the blue" an itinerant preacher shows up and pronounces judgment on this city. And the whole bunch of them fall on their knees and repent. Either Jonah was some preacher or there may be a few pieces of information that we do not possess.

A total or near total eclipse occurred in Nineveh on June 15, 763 BC, during the reign of Ashur-Dan III. Some scholars believe that this may have shortly preceded Jonah's visit. There may have been an earthquake sometime around that as well, and one of their enemies to the north was beginning to make threats. We cannot categorically link all three of these conjoining forces, but conjecture will allow us to surmise that something "out of the ordinary" was happening there.

When Jonah preached "Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed," he struck a nerve. (Jonah 3:4) We can probably accurately proclaim that God had paved the way for this preacher. The people were ready to hear the message that they probably even expected.

Is our country in a similar situation? Not to say that Jonah is coming, but we do have prophets in the Scripture who warn us about continuing to flaunt our rebellion and flout God's laws. Maybe we could be so bold as to say we flaunt our flout. But I digress.

When asked about a sign as He discussed coming judgment, Jesus specifically mentioned the sign of Jonah. (Matthew 12:39) He went on to explain the three day correlation, so we cannot ignore that in our interpretation. But we are not precluded from seeing other signs. If you recall, the Crucifixion was accompanied by a "darkening of the sun" for three hours. Definitely not an eclipse, I would conclude. But the sun was gone.

And there was an earthquake. Again, this correlates somewhat with what we know about history. So, if a prophet told us that the Lord was coming soon, how should we respond? Jesus said that the men of Nineveh, Sodom, and Gomorrah would rise up in judgment of the generation that rejected His testimony. And we have more knowledge than either Nineveh or Jerusalem.

It is time to wake up. The Lord is coming. Maranatha! I'm ready, are you?

* http://www.annegrahamlotz.org/2017/08/07/gods-judgment-coming-america/
or
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZvIibUAY2o