Matthew 12:25–50 Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

[Study Aired June 9, 2025]

In our study today, we are going to look at the consequence of a kingdom divided against itself, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, how we are known by our fruits, what Jonah being in the whale for three days implies spiritually, the return of an unclean spirit, and finally, what Jesus’ mother and brothers represent spiritually. 

A Kingdom Divided Against Itself

Mat 12:25  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 
Mat 12:26  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 

These verses were preceded by Jesus healing a man possessed with the devil, such that he was deaf and dumb. The Pharisees attributed the casting out of the devil from the man to Jesus being possessed by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, explained why their assertion was false in the verses above.

Physically, when a kingdom or a city is divided against itself, or Satan is divided against itself, the obvious result is its implosion or collapse. Spiritually, a kingdom or a city refers to a church. When a church is divided against itself, the end result is that the people constituting the kingdom will surely end up not receiving the promise of God. How is a church divided against itself? It is when the worshipers do not speak the same thing.

1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 

It is therefore imperative that as the Lord’s elect we speak the same thing as admonished by the Lord. 

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

As we can see in the churches of this world or Babylon, everyone speaks something different, because they are deprived of the truth. No wonder there are several denominations of the churches of this world. In the Book of Revelation, we are told that the number of false doctrines propagated by these false apostles parading in the churches of this world is 200 million. These false doctrines are what divide the churches of this world.

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  

In verse 27, the Lord asked the Pharisees by what power their followers cast out demons if they believe He uses the power of Beelzebub to drive out demons. He went further to tell the Pharisees that their own followers are the ones who will judge them. These Pharisees represent us when we were in the churches of this world. Our works are signified by our followers. The Lord saying that their followers will judge them means that our works are what is being used to judge us. The various denominations of the church system of this world therefore attest to the fact that they are not one, as the Lord enjoins us to be of the same mind. Therefore, they do not know the way of peace.

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 

Mat 12:28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 

As we have indicated in previous studies, being possessed by devils means our hearts and minds are filled with false doctrines. 

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

In verse 28, the Lord is saying that casting out devils by the Spirit of God shows that the kingdom of God is come unto us. While the presence of demons and evil spirits were acknowledged in the Old Testament, there were no accounts of any prophet or figure of God possessing the power to cast out demons as seen in the New Testament with Jesus and His disciples. In other words, it is Christ coming into our lives that we are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, and as a result, the false doctrines in our heavens are cast out or destroyed. 

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Although men of God in the Old Testament spoke through the spirit of God, they were not given to understand what they were saying. Their works were for our benefit as the Lord’s elect. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 

Jesus casting out devils in verse 28, is the coming of Christ with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness into our lives to expose the lies of the evil one, for the establishment of the kingdom of the Lord within us. In another dispensation, this kingdom shall be made manifest, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Mat 12:29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 
Mat 12:30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.   

In verse 29, the Lord is showing us that He is the strong man, who defeated the evil one to set us free from our captivity under the devil’s rule. As He is, so are we. If we are to bind the works of the devil in our lives, then we must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. This means that we must put on the whole armour which the Lord has provided for us.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 

Verse 30 is indicating that we are either on the Lord’s side or the side of the devil. That is to say, we are either gathering or scattering the Lord’s flock. Gathering together the Lord’s flock is speaking the same thing with the same mind concerning the truth. Scattering the Lord’s flock is speaking false doctrines.

Jer 23:1  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 
Jer 23:2  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 
Jer 23:3  And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 
Jer 23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

Speaking Against the Holy Spirit

Mat 12:31  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. 

When we were in the churches of this world or Babylon, we believed that there is an unpardonable sin, that is, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In other words, those who speak against the Holy spirit will never be forgiven and therefore miss out on “Heaven.” However, here in Matthew, these verses above do not say that there is an unpardonable sin. It rather says that those who sin or blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. In Mark, we are given further information that says that those who sin against the Holy Spirit will be judged in the lake of fire age. 

Mar 3:28  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 
Mar 3:29  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Mar 3:30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. 

This age ends with the coming of Jesus with His elect to establish His kingdom here on earth. The world to come is the age where the kingdom of God is established here on earth during the thousand-year rulership of the Lord and His Christ. This thousand-year reign ends with the release of Satan and the rebellion of the human race against the Lord and His Christ, to usher in another age of the lake of fire. 

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.  

What this implies is that those who sin against the Holy Spirit, that is, to ascribe the work of the Lord to the devil or an unclean spirit, will surely not be given repentance in this age or the age to come. They will, however, be forgiven in the lake of fire age when they are judged. We know from the word of the Lord that judgment causes us to learn righteousness. All humanity, including the devil and His cohorts, will learn righteousness in the lake-of-fire age. That is when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

The question is, “What does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit?” We blaspheme against the Holy Spirit when we teach contrary to the word of the Lord, which is spirit. The fact that we, His elect, shall not be hurt by the second death of the lake of fire which means that we are granted repentance in this age. It is the people of this world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon who shall suffer the pains of the lake of fire. This scenario is illustrated by the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were thrown in the burning fiery furnace but were not hurt by the fire.       

Dan 3:25  He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

Mat 12:33  Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 
Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 

Every good tree brings forth good fruit, and every corrupt tree produces evil fruit. What this implies is that those who are the sons of the kingdom, that is, His elect, live their lives pleasing the Lord. On the other hand, those whose father is the devil, do not do things that are pleasing to the Lord. In summary, our works will show whether we are children of God or children of the devil. 

Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

Vipers are serpents; and serpents represent the tail as follows:

Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 

The tail is a symbol of false prophets. Thus, Jesus calling the Pharisees a generation of vipers, means that they were false prophets who were deceiving the people who came to them unsuspecting. As shown earlier, these Pharisees represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon and are therefore false prophets. Because these false prophets are of their father the devil, it is impossible for them to speak the truth and therefore, out of the abundance of the false doctrines in their hearts and minds, their mouths speak these false doctrines. On the other hand, a good man is a child of the Lord and out of his heart and mind comes the truth of the word of the Lord. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

Giving account of whatever we have done with our lives on the day of judgment entails the false doctrines we have propagated. If our hearts and minds are filled with the truth of the word of the Lord, we shall speak the truth and be justified. On the other hand, if our hearts and minds are filled with the false doctrines of the devil, whatever comes out of our mouths shall reflect the false doctrines within. Therefore, by what we speak, we are either justified or condemned. 

Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 

The Sign of Jonah

Mat 12:38  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 
Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

As indicated, the scribes and the Pharisees represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon, of which we were part at a certain stage of our walk with Christ.  The scribes and Pharisees asking of a sign from Jesus shows us a key characteristic of our lives when we were in the churches of Babylon – our obsession with signs and wonders as proof that the Lord is with us. It is instructive to note that Jesus referred to the scribes and Pharisees as an evil and adulterous generation in verse 39. The use of “evil” signifies that our works in the churches of this world or Babylon were not pleasing to the Lord and that we were doing the works of our father, the devil. 

Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

The Lord calling us “adulterous” shows that we were serving another Jesus. 

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

The Lord telling the scribes and the Pharisees that there shall be no sign given to this generation implies that knowing Christ is no longer dependent on physical signs and wonders as we see the churches of Babylon validating the presence of the Lord in their midst with signs and wonders. This is the warning that Jesus gave us regarding signs and wonders:

Mat 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

The Lord wants us to rather focus on the sign of the prophet Jonah who was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights. Jesus showed us how to understand the word of the Lord by referring to Jonah’s three days and nights experience in the belly of a whale as representing Him in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. Here Jesus was foretelling the people of His death and burial in the tomb.  

We know that it takes the spirit to help us understand that the three days and nights that Jonah spent in the belly of the whale is about Jesus being buried in the grave. This implies that what the Lord is telling us is that His signs and wonders are now perceived in the spirit. In other words, Jesus’ spiritual work of taking us from the miry clay and establishing us on the rock is what He is doing in this age, and it is those who worship Him in spirit and truth who appreciate the great miracles He is performing in our lives.

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Does it mean that Jesus is no longer performing physical miracles? The answer is absolutely, no!! Everything the Lord does is miraculous – how we are fed and clothed every day is a miracle. However, when we focus on physical evidence of His daily miraculous acts, we miss out on the spiritual reality of the Lord in this age, because God is spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 

Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 
Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.  

The preaching of Jonas brought repentance to the people of Nineveh, a gentile city. In likewise manner, the queen of Sheba (the queen of the South), a gentile, came to hear of the wisdom of Solomon and was overwhelmed. However, Jesus, who is the son of God and therefore greater than both Jonas and Solomon, is here with us to reconcile men to God and this generation does not pay attention to His voice. As indicated, this generation, representing the churches of Babylon are not paying heed to His voice.  The fact that both Nineveh and the queen of Sheba shall rise up in the judgment of this generation attests to the fact that the churches of this world shall be judged. However, they shall be the last on the line to be saved.

Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: 
Eze 16:54  That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. 
Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. 

Return of an Unclean Spirit

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. 

As we indicated earlier in the study, a person possessed by an unclean spirit is one whose heart and mind is filled with false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. When we did not know Christ and were just like the people of this world, we were spiritually possessed by an unclean spirit. When Christ initially came to us, the unclean spirit went out from us as the truth of His words started cleansing the false doctrines in our hearts and mind. 

As we entered the churches of this world, thinking we were going to know Christ through His words, we were rather fed with the complete false doctrines of another Jesus, signified by the seven unclean spirits, thus making us worse off than when we were before. 

2Pe 2:17  These (the false prophets in the churches of this world) are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

In verse 45, the Lord told us that what happened to the man with the unclean spirit is what is happening to this wicked generation. As we have indicated earlier, this wicked generation refers to our walk in the churches of this world or Babylon and all those fellowshiping in the churches of this world. The reference to this wicked generation therefore attests to our deplorable state when we were in the churches of this world thinking we were righteous. Just like the Galatians who were bewitched, we were also bewitched by seven more wicked spirits during our sojourn in Babylon.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

Mat 12:46  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 
Mat 12:47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 
Mat 12:48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 
Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 
Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

These verses show us that on a positive note, our mother and brethren are those who do the will of Jesus Christ, that is, the Lord’s elect. We know that ‘mother’ represents a church, and therefore, Jesus pointing to His disciples as His earthly mother and brothers when talking to the Scribes and Pharisees, who represent the church system of this world or Babylon, is to let us know that we, His elect, are the church of the New Jerusalem or the firstborn which is different from the church system of this world which is in bondage with her children.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.   

We cannot thank the Lord enough for dragging us out of Babylon and making us His sons and daughters. May His name be praised. Amen!!

The Book of Nahum – Chapter 2:1-13 

[Aired March 1, 20 25]

Interestingly, in the first study of the Book of Jonah, Nineveh repented in dust and ashes, yet paradoxically, the Lord in Nahum now appears merciless in her destruction. Nineveh, that ‘great city’ within, reflects our spiritually stubborn nature; we are fundamentally corruptible beings, incapable of sustaining obedience without His spirit. Our Lord strikingly reflects our complete spiritual rejection of Him through every biblical character’s catastrophic and positive experiences.

We are that Great City Nineveh the Lord is mercifully destroying in answer to our Nineveh-like fast of repentance — just because we fast and repent doesn’t halt the sword from utterly destroying our former old man. That understanding and humility advance the new Great City, Jerusalem, within.

Significations:  The Destruction of Nineveh

Nah 2:1  He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition [siege-works; stronghold; rampart], watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. 

It is Christ who dashes to pieces our impudence by sustaining immense trials; his ‘siege works’ against our old man as we maintain our ‘siege works’ of self-righteousness against him. If we are being dragged to him, our Christ-given ‘siege works’, in a positive sense, strengthen our resolve against Satan’s siege works, all designed to strengthen the spiritual walk signified by our “loins.”

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

Nah 2:2  For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency [= rising power; majesty] of Israel: for the emptiers [empty; lay waste] have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches. 

Deu 33:26  There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun [= upright one 1. a symbolic name for Israel], who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
Deu 33:27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Job 13:11  Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

Psa 47:4  He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. 

Our Lord appears to turn away his ‘excellency’ from us when we see boiling waves threatening to swamp our ship, and we cry out in our distress. He is the ’emptier’ who seems heavy-handed in pruning our vines to bare stumps. His “excellency” is in recreating the New Adam within for him to reap his inheritance in his Saints.

The Elect of God is as He is, drenched in the blood from killing every false doctrine; our shields of faith bloodied in protection from the Devil’s machinations. We shake as a fir tree in a mighty wind for what the Lord is doing in the hearts and minds of His very own. 

The Elect are the Lord’s fiery chariots, conveying his fiery words guaranteed to flood the Devil’s formerly delicious lies with fire far more consuming than his strange fire (Lev 10:1-7).

Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 
Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

Jos 11:6  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.

Hag 2:22  And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 

Nah 2:3  The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. 
Nah 2:4  The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. 

Babylon’s chariots represent our vehicles of self-righteousness, ignorantly raging in the broad streets of that Great City, Nineveh, collectively with Egypt, Sodom, and Old Jerusalem as Babylon each Sunday in Christendom. We burn their entire doctrinal ‘jostling’ of skin, flesh, head, legs, inward parts, and dung as a sin offering without the camp of the heavenly Jerusalem today.

Lev 4:12  Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. 

Isa 21:3  Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 
Isa 21:4  My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
Isa 21:5  Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint [= smear, anoint, spread a liquid – {blood}] the shield. 

Zec 9:14  And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Eze 1:12  And they [Christ’s Elect, the sons of God] went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Eze 1:13  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 
Eze 1:14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Nah 2:5  He shall recount his worthies [His Elect]: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. 

The Lord’s first spiritually born sons, preceding their brothers, are guaranteed to stumble in trials to prove their value, hopefully as gold, as they run forward into battle, destroying the walls of Old Jerusalem to rebuild the New within. The “defence” initially is the Devil defending his own, and we similarly, yet in truth, defend ourselves in Christ’s strength against Satan. In winning the battle, our Lord opens a floodgate of spiritual revelations as the waters overflow and wash away every hidden lie from the nook and crannies of our high places, enthroned where we do not belong.

Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone [Christ], a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 

Nah 2:6  The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace [Temple] shall be dissolved.
Nah 2:7  And Huzzab [to stand, take one’s stand, stand upright, be set (over)], shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts. 

We, the Bride, are the Temple of the living God. Firstly, as a temple of harlotry, her Ashtoreth-like incessant warbling of self-worship and self-righteousness is dissolved and destroyed to create space for the New Temple within, built on Christ’s teachings.

1Ch 29:1  Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. 

1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
1Co 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man [The Temple, the Bride for Christ]. 

Luk 11:21  When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods [his ways in Christ] are in peace:
Luk 11:22  But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
Luk 11:23  He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Huzzab represents our insolence against our Husband, Christ. Doves and pigeons puff out their breasts like an instrument’s sounding bag and pulse to their sound, depicted as “tabering”. First, we are silly doves like Ahola and Aholibah, seeking courtesan attention and wasting our substance on illusory, desirable young men, our neighbouring nations’ values prattling endless lies. Now, in humble acknowledgment of her sins, she is transitioning positively into a peaceful dove in submissive truth to Christ. 

Isa 59:11  We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. 

Hos 7:11  Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 

2Ti 3:6  For of this sort [proud men and boaster, proud, blasphemers unholy…] are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women [harlot churches] laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

Nah 2:8  But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back. 
Nah 2:9  Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture. 

Thus far, this study depicts the Great City Nineveh in Assyria as a stagnant pool of water contaminated with the faeces and urine of the clay beasts of the field, the stench of lying doctrines, and drying up in the summer heat, just as it does in the streets of every city small and great within. 

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire [H2563 – clay; mixed with foaming, fermenting filth] of the streets. 

That Great City Nineveh is Babylon the Great, where lies our rebellious self-righteousness, its cavernous vault of silver and gold.

While in Babylon as a rebellious wife to our Lord, living in a constant cycle of sumptuous partying, why would we want to look back to rebuilding the wall of a New Jerusalem? However, some, representing the Bride of Christ, led and signified by Zerubbabel, are given the glorious curiosity to know their Lord’s word and rebuild on his foundation (Ezra 3:1-13). But in the meantime, she is barren and wasted. She fears what is before her: a task too burdensome — and boring; fulfilling the prophecy of Eve’s curse, her knees smote together in pain, she brings forth bastard children as of a whore.

Nah 2:10  She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness. 

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to against thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

Nah 2:11  Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid? 

Where the eagles gather, as do a pride of lions, they feed on the dying and dead of our falsehoods, all guaranteeing nourishing the fearless new man.

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 

Pro 30:30  A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 

Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 

Nah 2:12  The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin [prey which is torn to pieces]. 

Christ is the all-powerful head of his harlot pride of lionesses in the wilderness, strangling her enemies for her to feed on. Yet, typically under the command of Eve’s curse, they all feed on his word and still complain, rejecting his love.

Today, since the cross, he is still that mighty lion heading one emblematic lioness, his wife, the Body of Christ, for a sumptuous feast of truth.

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 

Nah 2:13  Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. 

Paradoxically, the Lord is against those who preach his name unrighteously; he burns their chariots, the very vehicles of harlot Christianity, sustaining their barrenness in the One Thousand Year reign with a rod of iron only to smoke it in a mighty furnace of truth in the Resurrection to Judgment. Until then, he administers their casting out of devils to sustain strong delusion since it is not yet their time to hear of salvation.

Mar 9:38  John said to him, Master, we saw one driving out evil spirits in your name: and we said that he might not, because he is not one of us. 
Mar 9:39  But Jesus said, Say not so: for there is no man who will do a great work in my name, and be able at the same time to say evil of me.
Mar 9:40  He who is not against us is for us. 
Mar 9:41  Whoever gives you a cup of water, because you are Christ’s, truly I say to you, he will in no way be without his reward. [first negatively, and then positively in the Lake of Fire]

Luk 8:4-15  And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
Luk 8:5  A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side [“the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard”]; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Luk 8:6  And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
Luk 8:7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
Luk 8:8  And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Luk 8:9  And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Luk 8:11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 
Luk 8:12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Luk 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luk 8:14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. 

The Book of Nahum Chapter 1:1-15

[Aired February 22, 2025]

The term “That Great City Nineveh” features twelve times in the Minor Prophets, obviously directly with Jonah’s dramatic entry and grumpy exit; three times in Nahum, and once in Zephaniah, and so, the unintentional flow-on from studying Jonah to Nahum seems appropriate. The Book of Micah is rightly positioned between Jonah and Nahum, warning of Israel’s coming destruction – for the keen spiritual eye’s observation, a grand finalé inventing today with Zionism’s inevitable destruction (Rev 17:15-16).

The broad view of this study is that Nineveh, like our experiences in Gentile Christianity, unwittingly had no option in obeying God but by their own strength. “That Great City, Nineveh” within us, as much as we were terrified by the delusional ever-lasting burning in a lake of fire by Satan’s rotisserie, most frustratingly, never gave us solace through spiritually changed hearts – we just kept on chanting that we were saved; our conscience accusing others as we excused ourselves.

Consequently, the Lord, in his great mercy, warns us seemingly endlessly of our slothfulness in not pursuing him wholeheartedly. Our Lord’s warnings in Nahum incessantly repeated all through scripture, glazed the Babylonian’s eyes in our foreheads most drearily – the topic calmly flatlined, but not so, the Bride’s ravished incites.

Significations:

Nam 1:1  The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite [H512 = God the ensnarer]. 

The book of the vision Nahum experiences is the voice and subsequent burden of God’s word he hears and sees, similar to what John saw and heard in Revelations upon seeing the seven golden candlesticks (Rev 1:9-20).

The ‘burden of the Lord’ and the ‘burden of the word’ are one and the same. Israel’s ‘burden’ stems from centuries of God’s word going unheeded, continuing for an additional 2,000 years within Gentile Christianity. Without the holy spirit, consistently adhering to their Lord’s word was nearly impossible, leading to an immense ‘burden’ and the inevitability of ‘forgetting’ his testaments.

Psa 38:4  For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 

Mal 1:1  The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.

Zec 9:1  The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.

Jer 23:32  Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:33  And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

(Isa 49:14  But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.)

Continuing,

Jer 23:34  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
Jer 23:35  Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 
Jer 23:36  And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
Jer 23:37  Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
Jer 23:38  But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
Jer 23:39  Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
Jer 23:40  And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. 

‘Nineveh’s burden’ is the Bride’s joyful burden upon her, seeing that she was that ‘Great City Nineveh’, emblematic of the Great Whore (Rev 17:1-18). Ironically, before becoming the Bride, she was a regular woman in Israel blessed with keeping her Lord’s oracles, nonetheless chosen by God to be his wife, innately full of artifices typified by the meaning of Nahum, the Elkoshite’s (H512) name – “the ensnarer”.

Ecc 7:26  And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. 

Pro 29:6  In the sin of an evil man there is a snare; but the righteous sings and rejoices.

Num 32:21  And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
Num 32:22  And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.
Num 32:23  But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Jer 17:23  But they did not obey, nor bowed down their ear, but made their neck stiff, so that they might not hear nor receive instruction.

Like any husband who delights in his wife, Christ detests her devotion to unnecessary external incitements.

Exo 34:14  For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

God’s Wrath Against Nineveh

The Lord’s words and expressions in Nahum are widely understood, even by the most oblivious Babylonian, despite the spiritually hidden nuances in the plain meanings of names, so there is no excuse. He says,

Nam 1:2  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 
Nam 1:3  The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds [mankind] are the dust of his feet. 
Nam 1:4  He rebuketh the sea [mankind], and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan [‘baw-shawn’ = fruitful; east of the Jordan, likely the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gormorrah] languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 

The Jordan flowed through the heart of Israel and symbolically represented God’s word, just as the Euphrates symbolised Babylon’s confusing ideologies that they regarded as wisdom.

Rev 16:12  And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

The Euphrates River, which flowed through the heart of Babylon, is symbolically regarded by the enslaved Israelites as a much lighter burden, even described as delicious. Babylon’s lifestyle and ideologies dry up, making way for the Elect of God, the Kings of the East under Christ’s headship in the One Thousand Year rule under the rod of iron. In the meantime, today, Babylonian Christianity sits as a Queen; in not knowing her burden of Christ’s word, she languishes.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Nam 1:5  The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 

The verse in Nah 1:5 directly relates to the Lake of Fire, where the ‘burden of the Lord’ is reignited upon all mankind since Adam, not in the First Resurrection. This burden is a blazing furnace of his fiery word that produces fine gold in every man, first in his Bride daily, today, and the remainder of the world in the Lake of Fire on the Eighth Day.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Nam 1:6  Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. 

The only person who is given to stand before Christ’s indignation and fierce wrath upon his ‘old man’ is the Body of Christ, his Bride.

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Nam 1:7  The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 
Nam 1:8  But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. 

Even the Five unwise, sleepy-eyed virgins can easily see the signified meanings of whirlwinds, storms, clouds, dust, sea, rivers, mountains, Bashan, Carmel and Lebanon, but when the fire is mentioned, suddenly, he remembers his oil sufficiency. His heart beats faster, and wide-eyed, he thrashes about in the dark, too late to buy more—trouble and darkness refuse to reveal his enemies. Knowing the story of Lazarus and the rich man, he now faces an “overrunning flood” of fire—the Lake of Fire.  Meanwhile, the Five Wise Virgins have long been subject to their Lord’s fierce wrath against the old man and relish the fire smelting her rocks within, discarding the inferior metals and dross typified by the works of the Old Covenant.

Num 31:22  Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—
Num 31:23  everything that can withstand the fire—must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water.
Num 31:24  On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

Psa 69:13  But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
Psa 69:14  Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Psa 69:15  Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Hag 2:7  I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
Hag 2:8  The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of Hosts.

Nam 1:9  What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. 
Nam 1:10  For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. 
Nah 1:11  There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor. 

Being “folden together as thorns” is the mishmash of Babylonian confused thinking that is excellent for initiating a fire. Our former Gentile Christian beliefs are that there is only one resurrection and “affliction shall not rise up a second time”; it is the belief that this is the only day of salvation — they are all drunk on their false doctrines that in their time and order, those convictions will burn fiercely. However, the Lord is not a vindictive God; he is a loving Father who has mercy on his Elect, the proud “one” who is first to experience His wrath and loving chastisements before becoming the new “one” in Christ when pervading peace will remain forever.

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

There is a consummation to transforming the Bride where her perfection is ending and people will no longer say, ‘Know ye the Lord.’

Nam 1:12  Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. 
Nam 1:13  For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder. 
Nam 1:14  And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile. 

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Nam 1:15  Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts [Atonement], perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. 

The first mention of a ‘solemn feast’ in scripture is in Leviticus 23:36, the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which represents the Eighth Day of Creation, the Resurrection to Judgement—the Lake of Fire.

Lev 23:36  Seven days [The Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles] ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

There will certainly be no work of self-righteousness by anyone in the Lake of Fire; indeed, it will be a solemn assembly as it will burn like an oven. Everyone will tremble at the Lord’s word and want to hide in rocks and caves in the mountains and find no hiding place since His word is now pervasive.

Isa 52:7  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Isa 52:8  Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
Isa 52:9  Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
Isa 52:10  The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Isa 52:11  Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
Isa 52:12  For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

Lord, hasten the day.

The Book of Jonah Chapters 2 – 4

[Aired February 15, 2025]

The first study in Jonah finished with the great fish swallowing him. It seems that Jonah wasn’t the least bit concerned about being drowned since he was asleep ‘in the sides of the ship’ as it rolled and pitched violently in the tempest. His lethargy is akin to us formerly at ease in Zionist Christianity, oxymoronically with both the dull eyes of a whore and highly alert eyes of a harlot, hoping to catch the attention of leering paramours (Amos 6:1. Eze 23:20). We saw some of the Bible’s most notable scriptures profoundly related to Christ’s death and resurrection emanating from Jonah’s attempted escape from the Lord. What a marvellous understanding it is, if we are the Elect, to recognise our guarantee of being resurrected in this life, along with Christ’s promise to empower us in completing the task of saving our brothers and sisters in Nineveh the world in the Lake of Fire. The Saints, like Jonah’s symbolic death three days and nights in the deep, is our unnerving spiritual progression (No. 3) in the deep of our flesh through judgement, no matter how hard we resist, to be faithfully delivered to our expected destination.

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 12:42  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

I recently had a very good Babylonian Christian friend semi-consciously and effectively state that he’d take his chance in the Lake of Fire and suffer whatever fear Christ dished out to him rather than give up his materially rich lifestyle and, today, follow Christ’s truth. His understanding was long ago taken away from him, not realising that “unquenchable fire” keeps burning while he retains that impudence. He will, and like Jonah, have his ‘ease in Zion’ spiritually burn him until he does cry out of the fish’s belly, the womb of his re-creation.

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Many years ago, when I did a basic first aid course, the ambulance instructor said that people saved from the fire, though suffering extensive third-degree burns, and while their nerve endings are all burnt off and they feel amazingly free of pain, they are at peace with the near inevitability of death. I, too, experienced that while body surfing. My brother and I were swept out several hundred meters from the shore. Utterly exhausted, I did the ‘dead man’s crawl’  doing a dog paddle vertically in the water while sinking; at peace, resigned to going down. A prayer and burst of energy got me to my back, and there I stayed and kicked with all my remaining might and eventually crested the back of a mighty wave and made it to shore. God had unfinished work to do in me in an unseen future event, and like Jonah’s watery saga was about to get worse,

Significations:

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

Jon 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

Jonah’s Prayer

Jon 2:1  Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly [H990 = womb], 
Jon 2:2  And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 
Jon 2:3  For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 

In these stories, there are two ways of responding: either with lethargy or fear. Lethargy, while life is good in Babylon, is normal until pain sets in, as did the claustrophobic nature of the fish’s belly for Jonah. So, too, is what happens to us when we fail to repent and, out of sheer terror, look to Christ, our ‘holy temple’.

Jon 2:4  Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 
Jon 2:5  The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 

Christ created us and knows precisely how to get our attention. Jonah, being in the soft mush of a fish’s belly with seaweed wrapped around his head, is the equivalence of despotic military waterboarding torture and worse than drowning. It is where the person is tied down blindfolded with a towel around his head and face while water is steadily poured over the towel, with rarely an opportunity to chokingly gasp for air, rendering a constant panic of drowning, only to have it all repeated for as long as the psychopath desires. No doubt that is what Jonah felt for three days and nights, and it is indicative of our troubled and narrow spiritual progression while enduring judgment in this life. As Christ is and was, so, too are we in this life.

Psa 18:4  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
Psa 18:5  The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
Psa 18:6  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Jon 2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. 
Jon 2:7  When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 
Jon 2:8  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 

Even though the oceans are created salty, salt is a derivative of burnt sulphur, indicative of the Dead Sea following Sodom and the cities of the plain’s sulphurous burning. Jonah’s fleeing to the West in a ship headed for Tarshish (Southern Spain) from the light of God behind in the East and his resignation to drowning in the salty sea is, as was Noah’s, a type of baptism in water. His subsequent ‘saving’ by the giant fish in the terrifying pitch blackness of its belly points to the future Saint’s being baptismally salted with like spiritual fiery trials. Ironically, Jonah, a kind of giant worm (Isa 41:14) in the fish’s belly, fearful of fulfilling a more noble task, was spat out back on a beach in the East from whence he came to sullenly accomplish his God-given task in the light of God’s insistent demand.

Mar 9:47  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
Mar 9:48  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 
Mar 9:49  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 

To “observe lying vanities” is the same as indolently giving heed to lying doctrines. Any time we witness Christ to a Babylonian Christian, a spirit-led Elect can read their disinterest in their glazed eyes, overlaying Christ’s truth with the traditions of Gentile Christianity; consequently, they, as we in our time, have traded truth for the immediacy of sensualities, like Essau for a pot of bland lentils fulfilling the term ‘forsaking our own mercy’. Conversely, an Elect will glorify God for his fiery trials with thanksgiving for the vow Christ has given us to finish the New Adam in him.

Jon 2:9  But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. 
Jon 2:10  And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. 

One of the greatest expressions of love towards our Lord is the sacrifice of thanking him for our trials and chastisements, knowing that they bring forth righteousness unto salvation.

Psa 116:16  O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
Psa 116:17  I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 116:18  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psa 116:19  In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

Just as the Lord vomits our works of the flesh out of his mouth, Jonah is about to pay his vows in the presence of those outside the Camp of Israel in Niveneh, typically as we do at every opportunity among our Gentile Christian friends. Our Lord will give us the words to say as we somewhat fret their judical enquiries.

Mar 13:10  And the gospel must first be published among all nations [typified by Jonah in Nineveh]. 
Mar 13:11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the holy ghost.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Jon 3:1  And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 
Jon 3:2  Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 
Jon 3:3  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 
Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 
Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 

The Lord, upon coming to Jonah and us a second time, is a patient double witness against our inevitable tardy obedience. We are that evil great city of Nineveh. Like Christ’s timeframe of submitting to the Father and fulfilling his three years of ministry is reflected in us symbolically taking three days to cross that ‘great city’ to fulfil the progression of merely taking one day, “a short work’ for our Lord to change our hearts. Such is the responsiveness of the ‘very Elect’, enlivened with Christ’s spirit, is given a progressive change of heart yet typified by the people of Nineveh, their excited consternation going ahead of them person to person no doubt before a timeframe of three days was up.

Joh 2:18  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up [in our God-given spiritual understanding]. 
Joh 2:20  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body.

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

It took Jonah three days to cross Nineveh since he obviously spent many hours stopping to forewarn its highly attentive people of the expected coming disaster; no doubt otherwise, by walking continuously a nominal 9-hour day’s journey at four mph, the city would absurdly be 36 miles across, and it would have taken much less time, maybe only a day. In fact, records state that the old city was 7.5 miles across. Jonah’s unwilling yet forced submission to God’s authority denotes our formerly unrepentant hearts in Gentile Christianity, condemning others of our very same sins and retiring to the safe distance in our church’ to smugly see their demise in the delusional eternal burning hell fire. Nineveh’s response corresponds to those in the One Thousand Year reign by the rod of iron and their alarm for the coming prophesies, yet they are unable to sustain a genuine change of heart.

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men [thankfully today in those he is judging first]. 
2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Jonah’s 40 days of prophecy against Nineveh represent the progression of tribulation in our lives in Christ, recreating the New Adam within.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Upon the Beast we are, our hopefully eager acknowledgement of our iniquities and submissive de-throning from God’s rightful seat is our spiritual fasting through deep introspection of our corruptible hearts illustrated by Nineveh’s amazing about-face.

Heb 5:7 [Christ, and he in us] Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

The People of Nineveh Repent

Jon 3:6  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 
Jon 3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor Beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 
Jon 3:8  But let man and Beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 
Jon 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 
Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 

The king and people of that great city, Nineveh, proved wiser and more apt to respond to God’s signs and wonders more readily than initially the Lord’s prophets, his Elect, “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” – Luk 16:8. The children of the world are already unwittingly “taken” by Satan and don’t always suffer the same intensity of attack as the children of light, and more so in the One Thousand Year reign are in an uneasy forced peace in Zion, and in this case, Nineveh,  to make wiser decisions. But not so Jonah, representing the Lord’s Elect, at Satan’s hand constantly before the Lord, hoping to instigate our death.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The decree that not just the men of Nineveh are commanded to fast, but the beasts of their herds and flocks, too, denotes us giving our whole heart to the Lord.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 
Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 

Wow! Jonah, like we in our fiery journey, is a hard man to toss. His petulant response is reminiscent of Cain’s anger at the Lord’s rejection of his offering.

Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

It is very wise of us to “do well” and eagerly agree with our Lord’s commands rather than repeatedly flee from his presence; otherwise, too late in our testing of him, our Lord may give us up to fiery serpents or, worse, the Lake of Fire.

1Co 10:9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Jonah is about to argue with God, pointing out that he had already done all that the Lord commanded, and the people rejected him and God and he was not thrilled to be additionally humiliated. Jonah’s approach is akin to us obeying the first milky works in Christ, relying on our own strength and failing the more fiery trials, giving up and going back to Babylon, where life is peaceful, rich and safe from troubles, signified by the greasy grace of Tarshish’s gold and silver.

Isa 60:8  Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
Isa 60:9  Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
Isa 60:10  And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 
Jon 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 

Again, remembering the Lord’s same response to Cain,

Jon 4:4  Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 
Jon 4:5  So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 

Jonah’s sullen compliance denotes a small advancement in our spiritual growth by him sitting on the sunny ‘east side of the city’ with his back to the rising sun, in his booth, a temporary dwelling, and a disappearing ‘shadow’ of the transitory fleshy nature of our journey in becoming Christs. Of course, we know what will become of that city, our old man, negatively and positively. We are incredibly grateful that our sins are stripped from our land, little by little and not in one devastating death throw. Nonetheless, the inevitability of metaphoric ‘cutworm’ of chastisement suitable for the occasion is thankfully for evermore a sword upon our temporary house.

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Psa 121:5  The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
Psa 121:6  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
Psa 121:7  The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
Psa 121:8  The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Jon 4:6  And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 
Jon 4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 

Jonah’s self-made booth facing west towards Nineveh would have been inadequate as the sun peaked at midday and, on its descent, shone harshly under the entrance eve on his frailty. The vignette portrays the Lord’s great mercy to his Saints in their progression spiritually. Being shaded from the early heat of his chastisements prepares us for the direct afternoon light of God shining directly on our frame. Even then, the Lord’s mercy provided a miraculously very fast-growing gourd to shade Jonah’s booth, only the next day, to likewise as Jonah to wither rapidly in the heat. Our lives are but a mist that disappears as the sun rises. The entire account establishes that we are God’s workmanship, and he will smite and treat us how he wills to create in each of his Elect a uniqueness for his use today for saving the rest of humanity.

Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.

The Lord’s chastisements ebb and then violently rise and threaten to destroy us, as did the tempest upon Jonah’s ship bound for Tarshish. Just as one trial finishes, another is at our very door. The Lord knows perfectly how far he can push us to the point of our imagined death, thinking that we are not able to suffer anymore, only like Job, have another trial hot on the heels of the previous one.

Jon 4:8  And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 

Job 2:9  Then said his wife unto him [Job], Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Jonah, along with us, must reflect just as Job did with his wife. Astonishingly and most embarrassingly, Jonah, much like Cain, clings to his self-righteousness and fearlessly fires back at God – a humiliating lesson for the Saints.

Jon 4:9  And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 
Jon 4:10  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 
Jon 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? 

The gourd also represents the many called and not chosen, including those outside the camp of Israel and the world, who are not given to suffer the fiery heat of Christ’s commands. They are expressed by the “sixscore thousand”, safe as Nineveh for the time being but destined as cattle for the slaughter at the end of the One Thousand Year reign under the rod of iron, perishing in the night, having overcome nothing in their lives to be raised to judgement and ultimate saving on the Eight Day.

Eze 18:23  Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Eze 18:24  But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Eze 18:25  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
Eze 18:26  When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
Eze 18:27  Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

The Book of Jonah ends abruptly, and Jonah is left introspective and humiliated for questioning God’s chastising grace. The legend is for our understanding, glorifying God our deepest gratitude for burning the idols of self-righteousness out of our hearts for resisting his wonderful works within.

We conclude with these verses:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Joh 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Psa 92:4  For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Amen

The Book of Jonah Chapter 1:1-17

[Aired February 1, 2025]

The Book of Jonah opens with the Lord’s terrifying commission for Jonah to go to Nineveh in Assyria, the most murderous nation of his time, and ours within.

Jonah is another of the Lord’s prophets typically given a specific message, and on this occasion, to focus on the crucial aspect of our innate Adam-like avoidance of addressing our wickedness. Like little children, we spiritually are when expecting chastisement for breaking one of our Lord’s commands, our first impulse is to hide by running away. Upon our inevitability of needing to ‘come home’ to where food and the other necessities of life reside, we, like Jonah, face the music from our Father and our proclivity to accuse and excuse ourselves. Our Father gently chastises those childish urges equal to the severity of the crime, and we, on our figurative ‘three-day journey’ to Nineveh, become more mature at witnessing to ourselves and brothers and sisters in the Body and hopefully some in the world. Of course, we shall see in Jonah chapter 4 that his prophesies are eventually heard by the entirety of mankind, represented as “cattle”, a mighty sacrifice in the Lake of Fire and symbolic sweet savour to the Father.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep [safe in Christ].
Joh 10:16  And other sheep [symbolically in Nineveh] I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they [some] shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The meaning of Jonah’s name is phenomenally indicative of the young Bride’s initial calling. She, depicted as a dove (Son 5:2), is peaceful and emits a sparkling feminine responsiveness that every man delights, particularly Christ, spiritually.

H3124
– Original: יונה
– Transliteration: Yonah
– Phonetic: yo-naw’
– Definition: Jonah = dove.
Origin: the same as H3123
– Strong’s: Probably from the same as H3196; a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating): – dove pigeon. Definition:
1. wine
– Origin: from an unused root meaning to effervesce [sparkle – the spiritual result that wine does to our spirit; as doves fluttering their wings, and indicative of the holy spirit descending (Luke 3:22) effectuate in mating symbolising the Bride’s responsiveness to Christ, his ‘seed’ represented by the holy spirit conceiving the beginning of eternal life; opposite to the Whore’s lifeless eyes, formally ours]

The correlation is that Jonah is a passionate believer and, just like the immature Bride, is keen to do the Lord’s biddinguntil she inevitably begins to doubt that the Lord will come through to fight her battles. Consequently, she fears that she is not cut out for the ‘job’ and momentarily considers fleeing. It all is designed to build her faith and belief in her husband, Christ, in and by his strength and typified by Jonah’s growing faith.

Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord

Jon 1:1  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai [= my truth. 1. firmness, faithfulness, b. stability, continuance], saying, 
Jon 1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 

The name Nineveh means ‘abode’, and the capital of ancient Assyria, whom the Israelites, by God’s design, for many future reasons, failed to conquer, a primary reason being set up for Jonah’s timid, nonetheless faithful entrance for him to play out like our journey to becoming Christs.

Definition: Nineveh = abode of Ninus.
– capital of the ancient kingdom of Assyria; located on the east bank of the Tigris River, 550 miles (880 km) from its mouth and 250 miles (400 km) north of Babylon.

Of course, the Body of Christ is well versed in understanding that a ‘city’ is within with its particular traits typifying one’s sins. Subsequently, we see Jonah representing a far bolder Christ, indicting us for our like sins, and we develop a deep compassion for our Babylonian brothers and sisters, Ninevehian-like ignorance of their same sins should some hear our crying out.

Luk 19:38  Saying, Blessed be the King [Jonah, you and I] that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
Luk 19:39  And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
Luk 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 

However, as typified by Peter, when we first begin to know the Lord, we are full of spiritual bravado, chopping off our family and friend’s ears, and when they scoff at us, we slink off with our tails between our legs, like Jonah, not willing to suffer repeated humiliation. In our immature state, our sickly impulse is to run away and hide in Tarshish, whose name depicts our disease. Our decision to flee our responsibility gives us an uneasy peace by nature of the name, Joppa, meaning ‘bright and beautiful’. In paying the ship’s captain the fare, we unwittingly pay Satan a non-refundable return to the deepbut for Christ’s buy-back (1 Co 6:20).

Jon 1:3  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish [= yellow jasper] from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 
Jon 1:4  But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 

Jonah’s saga is indicative of our journey. We, too, will in our time and order, hopefully as Christ’s Wife in submissive co-rulership with him in the Lake of Fire, will at an advantageous time, as did Joseph to his brothers, relate to our fearful brothers and sister’s terrified eyes our like fiery death in our flesh as ones who first trusted in Christ to pave their way to life. Their calm will gradually come as they see that we, too, suffered the great wind of God’s spirit upon our sins while in the sea of Babylon, heaving up and down, feeling utterly broken in despair.

Psa 107:21-31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters [fleeing from the Lord; making ourselves rich physically and a false Jesus, spiritually];
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep [in the world, within].
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they [typified by us, not Jonah – he’d rather die] cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Jon 1:5  Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 

We are the mariners who are sometimes afraid of God’s calling. Should we bury our talent in the earth, effectively casting forth our wares into the sea, we deludedly lighten our spiritual burden insidiously. In that case, we are worshipping another Jesus and represented by the ship’s ethnically diverse crew, indicative of Babylon, since each fancifully has ‘his own god’ to save them.

Indeed, Jonah was at peace with fleeing from the Lord since he lay asleep in the worst place imaginable, ‘in the sides of the ship’ as it sickeningly rolled and pitched in death throws. Jonah embodies those who were of us who were at peace in returning to Babylon, whereupon all the spiritual understanding that they thought they had was subsequently taken away.

Mat 25:24-30  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The classic case of someone absurdly being asleep in a small ship amid a tempest was Christ, being the positive antithesis of Jonah’s reasons for sleeping. Christ trusted in the Father, and Jonah unbelievably in himself; either way, they were at peace in stark parallel to the Ten Virgins; five foolish and five wise until the grim reality strikes too late.

Mat 25:1-13  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

The few chosen to be the Bride of Christ are like Jonah’s God-given commission to perform His will to give the Kingdom to whom he wills, and there is no escape.

Psa 135:6  Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Jon 1:6  So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 

In this instance, the shipmaster represents Christ judging our slothfulness and switches personality to be the many called in not knowing who Christ is, since if he uses the ‘scatter-gun’ prayer approach, hoping at least one of the many gods might awake and answer that they perish not such is the unbelief of the people in Babylonian Christianity from their many versions of Jesus, their consciences unnervingly accusing them of not diligently seeking the God of gods before getting into desperate straits.

1Ki 18:26  And they [Prophets of Baal] took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
1Ki 18:27  And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 

Isa 55:3  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Isa 55:4  Behold, I have given him [Jonah, in this case representing us] for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
Isa 55:5  Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 
Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [in their particular time and order of salvation, and not by the drowsy ten-second sinner’s prayer]
Rom 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

Jon 1:7  And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

The casting of lots originated by God in Moses’ time for Aaron’s God-directed selection of a sin-offering goat and the scapegoat them both representing our like offerings. Jonah represented a type of sin offering and scapegoat offering illustrative of us.

Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

The casting of lots in ancient Biblical times was a kind of works of the law that lots afforded by the undeniability of God’s hand in the outcome of disputes without man’s influence. Since the cross, we have a similar guaranteed outcome though through the prayers of a righteous man. Since he knows and lives Christ’s commands, he already discerns the result of all disputes by a multitude of Eldership counsel. Consequently, there is no need for lots.

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Isa 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Jon 1:8  Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 
Jon 1:9  And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 

Jonah’s response represents us not denying Christ before Babylonian Christianity’s many ethnic gods claiming the name of Jesus. In our fearfulness of what they can do to us, we stumble, unskilled in the word of God, and we are initially happy to be thrown back into the deep, the ‘sea of mankind’ from whence we came and drown our humiliation in obscurity but for the Lord’s saving grace, spewing us back on dry land denoting the process of transition for those the Lord calls his very Elect guaranteeing their turbulent, yet safe passage, them heeding his warnings for ‘that great city, Nineveh’ within.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Jon 1:10  Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 
Jon 1:11  Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 

Psa 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

The ship’s crew asking Jonah how to calm the sea is emblematic of our tempestuous fiery trials, which make us sick in the stomach with embarrassment. The only solution is to acknowledge our iniquity before our Lord for glorious liberation (Jer 3:13-14), being cast into the Lord’s baptism of his fiery word likewise demonstrative, yet very different for mankind since Adam, in the Lake of Fire, the Second Resurrection.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Jon 1:12  And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 
Jon 1:13  Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 

The ship’s crew, by having compassion on Jonah and making every effort to work hard to get to landfall, equates to Christ, not willing that any should die. But when we continue in iniquity, he, by the design of our journey, chastises us. Jonah could have repented on the spot before the Lord, and the sea of tribulations made calm, but no, he stubbornly stuck by his determination not to face the highly probable wrath of Nineveh.

Eze 18:23  Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Eze 18:24  But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

Jon 1:14  Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 
Jon 1:15  So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 

The seafarers easily disbanded their many gods in the face of the Lake of Fire like terror and prayed to the God of gods, which typifies every man’s fateful distress, as did the rich man juxtaposed with the great gulf between him and Lazarus.

The saga wonderfully equates to Pilate spinelessly washing his hands of authority over the Jews and us denying Christ. How glorious is Jonah’s witness against himself, typifying our formally like fear of the Jews of Babylonian Christianity. When we, and by Christ’s strength, powerfully affirm Christ within to those who enquire, our foaming sea within becomes as calm as a moonlit millpond. Consequently, the world eventually will greatly fear our Lord and Husband, and like Joseph’s Father, mother and brothers, bow and worship God at the Bride’s feet.

Mat 27:24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Gal 6:5  For every man shall bear his own burden.

Jon 1:16  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 

The highly varied ethnicities of the ship’s crew denote the world outside the camp of Israel, particularly Gentile Christianity not yet dragged to Christ, stuck in the fearful expressions of the Law of Moses, knowing no better than to make endless vows submitting to their own strength to keep God’s word.

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Luk 17:33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

Luk 11:29  And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Luk 11:30  For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
Luk 11:31  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 11:32  The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

We complete this study, a kind of bedtime story, with the wide-awake eyes of mature children of Christ looking forward, at His will, to the highly anticipated spiritual outcome of the next verse of Chapter One leading into Chapter Two:

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

Jon 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

Sleep well, wise Virgins…

Greetings, Mike,

I just want to know the Spiritual significance of the Assyrian in the bible or Spirit of Assyria/ King of Assyria, what it is, how it operates and all that.

Thank you so much for taking time to always respond to my questions. I learn a lot.

God bless,

N____

Hi N____,

Thank you for your question.

You say:

“I just want to know the Spiritual significance of the Assyria[ns] in the bible or Spirit of Assyria/ King of Assyria; what it is, how it operates and all that.”

Assyria is the country to whom God sent the prophet Jonah. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh. Jonah preached to Nineveh and its king and its people repented. The way the book of Jonah ends is with Jonah upset with God for saving Nineveh. We will see in a moment what that means, but first let me answer your question concerning the spiritual significance of Assyria.

It will help us to understand the spiritual significance of Assyria if we can first understand that both Nineveh and Babylon are in the land of Assyria. Both countries were used by God to punish His own rebellious people. The kingdom of northern Israel was first carried away captive by the Assyrian king of Nineveh whose name was Tiglathpileser. Just a few years later Nineveh was conquered by the Babylonians. Shortly after the Babylonians conquered Nineveh, they expanded the borders of their empire by conquering the southern nation of Judah, which was also carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Just like the king of Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar was dealt with by God, through the prophet Daniel, and he too, was converted and proclaimed the God of Daniel to be the only God.

Here are the accounts of the conversions of both of these kings and their kingdoms:

Jon 3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
Jon 3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jon 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jon 3:6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jon 3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
Jon 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
Jon 3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
Jon 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

“The people of Nineveh [and] the king of Nineveh… turn[ed] every one from his evil way, and from the violence that [was] in their hands” and God received their repentance. But this is what happened with Jonah when God saved Nineveh from utter destruction. This is how the book of Jonah ends:

Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Jon 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Jon 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jon 4:4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
Jon 4:5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
Jon 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
Jon 4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Jon 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
Jon 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
Jon 4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jon 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

The book of Jonah ends with Jonah reproving God for saving Nineveh.

Now here is the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon:

Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
Dan 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Dan 4:36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Dan 4:37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Again there is a great lesson in the conversion of these two Babylonian kings, which we will discuss after we discover the spiritual significance of both Assyria and Babylon, who are really both the same peoples, and as we see above, are both used to give us the same spiritual lesson.

Before these kings and their kingdoms are saved this is how they are used in God’s service. This is the spiritual significance of the Assyrians and the Babylonians who are also Assyrians:

Isa 10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Isa 10:2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
Isa 10:3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Isa 10:4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Isa 10:7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

There it is. There is the spiritual significance of the Assyrians and of the Babylonians. “The staff in their hand is… the rod of [God’s] anger… the staff in their hand is [God’s] indignation”.

In spiritual terms, Assyria and Babylon are both used of God to keep us captive in false doctrines which keep us blinded from the doctrines of Christ, while at the same time oppressing us and punishing us for our own submission to the false doctrines of Babylon which deny the doctrines of Christ and “decree unrighteous decrees, and write grievousness which they have prescribed”:

Isa 10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Isa 10:2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

This is exactly what the doctrines of Babylon produce within us when we prescribe such grievous decrees as eternal torment in literal flames of fire, and use such false and grievous decrees to extort from widows and rob from those who do not know our loving heavenly Father, “the fatherless”, whose only father is the devil himself.

This is what Christ had to say to the children of the very same people to whom Isaiah 10 is addressed, “to the Jews which believed on Him” but who at the same time wanted to stone Him:

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

So Assyria and Babylon, spiritually are those who the Lord uses to punish us for our own rebellions against Him. The fact is that Abraham himself was called out of Assyria and Babylon, from “Ur of the Chaldees”. That again is a type of where we all come from spiritually, We are all first carried away to Babylon before we are delivered of that corruption. It is Babylon and its heartless ministers who are used of God to bring us to our wits’ end before we are given to see where we are and to repent of all of her doctrines and to begin to “come out of her” (Rev 18:4) Those Jews who believed on Christ had no idea that it was actually in their hearts to stone their own savior:

Joh 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
Joh 7:20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

So it is with you and me at first. We don’t even know that we have been harboring hatred towards others and are therefore murderers in the eyes of God:

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

We are all guilty of hating our brother at some time. Babylon teaches us to do so when it partakes in the affairs of this age and encourages its victims to go to war against their own brothers and to fight for God and country. We have all been part of that system and we have all witnessed how the shepherds of Babylon will steal from the windows and the fatherless, and yet that entire system is nothing more or less that the rod of God’s indignation upon us while we are in that rebellious and stubborn part of our “experience of evil… which the Lord [Himself] has given to the sons of men to humble [us]”.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Psa 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

It is all of God who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”. (Eph 1:11)

But now I want to return to the spiritual significance of the conversion of the king of Nineveh and all of his kingdom, and the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Babylon and all of his kingdom. The spiritual significance of the conversion of these kings and their kingdoms is the inevitable, predestinated salvation of all who are in Adam:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

This is the true gospel of the kingdom of God! And it permeates scripture from Genesis to Revelation:

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
1Ti 4:11 These things command and teach.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

So in the end the kings of Assyria and Babylon are spiritual types of our evil, old man who God uses to correct us when we rebel against Him and His law and His commandments:

Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

The principalities and powers within us are the kingdoms which the Old Testament kings of Nineveh and Babylon typify. God uses the wicked men within us as His own rod, and His own sword, to correct us and to reprove us.

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

After God has used the wicked nations and principalities within us to correct and to reprove us, then he will set about to save us from our old, dying condition and composition, by the destruction of those things within us which are enmity against him and His doctrines and His commandments:

Jer 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

Here is the spiritual fulfillment of this verse in the New Testament:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

I hope all these verses have served to help you to see the spiritual significance of who the kings of Assyria and of Babylon are, and I pray that you are also given to see that like Jonah, the self-righteous Pharisee within us all does not want to share the love of our heavenly Father with mere Ninevites, who represent the Gentiles to whom Christ has come and who also represent all men whom He is in the process of saving.

Your brother who is grateful that God “will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth, (1Ti 2:4)

Mike