Minor Prophets to Nineveh

Nineveh was one of the greatest cities in the world in antiquity. On the river Tigris previously called the river Hiddekel, it was on the edge of the fertile crescent in the Middle East. It was a great trading city, but it had a selfish and cruel society. Prior to Babylon it was the most powerful nation in the world.

Nineveh appears in two prophetic works in the Old Testament. Firstly, Jonah and secondly Nahum. The only other that was not a prophecy to Israel or Judah was the vision of Obadiah concerning Edom. The first was a call to repentance and the second a vision on the total destruction of that once great city. The former is similar to the call for repentance of the world in the book of Acts and the latter shows the fall of this present evil world often likening it to Babylon and its fall in the book of Revelation. The work was begun each time by a Jew; firstly Jonah and secondly Jesus. Each time its concerning the Gentile world rather than Israel.

The book of Jonah could have been written as early as 800 BC. Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 concerning a prophecy fulfilled by Jeroboam II that recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo‑Hamath to the Dead Sea. Jeroboam reigned from 786‑745 BC. Nahum’s prophecy was written about 150 years later and the fall of Nineveh was about 612 BC.

Call to Repentance

"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4) was the cry to the people of Nineveh. Jonah must have said much more. There is more to describe the reaction of the King of Nineveh who took off his royal robes and dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes and proclaimed a fast for all the people. "Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands" (Jonah 3:8 ESV) said the king listening and reacting to the preaching of Jonah. The only conclusion is that Jonah was implying they were doing wrong and the king realised that only repenting and amending their evil could cause God to relent from his punishment.

They were to be the instrument of God’s anger to correct and punish Israel and Judah; they were a cruel and violent people.

Early Church call to Repentance

In New Testament times Paul stood and spoke to the men of Athens that "the times of ignorance" were over and "God…commands all people everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30 ESV) That process began with the conversion of Cornelius in 37 AD. Peter, Paul and the other apostles travelled all areas of Israel and Samaria and to modern day Turkey as well as Greece and Italy and perhaps Spain.

Success of Jonah’s message to repent

"God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which He said He would do to them, and He didn’t do it." (Jonah 3:10 WEB) Therefore it was a success!

Early Church Success

The increase of the Church by the apostles continued to convert both Jew and increasingly Gentile alike to the end of the first century when John appears to be the last apostle to die after writing Revelation. There would be persecution from the Romans until Christianity became the religion of the empire in the days of Constantine. (d.337 AD) The Dark Ages arrived and the gospel message got polluted and there was a famine for the word of God. Most did not understand the Latin that was spoken in the churches on a Sunday. Fewer could read it.

The Fall of Nineveh and the Fall of Babylon

King Sargon of Assyria is thought to have built temples to their gods Nebo and Marduk. Nahum says God will "cut off the graven image and the molten image." (Nah.1:14) Chapter 2 of Nahum details an advancing enemy, the preparation for the defence of the city and a battle with shields and chariots to capture the king and queen and the whole royal court with a spoil being taken away. The city’s fall was largely due to an overflow of water from the two rivers and network of canals flooding the city and major buildings. Historians believe there was a major flood of the river Tigris at the time of the siege to confirm the biblical prophecy. The reason in verse one of chapter three is because of bloodshed, deceit and robbery. Assyria had invaded many countries killing many and taken much property as a spoil. King Hezekiah had given Assyria much gold and silver both from his own royal treasury and from the Temple. Yet he still invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem with 185,000 troops. King Sennacherib himself was murdered by his own sons, who were violent and cruel as were many Assyrians in that day.

The Sins in Nahum

Another accusation of Nineveh was its prostitution and witchcraft. (Nah.3:4) In the New Testament Babylon is accused of the same. It indicates a parallel between the fall of Nineveh in Nahum to the fall of Babylon in the end times of this Gospel age or Christian era. (Rev.18:2‑3) At the end times Paul said people would be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. (2 Tim.3:4)

Nahum states the consequential destruction of Nineveh would be complete and final. Nineveh disappeared from sight as if it never existed. It was not until 1843 that, buried under mounds, part of Nineveh was discovered by archaeologists. It proved that it was once a real place and verifies the reality of the Old Testament accounts as well as the complete nature of its demise.

Nineveh in the New Testament

Luke 11:32 (WEB) says "The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, one greater than Jonah is here." It shows that those who failed to repent when they heard Jesus will meet those who repented in Nineveh in Jonah’s day who never heard Jesus at his First Advent, after the resurrection, and regret it.

All in all, it can be seen that there are parallels between Jonah and Nahum in this Christian era. The former a picture of the early Church and the latter the time of the end. It makes clear the message was always intended to reach the Gentiles as it is said in Isa.60:3 "the Gentiles shall come to thy light." It’s also clear that it was not likely to be 100% successful in subsequent generations as there was a falling away in Nineveh and return to their sins and idolatry. That is not the end as it has been said "God has a plan and everyone is in it."

NAC