Thursday, July 15, 2021
The Greatest Revival in Human History
“The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41 NKJV).
The greatest revival in human history that we know of took place in the city of Nineveh. The population of Nineveh at that time was around one million people, and an awakening swept through the entire city.
Yet it wasn’t thanks to Jonah, the prophet whom God sent. When the Lord told him to go to Nineveh and preach, he caught a boat going in the opposite direction. He was swallowed by a great fish, and after he repented, the fish vomited him onto dry land.
Jonah wasn’t happy about preaching to these people. He didn’t even care if God judged them. So he simply told them, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4 NKJV). Loosely paraphrased, Jonah was saying, “You’re going to burn, so deal with it.”
There was no offer of forgiveness, yet amazingly, God worked in Nineveh. The people turned to Him. They repented. And because of that, God spared them.
Later Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41 NKJV).
The people of Nineveh didn’t have the message that we have today. They didn’t hear that God loved them so much that He sent His own Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and pay for their sins. They didn’t hear that if you will put your faith in Jesus, you can know that when you die, you will go to Heaven.
And they didn’t know that forgiveness could be given and received instantaneously if a person would believe.
Perhaps your life is falling apart right now. Christ can transform it. Whatever problem you’re facing today, Jesus Christ can fix it—if you will come to Him on His terms.
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