Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. – Jonah 1:2
Do you ever see some being punished or receiving bad news and think to yourself, “Good. They deserve it.” If so, you could have been a prophet in ancient Israel. That way of thinking is exactly how Jonah was thinking when God said that he needed to go to Ninevah to preach repentance in the Assyrian capitol. The Assyrians were the enemies of Israel, and Jonah hated them. They were wicked and violent. They worshiped false gods and enslaved the Israelites. It is no wonder that Jonah despised them.
However, God desires that all His people everywhere hear the call to repentance. As a prophet of Israel, Jonah was supposed to be a man of God, a faithful servant. If he had simply obeyed, the book of Jonah could have been just one chapter. It was Jonah’s disobedience that made the story longer. In the end, the Ninevites repented and turned from their wickness.
You may see your neighbors and colleagues and think that their behavior deserves punishment. You may even be right in a legal sense, but what about your sins and my sins. Have we repented? Have we been forgiven? If so, should we not tell others about the benefits of repentance and the peace of forgiveness? We cannot control their reaction, but if we know the truth, and we withhold it, are we not guilty as well? Rather, brothers and sisters, let us arise and cry against the sin around us. The children of God will hear, and they will repent.