The Great City

The Great City
Words of Faith 10-9-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Jonah 4
[10] But the Lord said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. [11] But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

Have you been to a really big city lately? Perhaps you live in one. In some of the great cities of the world, the numbers are overwhelming. Especially in the mega-cities of the world, it is difficult to fathom the enormity of human population and needs. We experience a mass of humanity churning and moving twenty-four hours a day.
For many, this is an exciting place but there is also something about the mass of a large population that can make us numb. It made Jonah numb. The mass of the Ninevites along with his prejudices had somehow caused him to lose any sense that these were people who had great needs. He was unconcerned.
Nineveh was actually one of the largest urban centers in the ancient world. The 120,000 people may have represented only the young children who did not yet know left from right. That number may also have represented only the men who were officially counted, apparently undiscerning, not knowing their right from their left. Scholars suggest this was a city of between 300 and 600 thousand, completely lost without God, and an enormous mass of humanity.
Should God abandon such a city? Or to put it better-- "Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
We should recognize that while enormous numbers are overwhelming and even numbing to us, they never overwhelm God. Large numbers of lost people are a great concern for God but they are in no way too big for Him to fathom or too great for Him to reach. Revival broke out in Nineveh, of all places, even with a less-than-enthusiastic messenger. God was concerned for those people.
The book of Jonah ends strangely with this simple question asked by God: "Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Don't miss that. Jonah may be about many things but it is mostly about this question. If we get distracted arguing about the big fish we will miss the point. Is God concerned for the churning masses? Is the God known for picking a "chosen people," really concerned for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free?" Or the "wretched refuse of your teeming shore" to quote from American history?
The book of Jonah does not answer this question because the answer is so self-evident. Here is the truth: The God of the Bible is concerned for everyone, even the great city. To God, people are never just a mass to be managed or endured. The Bible is clear that every human life is a precious and special creation of God. And God desires that none should be lost.
God is concerned for the great city. That means we cannot choose to ignore a place or a field of mission just because we feel overwhelmed or the people seem ignorant to us or different or not to our liking. God is concerned for the great city, teeming with masses of people who spiritually don't know their right hand from their left. God is concerned for those people. The real question is, are you?

Lord, you have asked a question. I will seek to answer. I will seek to understand. I cannot fathom Your mercy that is extended to a human condition far beyond my ability to comprehend. But I want to get to know You and Your mercy. Most of all, I want Your mercy to be evident in me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.