The call for Three Days Fast!
Mankind’s sins and deceitful act is augmenting as the days go by. People betrayal has become undeniably devious and outrage bringing all sorts of harm, evil and tribulations leading to catastrophic disasters. All the various social, economic and other national or else international chaos, conflicts, flood, earthquake, wildfires and other natural calamitous, are what reveal God’s wrath. His rage upon us, we are on death row.
The mercy of God is enormous; yet, if we are not to hinder our evil and sinful act, so is His fury. Man shall be aware of forsaken deeds in avoiding them and restraining into acting deviously. It was defying God’s word and law what brought death upon humans race to begin with. Still we seize not to contravene the Lord’s order. And now, all our deviousness has reached before Him and brought all the plague on earth.
Pupil of the Old Testament, specifically the people of Nineveh betrayed the Lord as we are doing these days. And so God called upon Jonah the Prophet and said, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (Jonah 1:2) These words of God are the exact proof and revelation towards His disappointment about our current deed, act and way of life. However, the Lord’s call for repentance is also was presented to the Nineveh’s as it is for us.
Though Prophet Jonah refused to accept and even fled to the city of Tarshish; still the Lord not leaving His side, brought storm which the ship broke but then all the passengers were saved as well as Jonah who spent three days in belly of whale. (Jonah 1:3-9) Through Lord’s order came to Jonah the second time and the people of Nineveh were called for three days fast thru repentance.
It is stated in the Holy Bible as “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?”
Then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10).
The people of Nineveh were forgiven for all the sins just by three days fast, and so, we shall fast it in cleansing from all the sins and repenting. We shall understand the mercy of God and hope for His forgiveness and repentance.
Yet again, we acknowledge the limitless of the Lord’s mercy in the story of Jonah and the Nineveh people, whist He forgives them even when the prophet was displeased by the ninevites. The bibles state it as, “but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore, now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:1-11).
Dear brethren! It is up to each of us to hear the alert and warning of the Lord to be saved from sinking from this satanic world and in walking to the right true path. It is our will and goodness by good heart also good conscious that we will be able to be preserved from any harm or evil. When we return to God or attempt to go back to Him, it is not without a doubt for His mercy to be upon us through strong arm and Divine will.
Let us cry out loud, plead, sob and repent regretfully so our Lord could turn His face and heart tor us in forgiving us and save our soul. Let us repent just as the Nineveh people!
May God’s mercy be upon us; Amen!