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Jonah 3: Wish I Weren't Here

A postcard from our illustrious prophet to my congregation in Ballybeen, Northern Ireland.






Perhaps you can't read his writing. He writes:


Dear friends,
Well, made it to Nineveh at last. Don’t know about “Wish you were here,” but I wish I wasn’t. It’s every bit as bad as its reputation... even worse than Ballybeen. And it’s huge... I’ve been trekking across it on foot all day (the public transport is non-existent... that’s government cutbacks for you), and I still haven’t got to the city centre. But I think I’ll set up stall here, and let them have it. See you soon. Should be finished here in forty days. Nineveh should be finished in forty days too.
Yours in God’s service,
Jonah, son of Amittai.
© David A. Campton 2001
Thankfully Jonah's powers of prophetic foresight were not very well developed, and his words became a self-defeating, rather than self-fulfilling prophecy as the city of Nineveh responded in repentance.
There are times when I fear that the Good News of God's grace, is not delivered with the same enthusiasm as the Bad News of God's wrath... God forbid that Jonah should be the model for our proclamation of God's word today, but may we have the same response!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was in ballyclare a couple of Saturdays ago - not sure I've ever been there before. But on leaving and driving round the square I heard a street preacher for the first time in years. Proclaiming the wrath of God with great joy.
Now, I could understand preaching the wrath of God with joy in Ballyclare, after what some of those hallians did to me on the rugby pitch over the years!

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