The Apostle Paul tells us, ‘faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God’. Accordingly, because it was God’s gracious purpose to grant faith to the people of Nineveh, the word of God came to the king of Nineveh by the preaching of Jonah. The obedient prophet declared the message God had given to him. The testimony of Jonah, being attended by the Spirit of conviction and conversion, instigated first a transformation of heart, then a reformation of conduct in this heathen ruler and the lives of his people.

The city of Nineveh is very ancient being first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 10 where it is said to have been built by ‘Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD’. While Nimrod may have hunted animals he likely hunted men, too. He is closely connected in scripture to Babylon and Assyria, two warring dynasties used by God to scourge Israel. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. For power, population and size it was for many years the largest and most important city in the world. It was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris river close to modern-day Mosul in northern Iraq.

Jonah’s experience, in the belly of the fish, was documented for the benefit and instruction of the after-church of Jesus Christ. The prophet recorded how he felt, thought and cried in the throes of his affliction and how the Lord heard him. Jonah also reveals ‘my soul fainted within me’. This is strange language to the ears of many of us. What does it mean when a man’s soul faints within him? Would you know what to do if it happened to you?