NORTHERN STYLE NEWSWATCH No. 43 CREDO
`Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah . . . '
In these days of deepening apostacy in the Church and deadening depravity in the world we, like so many others, had been pondering on the Lord's Grace and Mercy, aware that it can only be a matter of time before His Hand of Chastening must come upon the Church and in Judgement upon the world. With that in mind, we had been studying the Book of Zechariah, one of the 12 Minor Prophets, which, as we have seen, is one Book in the Hebraic Scriptures. Those who read our Newswatches are well aware of the importance of Scriptural numerology and its significance in our understanding of Scripture - and it was this understanding of the one Book of the 12 Minor Prophets that led us back to the Beginning and to the knowledge that God's Grace and Mercy are inextricably linked into His Judgement!

In the Hebraic Scriptures there are 16 prophetic Books, which can easily be confirmed by checking the index of the Bible. Within these 16 Books the chronological setting reveals various groupings of prophets who spoke the Word of the LORD at the same time, followed by long time-gaps between the groups. We do not need to dwell on these matters for it is sufficient to note that the first chronological group of 6 prophets begins with the Book of Jonah and that following the Word spoken by those 6 prophets there was a time-gap of 70 years. We also note that Zechariah was the 15th of the 16 prophets, and he was the LAST of the prophets to speak the Word of the LORD to His ancient people - in the sense that the Hebrew scribes saw the Book of Malachi (the 16th prophetic Book) as `the Seal of the Prophets' which then saw the nation of Israel going into its Great Probation of 400 years.

As we know, in many cases of Scripture numbers often speak their own message to those who understand their significance, and from what we have just briefly set out we have seen God speaking through His prophets over the fulness of man's time - speaking again of His Grace and Judgement through the first prophet, Jonah, and through the 15th prophet, Zechariah - and `sealing' the Word of the LORD by the Book of Malachi, which concludes with the well-known words:

" See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful Day of the LORD comes. "

With this background in place we can indeed go back to `the beginning' of those 16 prophetic Books and open up the Book of Jonah.

The Book of Jonah is the butt of many worldly jokes as well as the inspiration of many Sunday School stories. It is also used by many `preachers' to show the futility of running away from the call of God. Such usage of Scripture may well raise a laugh or point out a Scriptural principle, but to leave it at such a level would not reveal the message that God speaks through the first of His prophets. We see no need to doubt the truth of the literal historical events recorded in the Book of Jonah. To do otherwise would be to suggest that Nineveh was also an allegory - and we know that Jesus Himself spoke to the unbelieving Pharisees through the events of Jonah: (Matthew 12:38-41)

" Then some of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law said to Him, `Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from You.' He answered, `A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the Judgement with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here'. "

Although at first our intention had been to consider the Grace of God, as seen in the Book of Zechariah, our thoughts were brought back instead to the Book of Jonah to consider further the Judgement of God, and so we turn at last to the first of the 16 Prophets of Scripture to seek understanding as to how the two are to be reconciled: (Jonah 1-2 KJV)

" Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah . . . . saying, `Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it (that is, make a general proclamation) for their wickedness has come up before Me'. "

Today's preachers of the Word would surely launch into a strong word against the disobedience of Jonah in running away `to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD' - such is the shallowness of today's preaching! But if Jonah was indeed called by the LORD to speak His Word, he would have been fully aware not only of the content but also of the consequences that would follow the delivery of that Word. This can be seen in the opening words of chapter 4:

" He (Jonah) prayed to the LORD, `O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home. That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish . . . "

The content of the Word to be delivered to Nineveh was clearly understood by Jonah! It was God's Judgement, `for their wickedness has come up before Me'. If we were to ask why Nineveh - a strong powerful city - should pay any attention to the Word of the LORD we should find that historically this was at the time of great national trouble, and it is said by historians that `for fourty years Assyrian history was shrouded in darkness'. In other words, there were no boastful monuments erected . . no epochal victories written down . . the Assyrians were at that time troubled by the surounding emerging nations.

They were therefore ready to `hear' the Word of the LORD, and Jonah would also have known, through the LORD's dealing with His ancient people, that repentance always preceded God's Grace and stayed His Hand of Judgement! Jonah knew that if Nineveh was led to repentance through his faithful proclamation of the Word of the LORD, Assyria would once again be restored and would be used as God's chastening Hand against His rebellious people Israel. So using his own understanding he was prepared to `lay down his life' by going on a perilous journey by ship to Tarshish and run `from the Presence of the LORD'. This was the problem Jonah had to carefully consider before the LORD: In Jonah's day Assyria, growing weaker and surrounded by rising nations, if overthrown, would no longer be God's Hand against Israel, but by coming to repentance they would grow strong and once again become a possible `Sword of Judgement'. Surely, Jonah would have reasoned, that is contrary to what he had previously spoken to Israel concerning the LORD's blessing in extending her boundaries: (2 Kings 14:25)

" He (Jeroboam) restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the Word of the LORD God of Israel, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah. "

And so `Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD'. We shall leave the story of the great fish, which although important is not pertinent to this Credo, and move on into chapter 3 of the Book of Jonah: (3:1-2 KJV)

" And the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying: `Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it that preaching that I bid thee. "

This time Jonah obeyed! But, as we know from the opening verses of chapter 4, `it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry'. We have seen that for 40 years Assyria had been `shrouded in darkness' - with the attendant weakening of its national strength and its fear of the growing strenth of the surrounding nations - and so it was ready to hear the Word of the LORD through Jonah, who said: `Yet fourty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown': (3:5-6)

" So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast . . . For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. "

A displeased and angry Jonah knew what that meant, but as we know from reading further he had much to learn about God's Judgement and Mercy: (4:11)

" And should not I (God) spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle? "

And so the Book of Jonah abruptly ends, and through national repentance many came to know God. In the LORD's time Assyria rose in strength again and did indeed become the Sword of Judgement against the rebellious Northern Kingdom of Israel! Jonah knew of the apostacy of the people of the Northern Kingdom and he could see the Sword by which the LORD would chasten His people. He also knew that even with such evident idolatry the rebellious Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam had still extended their boundaries and he was prepared to believe that he was obedient to God in fleeing to Tarshish. He believed that he was `laying his life down' by going on a perilous sea journey and not proclaiming the Word of the LORD to Nineveh, thereby leaving that proud city to finally fall to the surrounding nations. Jonah saw a greater deliverance for Israel by seemingly risking his life, but he did not see the sixscore thousand people in Nineveh who would repent and believe God and in the LORD's good time be His Sword of Judgement against rebellious Israel. By his actions he was unwittingly prepared to maintain the `status quo' for Israel, for by the fall of Nineveh in its weakened state God's people would remain in the rebellious state which had led it into apostacy: (Jonah 4:10)

" But the LORD said, `You have been concerned about this vine (Israel) . . . "

It is at this point that we would momentarily draw back from the Book of Jonah and bring these thoughts into our contemporary time and see the parallel which can be brought out in this Credo. Most of God's people in the West today are as concerned as was Jonah at the rapid move into apostacy of His people, and in many ministries today there are Godly men calling for national repentance and the restoration of Scriptural principles to family and national life. They point out that in Great Britain we have the Queen's Coronation Oath in which she promises to uphold the Protestant religion and a constant reminder to politicians to pass and uphold Scripturally based laws. They also encourage social organisations to teach personal morality, again based upon Scriptural principles - all of this coupled with the reminder that in earlier years when this nation faced danger God raised up National and Godly leaders to bring these principles into the nation's lifeblood. Today such ministries look with anxiety to the growing power of the European Union, and the danger to the Nation of Great Britain in that Union. Their cry is to be aware and to work and pray that this Nation will be kept from full membership of the European Union and of being caught up in all that will eventually emerge into the `Fourth Beast of Daniel'.

Whatever else may be credited to Europe, it has given to the world a unique developed form of democratic style of government. Such a governmental system can be seen in one form or another in all recognisable countries of the world. Readers may recall an earlier Credo in which we set out in general terms how such a system emerged over the centuries, developing through wars and Peace Treaties into different forms of State Government, yet all based upon some form of democratic sufferage. It emerged through the last `World Wars' of the 20th century into the form which is now known as a `Nation State' - one in which the State acknowledges its responsibility for the whole of its people, who in turn accept the authority of the State. As we have also said in a much earlier Credo, the State system in which we now live was formed by past events and through people with a different mind-set to those of today. Clearly, therefore, a new form of government is forming based upon the events and circumstances of today, which will only be fully seen with hindsight. It is this struggle which in some form or other engages much of Europe's political minds today.

`We won the war' is the heart-felt cry of an older generation who experienced the cost! `What war?', is the indifferent cry of today's generation, who after 60 years of peace have no concept of war touching their immediate lives. In past centuries peace was maintained in Europe by a continuous balance of power between its nations, with shifting Treaties and Alliances to ensure that no nation emerged strong enough to dominate the continent. All this was watched over by Britain who was always reluctant to be drawn into continental wars and whose imperial aspirations reached out beyond Europe. But that system of State government, with its checks and counter-checks and `controlled' local wars overseen by Pax Britannia, clearly broke down in the two World Wars of the 20th century which were clearly wars to determine the future of Europe. Treaties and Alliances were not sufficient to bring the emerging power of Germany to heel, and for the first time in the history of the continent an outside power - in the form of America - was brought in. The end result of this is still the staple diet of the film and literary world. It quickly led to the struggle for the `soul of Europe' between two Super Powers and two ideologies, and the outcome of that struggle is seen in the formation of what is now called the European Union, with its emerging form of Democratic State Government over the Continent of Europe. This necessitated the willing submission of national aspirations to an international ideal, an ideal which has given up the use of force for a perceived national identity and embraces trade and social rights as the way forward into a `brave new world'. Paradoxically, this brave new world of `perpetual peace' is overseen by the military force of the surviving Super Power - America!

It also needs to be acknowledged that the events and powerful ideological wars which dominated the 20th century have indeed provided a `peace' for over 60 years such as Europe had not known under its previous regimes. This is the State system of universal democratic authority in which the Church is called to outwork its life and calling to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, which will be in direct conflict with the universalism of a Europe that has eschewed the narrow nationalism of kingdom States. However the new European Union State system is weak and its instruments of State authority are barely accepted by its member States whose politicians are always looking over their political shoulders to their own national elections. For this reason the European Union is seeking to establish a binding Constitution upon its members. As yet it has no fully coordinated military force to protect the frontiers of its brave new world; no police force to enforce internal peace; its various Judicial Courts find it difficult to enforce their judgements and its rotating system of Presidents reveals its reluctance to come to terms with State authority. For 60 years, like a butterfly struggling to emerge from its chrysalis, it has struggled to emerge into a fully accepted State system in its own right.

In order to achieve this Europe has to throw off its narrow state nationalism, otherwise it will succumb to the past Nation State interests with continual wars fuelled by national pride and ambition. But those who accept the Bible as the literal and final Word of God know the outcome of the `brave new world' of the European Union, which is why there is so much opposition to Great Britain (and we are sure this extends to Christians in other European countries) being fully drawn into the European Union. This `brave new world' of Europe did not come about through appeals to the people over law and order or of trade bringing in an era of prosperity, for we have seen that it was brought in through two horrific and barbaric World Wars which swept away three dynastic powers in their wake. The fully developed new State system, now seen in embryonic form in the European Union, will become established in the same way, for it is only then that the Antichrist can come forth and establish a universal kingdom - which Bible students know will be brittle and fractious, composed of `feet of iron and clay'.

It is here that we can now move back into the Book of Jonah in order to see the parallel times we live in and perhaps we too may hear `the Word of the LORD that came to Jonah'. We would suggest that today we see the same misunderstanding in God's people regarding the European Union as did Jonah with the great city of Nineveh. Jonah saw the people's apostacy . . but he did not want to believe that the LORD would use a secular power to purge that apostacy from them. He saw a weakened Assyria and wanted to see that situation remain for he knew that what would happen - through their response to the Word of the LORD and their inevitable repentance - would be a restored, powerful, and therefore dangerous, Assyria. And so . . he fled from the LORD to Tarshish! Likewise today's `Jonahs' see the Church's apostacy but do not wish to see Great Britain joining the European Union and in doing so strengthen that Union which will bring in persecution to the subjects who embrace `the narrow nationalism of the Kingdom of God' through the proclamation of the Good News - although this persecution could also be the means of purging the Church of its apostacy! Jonah was not able to fully understand the mind of the LORD (as today's `Jonahs' are in danger of looking only at the `vine'): He used his own understanding with the best of motives for he thought that the LORD's people were more `righteous in their unrighteousness' than those outside the Covenant of God. Jonah was told to speak the Word of God to the people of Nineveh who, already in a weakened national situation, saw the impending doom and destruction that threatened them. Many came to believe in the Living God of Israel and were saved through that belief, and in the fulness of God's time Assyria did indeed recover her national strength and become God's Sword of Judgement on Israel!

In looking for the parallel message to today's `Jonahs' it is above all about being obedient to the Word of God in this Age of Grace: (Matthew 28:19-20)

" Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. "

In being obedient to the Word of God entrusted to His people in this Age we need have no fear of the European Union . . no over-concern of the growing apostacy . . no searching for sight of `the one who is to come, the Son of Perdition'. Like the people of Nineveh, today's `sixscore thousand people' are waiting to hear the Word of the Lord - He alone will work out the paradox between Judgement and Grace which belong to Him alone. Our response must be to be obedient and trust Him in the developing circumstances that surround us. The central meaning of the Book of Jonah is that there is nothing man can do to frustrate or thwart the final will and purpose of God, and what He has spoken will surely come to pass! In these days, perhaps more than in any other Age, God's people truly do need to know His will and purpose and faithfully proclaim the Good News of Jesus our Lord and Saviour to modern `Nineveh' wherever it is established, and in that we will see His Judgement and rejoice in His Grace towards those sixscore thousand who are waiting to hear the Word of the Lord.

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