THE NINEVEH AWAKENING

"So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them." - Jonah 3:5

Revival often precedes an awakening.  Many Christians consider the two events to be the same, but they're not.  Revival is a divine event when God's people are renewed and refreshed.  An awakening is a widespread event when lost people come to repentance and faith.  Quite honestly, America presently needs both revival and an awakening.  Christians need to repent of apathy and inactivity.  Believers need to get serious about the things of God once more.  Furthermore, our nation needs a mighty move of the Spirit to awaken lost souls, bring them under conviction and lead them to saving faith.

The second chapter of the book of Jonah details the revival of a preacher.  Jonah had been disobedient to God's call and, as a result, ended up in the belly of a great fish.  His repentance and renewal led to his escape from the fish and obedience to God's calling.  In the third chapter of the Jonah, we find the preacher obediently going to the city of Nineveh.  Nineveh was a large city for that time.  The Scriptures teach us that Jonah went through the city preaching.  For those who object to street preaching, they need to read the book of Jonah.  Jonah preached as he made his way through the city.

Jonah preached the message that God gave him --- a message of judgment.  Because of their wickedness, God's judgment was coming to the people of Nineveh. 

Jonah 3:5 states, "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them."  While many object to a sermon about judgment, it awakened the people of Nineveh.

Notice two things about the Nineveh awakening.

1.  THE PEOPLE BELIEVED

First of all, the people believed God.  A genuine awakening leads people to faith.  Their faith was not a superficial belief, but a genuine faith that God's Word was true.  They had been convinced that Jonah's message was from God and was totally accurate. 

One reason that we aren't seeing a widespread awakening in America is because God's people aren't totally convinced of God's message.  You can't expect unbelievers to believe the message that "believers" aren't convinced of.  If we are totally convinced of God's message, why aren't we sharing it?

2.  THE PEOPLE REPENTED

Not only did the people believe, they repented.  Repentance and genuine faith go hand-in-hand.  The citizens of Nineveh fasted and turned from sin.  How can you distinguish between superficial belief and saving faith?  One obvious difference is that saving faith and repentance occur together.  Far too many people have joined a church or made a profession of faith, yet continued to live the same way they did before their "conversion."  A lack of repentance is typical of superficial belief.  A person may have a superficial belief, but he will never be genuinely saved until repentance and genuine faith exist together.

God had not promised the citizens of Nineveh anything but judgment.  Yet after the great awakening occurred, God had mercy and extended grace to the entire city.  He spared them from the judgment they deserved.

We need a similar awakening in America.  Notice that Jonah did not pray for an awakening.  Instead, he simply obeyed God and preached to the people and an awakening occurred.

We have a greater message than Jonah had.  We have the message of the Gospel to share.  Our country has experienced great awakenings in the past.  But there hasn't been an awakening for more than 100 years.  We are in a dire need for an awakening in America.  It could be that a spiritual awakening may be the only thing that can save our country from the judgment it deserves.

Like Jonah, let's obediently share God's message.  It could be a spiritual awakening may begin as we obey God today!