The Book of Second Chances with Rabbi Bob

So, there are so many places to enter into the conversation of this story.

As you well know, our show is broadcast on CHRI 99.1 FM, a Christian radio station, and perhaps one of the best places to enter into a conversation is, why is the God of the Israelites concerned with Nineveh in this story? who are not Israelites.

If you and I could imagine that God wanted to tell us a story about second chances, the Israelites provided enough opportunity for the need of second chances.

Why, perhaps, does God choose to send Jonah to Nineveh, of all places?

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Nineveh is not an Israelite city, it's an Assyrian city.

It's not just non-Israelite, it's the enemy.

In the decades after the life of Jonah, the Assyrian empire is going to come and destroy the northern kingdom, destroy the ten tribes.

We talk about the 10 lost tribes as the result of the Assyrian conquest of the northern part of the land of Israel.

So going to Nineveh is going to the enemy camp.

So the story, there's lots of ways of possibly understanding this story.

So one way would be to say that God is concerned about all of humanity.

Even those people who we see as our enemies, even the people we see as our enemies are still in relationship with the one God.

And we can't dehumanize the enemy.

We and they may have different goals, but they are still people.

That's one possibility.

Certainly an interesting message in our times.

Yes.

That the enemy is still a part of God's creation.

We are, I suppose in the text, offered the vision that our enemies are still humanity.

Right.

So too often in today's world, we're well aware of the attempts to dehumanize the enemy, and this is not new.

We can look at all sorts of examples over history of how enemies depicted in popular culture.

So, one opportunity is, Nineveh represents that the God of the Israelites is the God of all people.

I think that's certainly a big underpinning, a big foundational point of this story.

So, there are so many places to enter into the conversation of this story.

As you well know, our show is broadcast on CHRI 99.1 FM, a Christian radio station, and perhaps one of the best places to enter into a conversation is, why is the God of the Israelites concerned with Nineveh in this story? who are not Israelites.

If you and I could imagine that God wanted to tell us a story about second chances, the Israelites provided enough opportunity for the need of second chances.

Why, perhaps, does God choose to send Jonah to Nineveh, of all places?

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Nineveh is not an Israelite city, it's an Assyrian city.

It's not just non-Israelite, it's the enemy.

In the decades after the life of Jonah, the Assyrian empire is going to come and destroy the northern kingdom, destroy the ten tribes.

We talk about the 10 lost tribes as the result of the Assyrian conquest of the northern part of the land of Israel.

So going to Nineveh is going to the enemy camp.

So the story, there's lots of ways of possibly understanding this story.

So one way would be to say that God is concerned about all of humanity.

Even those people who we see as our enemies, even the people we see as our enemies are still in relationship with the one God.

And we can't dehumanize the enemy.

We and they may have different goals, but they are still people.

That's one possibility.

Certainly an interesting message in our times.

Yes.

That the enemy is still a part of God's creation.

We are, I suppose in the text, offered the vision that our enemies are still humanity.

Right.

So too often in today's world, we're well aware of the attempts to dehumanize the enemy, and this is not new.

We can look at all sorts of examples over history of how enemies depicted in popular culture.

So, one opportunity is, Nineveh represents that the God of the Israelites is the God of all people.

I think that's certainly a big underpinning, a big foundational point of this story.