The Fast of Nineveh

Dear Christians,

Welcome to the Fast of Nineveh. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has a well-rooted tradition of observing the said fast in a three-day long supplication. For this year, the days devoted for this spiritual Service are from Feb18, 2008 (Yekatit 10-13, 2000 E.C).

The service is not meant just to commemorate the past. It rather aims to give believers an opportunity for organized repentance which remains to be vital in the life of faith. As Nineveh sinned, we also sin. As Nineveh repented, we need to repent.

As the Book of Jonah testifies, the history of Nineveh gives immense lessons to Christians individually and as groups. It is a counsel addressed to ministers and the laity.

Here is a precise of the account. The people of Nineveh sinned so awfully that the wrath of God was coming very fast up on them. The Lord God orders messenger to go to them and preach repentance. The messenger was not happy for fear his trip would end in vain. The messenger felt that the mercy of God would always be there whether Nineveh repented or not. As he thought, the people would most likely keep sinning and ultimately they would not be punished because the merciful God would not venture to go against them. He decides to flee. As he was leaving for a place called Tarshish just to avoid his assignment, God’s miracle takes him to Nineveh the very place he was expected to serve. He preaches; the people repent; and mercy visits the land. Yet, the mercy becomes a cause of dismay for the messenger who worried more for his personal image than the redemption of souls. God takes away the messenger’s dismay through a practical symbolic lesson.

We are now in chapter one of the book. As the first three verses read, God orders Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry against their sin. To this call, Jonah’s immediate response was felling away.

Whenever we sin, our Lord does not rush to punishment. He would rather send his own message unto us hence we repent. The message could come in different ways. We may be given with the opportunities to listen to homilies of repentance at a time and place we have never expected. We may come across relevant books or people as God wills.

Here some of us may be chosen to deliver the message of repentance. When we feel such a service is detrimental to our own personal glory, we may look down up on it. We may try to flee from God as Jonah did try. We find aboard a ship which the Lord never likes hoping to avoid the assignment.

These days, a good many ministers age keeping themselves aloof though too many souls are sinning. The ministers may realize that they have to reprimand the sinful gathering or individuals. Yet, they refrain from delivering such a message for fear they may not be accepted by the addressee.

When this happens, what God does is send a mighty tempest which could disturb the life the deserters feel is calm enough. In such a situation, people need to cry. If ministers are not living up to God’s expectations, the wrath that comes due to them spills over to the laity. It is quite common to hear complaints against ministers who are allegedly not living up to the demands of the congregation. As believers, we have to refer it to God who will give them the conscience to remember the faithful they are meant to serve.

The faithful might be worried by different temptations. They might be doing this and that not knowing why a wrath has come and how to avoid it. The ministers might be sound asleep as if they have nothing to do with the cause of worry. God is trusted to wake them up if the faithful honestly cry unto Him. We need to tell them to wake up and pray to the Lord for, if they pray, scriptures like Jonah testify that we could be saved. When a lot was cast, if fell on Jonah. God has not undermined the worried gathering in the ship. Thus, the lot has fallen on the right target.

A mortal lives with a sin. That is why repentance is always there to renew his life. Jonah, a prophet, refused to take the order of his Lord. When God’s signs followed him, however, he accepted his wrong-doing and tells the people in the ship to throw him into the sea. Here, when the people learn from Jonah that he was fleeing from God though he is a servant, they concluded that the tempest is because of him without leaving any room for skepticism.

To realize that the wrong-doing of our spiritual fathers could be a cause for our punishment is a decisive step towards the solution. The people never took the matter into their own hands. They gave Jonah, the spiritual father, the first chance. As a true father who gives priority to the fate of the flock, Jonah decides that he shall be thrown away.

Let’s take care not to take things literally. Even if we may not be happy with fathers, it is normal if we discuss on how to see them more committed for their call. Yet, it does not mean that we have to face them with a mob and reject them. That would be a silly measure. Let us pray unto God. He will ransom the time. He will give us strong, committed fathers. We should never take the matter into our own hands!

Because it was so decided from the heavens, Jonah was thrown into the sea after all the due process.

God never forsook Jonah. He prepared a great fish in the belly of which Jonah was to pass three days of prayer. As we read from chapter two, he prays so hard about his transgression until the fish vomits him at Nineveh.

Once he set his feet on Nineveh, Jonah cried unto the dwellers advising them to resort to repentance if they wanted to dispel the approaching destruction. The message was well-received by all sections of the society from the grassroots to the king. Here, we realize that leaders are expected to be good models in the life of repentance and purity. The king of Nineveh did not stop-at proclaiming what creatures in his sovereign shall do to please the Lord. He rather takes the precedence in repenting by arising from his throne, covering himself with sackcloth and sitting in ashes. Rulers who come to power any time in history need to take a lesson from this undying commitment of the king of Nineveh.

When God saw that the people of Nineveh have turned away from evil, he visited the land with a divine pardon. This was, however, a cause of serious displeasure for Jonah. He prayed for his death to come rather than see his image spoiled. If a prophet becomes so much worried for his personal glory at the expense of souls that need to be ransomed, we could not be that surprised to see our fathers living for their self-interest at the expense of the faithful. God showed Jonah how concerned he is for mankind through a plant that blossomed and withered so soon. The shade of the plant comforts Jonah very much. When that was short-lived, He got angry. Now, God tells him this if he is angered because of the withering of a plant he had not laboured for, it is logical for a creator to love the repentance of sinful creatures. Thus, the people of Nineveh were visited by mercy.

            The history of Nineveh has a lesson for all parties. Both the faithful at grass root levels and their ministers could learn a lot from it about their respective spiritual responsibilities. Thus, all of us shall do our best to make the most out of the three day fasting and come closer to the Lord. If we earnestly do this, God is trusted to visit this sinful world with his mercy. The tempest of war, famine, flood, disease and other untold causes of misery will definitely subside we will enjoy peace, fraternity, prosperity and many other fruits of spiritual life. Let us commit ourselves for this blessing to happen. Amen!!           

May God bless us all.