The Fast of Nineveh

Fasting is minimizing or totally refraining from secular pleasure for the sake of spiritual enrichment. Whenever we fast we do not eat or drink as much as we do in non-fasting times. Even the quality of dthe food and the drink dwindles. We also keep ourselves away from carnal engagements like sex. This all is in view of the spiritual value of fasting which is wellendorsed by holy scriptures including the Bible.

In both old and new Testamental times, fasting was a key means of pleasing the Lord and saving oneself from temptations. When all the Jews were to be destroyed by the ill-intent of a man called Haman, fasting was ordered to be the rule among them. Esther 4:3 Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ has also advised His disciples and His congregation that they should fast if they wanted to redeem themselves from temptations and overcome evil spirits. Mark 9:29.

As per these and many other evidences duly recorded in the Bible and other Holy Scriptures, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has its own order of fasts. There are fasts to be observed only by interestd or specially ordered individuals. There are also those canonized to be observed by each and every faithful of the church unless s/he is either bed-ridden because of serious illness or a mother is in her early days of lactating a baby. There are seven fasting periods of the second type of which one is the three days long fast of Nineveh which, according to the church's calendar stays from 29-31January 2007 this year.

The Fast of Nineveh is ordered following the example of the people of Nineveh who managed to get the mercy of God due to their heartfelt repentance as per the teachings of the prophet Jonah. Thus, the purpose of this fasting period is two fold to serve as a rememberance of this noble history of repentance and to teach the faithful as to how they could better please their Lord.

There are immensely valuable lessons one could draw by a closer reading of the Book of Jonah which is a record of the Fast of Nineveh.

In the first place, the book reflects the mercy of God. However sinful creatures might be, the Lord God does not rush to punishing them with His wrath before advising them to repent. The people of Nineveh did revolt against God because He Himself said that “their wickedness has come up before me.” 1:2. Inspite of their wickdness, what God did is send. His messenger, Jonash, to “cry out against it [their wickedness]” 1:1.

His merci fullness is also reflected through the manipul ation of His own creation in favour of those sinful people whom He wanted to repent. When Jonah was ordered to go to Nineveh and cry out against their sin, he was not willing. He, therefore, decided to flee away and got himself on board a ship Even if he did this, the tempest was there to teach him to live upto the will of God. It is this which forced him to be thrown into the sea and find himself in the belly of a great fish. Though Jonah was rebelli ous, God was so merciful that He prepared this big animal to serve him /Jonah/ as a safe abode for three days and nights. This animal was instrumental in saving Jonash's life and vomiting him in a dryland closer to Nineveh.

The merciful ness of the Lord is also demonstrated in his answer to prayers of three parties clearly indicated in the book. We first find the people in board who were very much scared of capsizing in a tempestuous sea. What they did is pray unto the Lord. As Jonah writes, “… the mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his God.” 1:5. when the captain found Jonah thoronghly asleep, he requested to arise and call on his /Jonah's/ God hoping that all the passengers will be saved. 1:6

The only means of calming down the tempest was to threw Jonah into the sea as per his own recommendation for he was responsible for their worry. But, before executing this, they felt the sympathy that is due to a human being. They prayed unto God saying, ”we pray, o Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life and do not chargg us with innocent blood for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 1:14. So, as per their prayer, they were saved and their act of throwing away Jonah was not meant to be one of cruelty.

God also mercifully responds to the second party, Jonah, who found himself in the belly of a fish due to his refusal to serve the Lord to save lives. Jonah admitted that it was his own affliction which took him deep in a sea to lament in the belly of a fish. With this realization, he pleaded for God's mercy. He was saved at last when the fish vomitted him in a dry land. 2:2-10.

The people of Nineveh themselves make up the third party whose prayer God answered. When Jonah told them that they had forth days to save themselves from the wrath of God, literally every resident of the city devoted himself to asking for heavenly mercy.

This call of Jonah was also successful in knocking the doors of the palace to force the king to proclaim an all-inclusive period of fasting and prayer. The king was so concerned that he even ordered for animals and locating babies to join the fast. The people of the great city of Nineveh succeeded in reversing the upcoming wrath. “… God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it,” Jonah has indicated. 3:10

If we pray and fast heeding the advise of the church and its scriptures, our Lord is therefore, trusted to redeem us from the wrath that has or is to come. As we fast this three days period, we shall have meek hearts like the people in board, Jonah and the people of Nineveh. People in power should also motivate their citizens to be God-fearing. The highly guarded fences of their palaces could not grant safety if God comes against them.

The secular immunity they might be enjoying now would not be available then. Rather than follow the example of the stone-hearted pharaoh of Egypt, they shall be as God-fearing as the king of Nineveh. We are now witnessing lots of messes in the world. War, famine, epidemic, … etc. is the rule. If this has to be changed both people-both the rulers and the ruled-shall say'yes' to the voices of God. Nineveh teaches us that prayer is the solution to our complications. If we repent, our God would indeed say what He mercifully said to and about Nineveh. He would say, “… should I not pity …[My people] who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?” 4:11.

Nineveh also has a message to deliver to those who are called to offer their services to the Lord. If we are called to His service, we shall respond in the affirmative without delay. If we say no, all we bring is suffering to both ourselves and others. Jonah's refusal only brought worry upon those who were on board a ship who were getting closer to destruction. Jonah also found himself in the belly of an aquatic creature because of his own refusal. Both old and New Testamental fathers responded swiftly when called to the service of God. We have to also serve Him with utmost willingness if that is indeed our call. That is exactly what our fathers-Moses, Matthew, paul, etc- did when they were called. They bidded farewell to their secular engagements to save souls. God's Serevants shall haver be resistant.

In addition, Serevants shall not give priority to their glory of life. Jonah seemed to have been a battle-ground of conflicting interests when he was told to preach Nineveh. He at first refused for fear he would be a cause of derision. He thought that God may not punish Nineveh even if they did not repent. 4:1-3.

That was why he opted for fleeing to tarshish as if God was not there. But, when the people in board with him were about to perish, he regretted and sacrificed himself for their sake. This measure of sacrificing hin self saven not only the people in board but also those of Nineveh. It also gave the propbhet has the undying lesson that it is always God's will that shall prevail. Thanks to the Fish, Jonah found himself by the door of Nineveh.

The History of Nineveh is “hence” a history of mercy. It reflects the mercy of God and His people. God hssdemonstrated His mercifulness via His treatment of Nineveh, Jonah and the people in board. Human beings shall also be merciful. This is reflected through Jonah who recommended that he himself shall be thrown away to save the others. It is also seen through the mariners at risk. They did not rush to throwing Jonah away though they were told to do so by Himself. They took time to refer the case to God. Only when they realized that throwing Jonah was His /God's will/, they threw him in to the sea.

The word of God should be heeded. This saves us from condemnation. Let us fast and pray with mercy to get the mercy of the Heavenly Lord who is trusted to save us from all sorts of hazards. Amen!!!

May God Bless us