Luke 11:29-32 and Isaiah 19:19-22
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Luke 11v28-36
[SUP]28 [/SUP]But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it! <obedience> ”[SUP] 29 [/SUP]And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.[SUP][f][/SUP] [SUP]30 [/SUP]For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. [SUP]31 [/SUP]The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. [SUP]33 [/SUP]“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. [SUP]34 [/SUP]The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. [SUP]35 [/SUP]Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. [SUP]36 [/SUP]If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” <holiness>
I have put in context before this scripture and context after.
- lets look at verse 32 more closely: [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
What was God's instruction to Jonah?
Jonah 1v2 [SUP]2 [/SUP]“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Nineveh was not a city in Israel. It was a Gentile city (Assyrian). They did not have the law of God, like what the children of Israel had. Yet we know that God rules in righteousness, and is Lord over all creation. We can only surmise what the people of Nineveh were up to. The bible does not indicate exactly what it was. Suffice to say that in God's eyes it was wickedness.
We can paraphrase the next part: Jonah fled from this duty, but was unable to escape from God. Jonah came under judgement and was in the belly of a fish for 3 days. Jonah repented of this and God restored him. Jonah went to this gentile city and proclaimed judgement upon the city (Jonah 3v4).
Now what is interesting is from Jonah 3v5:
[SUP]5 [/SUP]So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. [SUP]7 [/SUP]And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. [SUP]8 [/SUP]But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. [SUP]9 [/SUP]Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
[SUP]10 [/SUP]Then 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.
The summary of the above is this: God desires mercy and not sacrifice (See Jonah 4v11). God will not let sin remain unpunished. Should someone repent (change of mind, leading to a change of behavior) and call upon God, he may grant mercy to a repentant sinner.
Now let's come and link this back to Luke 11. Who was Jesus addressing? Was Jesus addressing a Gentile nation? No. He was addressing the Jews. The very chosen people of God. The very people to whom he gave the Law and the Prophets. The Ninevites had none of this (see Jonah 4v11), yet the Israelites were without excuse.
Lets look at Luke 11v31-32 again
[SUP]31 [/SUP]The queen of the South <gentile> will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh <gentiles> will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
[h=1]Matthew 4:17King James Version (KJV)[/h] [SUP]17 [/SUP]From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And here we see the problem. Israel seeks a sign. Yet God is in the "business" of holiness. Israel's refusal to repent and turn from her evil ways. The queen of the South, and the Ninevites will rise up in judgement against that generation, for their lack of willingness to repent. They loved their sin. They would not forsake their evil ways. Let's see what Jesus says to them below:
John 8 v37-41
[SUP]37 [/SUP]“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. [SUP]38 [/SUP]I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with[SUP][l][/SUP] your father.”
[SUP]39 [/SUP]They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. [SUP]40 [/SUP]But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. [SUP]41 [/SUP]You do the deeds of your father.”
[SUP]28 [/SUP]But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it! <obedience> ”[SUP] 29 [/SUP]And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.[SUP][f][/SUP] [SUP]30 [/SUP]For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. [SUP]31 [/SUP]The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. [SUP]33 [/SUP]“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. [SUP]34 [/SUP]The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. [SUP]35 [/SUP]Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. [SUP]36 [/SUP]If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” <holiness>
I have put in context before this scripture and context after.
- lets look at verse 32 more closely: [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
What was God's instruction to Jonah?
Jonah 1v2 [SUP]2 [/SUP]“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Nineveh was not a city in Israel. It was a Gentile city (Assyrian). They did not have the law of God, like what the children of Israel had. Yet we know that God rules in righteousness, and is Lord over all creation. We can only surmise what the people of Nineveh were up to. The bible does not indicate exactly what it was. Suffice to say that in God's eyes it was wickedness.
We can paraphrase the next part: Jonah fled from this duty, but was unable to escape from God. Jonah came under judgement and was in the belly of a fish for 3 days. Jonah repented of this and God restored him. Jonah went to this gentile city and proclaimed judgement upon the city (Jonah 3v4).
Now what is interesting is from Jonah 3v5:
[SUP]5 [/SUP]So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. [SUP]7 [/SUP]And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. [SUP]8 [/SUP]But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. [SUP]9 [/SUP]Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
[SUP]10 [/SUP]Then 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.
The summary of the above is this: God desires mercy and not sacrifice (See Jonah 4v11). God will not let sin remain unpunished. Should someone repent (change of mind, leading to a change of behavior) and call upon God, he may grant mercy to a repentant sinner.
Now let's come and link this back to Luke 11. Who was Jesus addressing? Was Jesus addressing a Gentile nation? No. He was addressing the Jews. The very chosen people of God. The very people to whom he gave the Law and the Prophets. The Ninevites had none of this (see Jonah 4v11), yet the Israelites were without excuse.
Lets look at Luke 11v31-32 again
[SUP]31 [/SUP]The queen of the South <gentile> will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. [SUP]32 [/SUP]The men of Nineveh <gentiles> will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
[h=1]Matthew 4:17King James Version (KJV)[/h] [SUP]17 [/SUP]From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And here we see the problem. Israel seeks a sign. Yet God is in the "business" of holiness. Israel's refusal to repent and turn from her evil ways. The queen of the South, and the Ninevites will rise up in judgement against that generation, for their lack of willingness to repent. They loved their sin. They would not forsake their evil ways. Let's see what Jesus says to them below:
John 8 v37-41
[SUP]37 [/SUP]“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. [SUP]38 [/SUP]I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with[SUP][l][/SUP] your father.”
[SUP]39 [/SUP]They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. [SUP]40 [/SUP]But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. [SUP]41 [/SUP]You do the deeds of your father.”
In addition, the sign of Jonah was seen in Jonah 1v17 [SUP]17 [/SUP]Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The sign of the Lord was similar: Matthew 12v40 [SUP]40 [/SUP]For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The Jonah sign was death and resurrection (Jonah 2v2; 2v6; 2v9)
And we all know the scriptures of the Lord's resurrection.
The sign of the Lord was similar: Matthew 12v40 [SUP]40 [/SUP]For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The Jonah sign was death and resurrection (Jonah 2v2; 2v6; 2v9)
And we all know the scriptures of the Lord's resurrection.
Thanks for your questions microxaen. Luke 11: 29-32 is talking about the time as the church age progresses when the congregations are full of people who are not well with the Lord, an evil generation. Jonah is a picture of Christ. The sign that is given the people is a picture of the cross, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Jonah's great fish experience). As God sends the people this sign, of Christ dying and being resurrected, some do repent. These are pictured by Nineve. Nineve is a picture of all those who are true believers. They turned to God as the gospel was preached, as they were warned to turn to God prior to the destruction of the congregations. They turned to God and God did not hurt them but accepted their repentance. The queen of the south is a picture of true believers who come to the Lord (Solomon is a picture of the Lord) to hear his wisdom. The true believers condemn the wicked generation. The wicked generation is a picture of those in the congregations of the church age who are like the Pharisees, claiming to be in Christ but rejecting those whom God sends to them. Both Solomon and Jonah are pictures of Christ, but of course Christ is greater. He is the one they are pictures of. They were merely true believers accurately representing Christ.
The thing to understand in reading the Bible is that the Old Testament was written for the benefit of the Church age believers. They events of the Old Testament provide pictures of what it is to be like in the Church age time period and beyond as the coming of the Lord draws near.
The thing to understand in reading the Bible is that the Old Testament was written for the benefit of the Church age believers. They events of the Old Testament provide pictures of what it is to be like in the Church age time period and beyond as the coming of the Lord draws near.
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