Return of The Remnant

By Silas Titus

The return of the remnant is a key message for the month of September. Historically the Jewish month of Tishrei, the first in the civil calendar, falls around September-October. The Biblical fall feasts also occur around the same time. The first fall feast is called Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish New Year. Ten days from Rosh Hashanah (New Year) is Yom Kippur or the feast of the Great Day of Atonement. It falls on the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. The ten days leading to Yom Kippur is also called Ten Days of Awe or Ten Days of Repentance.

The root word of repentance in Hebrew is shoob which means to return. It is time to return to the Lord. Repentance is the process that causes one to return unto Yhwh. Repentance is not a fancy word in modern vocabulary.  The return takes place as the one repenting is convicted by the Lord that the way he or she is going is not right and chooses to return to the Lord. Repentance is where the heavenly Father reconnects with the fallen world, one individual at a time. It is the only bridge between a holy God and a human living in a broken world. Repentance involves the will of the person repenting.

Repentance is uncomfortable but good for the heart

Repentance generally is associated with sorrow. Sorrow is not a preferable human condition. No human born into the broken world is immune to sorrow. Black or white, young or old, rich or poor, all experience sorrow one way or the other. Repentance has a pain factor since it takes a path of course correction.

According to the Bible there is good sorrow and bad sorrow. Godly sorrow is the good sorrow. It accomplishes a good end result. Godly sorrow accomplishes repentance unto salvation according to 2 Cor. 7:10. There is another type of sorrow that arises from the consequence of our own actions or the action of others. The bad sorrow is the one that results in death. It leads to death and destruction. Such sorrow of worldly affairs fully accomplishes death (2 Cor. 7:10). Worry does not lead to repentance. But any sorrow in our life can be turned around to repentance through our humbling and turning back to God. Without repentance there is no place of return. “…but unless you repent you will all perish” may sound harsh but the truth is that Jesus repeated it twice in Luke 13:3 & 5. Sorrow before God brings us to repentance. It leads us to salvation only when mixed with faith in the Son of God. Any other type of grief and sorrow or remorse remain within the realm of cosmos. The cosmos we live in is subject to the sphere of death as a result of sin. According to Rom 7:13: “sin works death in us.”  Sin causes sorrow that leads to death because the wages of sin is death. Godly sorrow causes turning away from the sorrow of death caused by sin. A bad sorrow can be turned into a sorrow of blessing when one decides to repent and turn back to God. Grief and heaviness that leads one to repentance comes from God.

Repentance is not the same as remorse. Remorse is being sorry for something but not necessarily causing us to return to Yhwh or His presence. Remorse can only take us so far. Some institutionalized churches equate confession to men or priests as repentance. Repentance has an element of restitution when we reconcile with the people affected by our shortcomings. But the only way to forgiveness of sins before God is through His Son Jesus.

Ultimately repentance is about making a course correction first and foremost with Yhwh. Repentance brings in a God-centered heaviness that accomplishes salvation. In other words, true repentance brings deliverance and salvation from the Lord. Repentance is a matter of heart. It is not just a mental decision. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Pro 4:23).” The source of life comes from your heart. Issues of life do not come from your intellect or mind. Deliverance and salvation come from the Lord. Deliverance and life come from your spirit man. The Spirit of the Lord dwells in your heart as a born-again believer.

The remnant shall return

Shear-jashub is not a well-known character in the Bible. But he is the son of one. Isaiah took his son Shear-jashub with him to meet with King Ahaz who was the ruler of the land during their time. It was a time of crisis in the nation. The enemies were surrounding to attack the kingdom of Ahaz (Isa 7:3). King Ahaz was facing an enemy both from outside and within-the King of Syria from outside and the King of Israel, one of his own brethren. Today we may be in a similar situation where the enemy is closing us from outside and within in the nations of the world.

Shear-jashub, had a symbolic name which meant the remnant shall return. There is a promise for this season that ‘the remnant shall return’ despite how much the push back from the enemy around us. Return also means to repent and humble before God. Shear-jashub’s name was also a standing memorial to Ahaz, symbolizing the saving of the remnant of Judah when Israel was cast away. The name Isaiah means Yah has saved. Isaiah walked in the salvation of the Lord. Repentance brings His salvation in your life.  Isaiah took his son of promise with him, the remnant shall return. Like Isaiah when we walk in the salvation of the Lord also carry the promises the Lord has given you. We do not walk by what we see or the difficulties of our limited circumstances. The enemies that we face are real. They are a factual threat in most cases. However, hold on to the promises. Salvation and promises of God work hand in hand by faith. In the next verse Isaiah admonishes king Ahaz and us to only guard ourselves, be still and rest, do not fear and don’t let your hearts be faint (Isa. 7:4).

The sign of Immanuel

Isaiah encouraged the frightful king Ahaz to ask for a sign in his crisis. Sign is not necessarily a bad thing. It is the same word for miracle in the Bible. The Lord encourages us to ask for a miracle in the time of crisis. Asking for a miracle comes as an action taken by faith. It is not testing or tempting God as Ahaz thought (Isa 7:12). Many believers repeat the same blunder today. They don’t ask for a sign or miracle thinking they don’t want to test God or bother God with their issues. They would rather solve the issues ourselves. The temptation to handle issues without God is even worse. We do not ask for miracles because we lack committing trust. Jesus warned that He couldn’t do many miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief. In another instance, when the boat was rocking and the disciples panicked, Jesus after speaking to the storm, asked them one question, “where is your faith?” Since Ahaz did not ask for a miracle, the Lord himself gave him one: the sign of Immanuel. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isa 7:14). We carry the sign of Immanuel which means God is with us every day. All we need to do is activate the sign of Immanuel by faith. It is not just a promise for future. We already have it. It is His presence. His name means God is with us and His presence is promised to be with us always if we have accepted to take the offer of His Son. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (Jn 1:12).

The sign of Jonah

Jesus talks about another sign in a different instance. It is the sign of Jonah. “He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.  And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? (Mat 16:2-3)” We follow a lot of signs on a daily basis. The weather man or weather app being one that we commonly use. We know based on the weather forecast if it is going to rain or snow. We know how to plan our day ahead of time. But in the next verse there is a sign of the time Jesus wants us to be more concerned about. “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah (Mat 16:4).”

Jesus warned that we don’t exercise faith in God as much like we do with the weather. We face the same dilemma today. We have no problem discerning the skies and weather. We plan our day ahead by faith. We have faith for everything except believing the whole gospel. This is the fight we face on a daily basis in life. If we stay connected to God we can discern the opportune time for miracles and supernatural miracles that is available to us through Christ. The Lord Himself has given us the sign of Jonah just like the sign of Immanuel. Jesus said that no other sign shall be given but the sign of Jonah because no other sign is needed if we embrace the power of the gospel in our lives fully.

Two categories of sign-seekers

 “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign…”(Mat 16:4). There are two categories of people that keep seeking for more signs. The wicked generation and the adulterous generation. They pretty much represent the two groups of people in the world. One is the unregenerate or the ones that are not born-again. They are wicked in the sense they are in bondage to the god of this world. They are yet to be called into salvation.

The second group is called the adulterous generation. An adulterer is a person that has a spouse but is unfaithful to him or her. A church that is not fully committed is compared to an adulterous generation, the category mostly professing Christians fall under. They have God in their lives but is not fully committed to Him yet. They are called believers and go to church but lack faithfulness to the Lord as they nurture other love relationships. The true remnant is the one that returns and comes out of the adulterous relationship in this season. Both these categories of people are given only one sign: the sign of Jonah.

What is the sign of Jonah?

Jonah in the Bible is famous for being thrown into the sea at his own request. He was then preserved in the belly of a big fish for three days. Later he was vomited safely to the ground by the fish at God’s command. This episode parallels Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection. Like Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, the Son of Man was buried and resurrected from the dead on the third day. The sign of Jonah is the message and the power of the gospel. Jesus underwent the same process as Jonah in the belly of the fish. Likewise all who faithfully follow Jesus also goes through a death, burial and resurrection process. This is the mystery of the gospel. The sign of prophet Jonah is the process of the gospel that works in our lives on a daily basis to die to ourselves and carry our crosses so that we can walk in the resurrection power daily. Jesus was conceived by the virgin to dwell with mankind and restore the fellowship with us. It is the sign of Immanuel. When we embrace the gospel in its fullness our lives don’t need another sign except the sign of Immanuel and sign of Jonah. The sign of Immanuel and Jonah is more than enough for a person to live a victorious life here on earth. For God so loved the world that He gave these two signs to the believers and unregenerate alike that whosoever believes in Him shall live life to the fullest in Christ on earth. Unfortunately, in a fallen world we tend to go in circles and keep seeking for more signs because of our lack of understanding of the scriptures and our unbelief.

Hold on to the sign and miracle of His presence (Immanuel) and power of resurrection and death (sign of Jonah). God favors people who have a relationship with Him in committing trust. A person who lives as a fully surrendered son walks in obedience and trusting the Lord. As an adopted son our life no longer depends on our strength of will or our flesh. Our life depends on death to self and the power of the resurrected Christ living within us. Activate the sign of Immanuel and Jonah in your life today. Enjoy eternity and the heavenly realm on earth below in your life today. Die to the earthly realm below or place it under the realm of heaven as you go through the process of death to self, burial so that you can experience resurrection every day.

Repentance is the first step

According to the book of Jonah, the repentance of Jonah took longer than the repentance of the whole nation of Nineveh. Nineveh repented within 40 days of the delivery of the message by Jonah. God was still dealing with Jonah’s heart after he preached repentance. In the case of Nineveh repentance first started with Jonah the messenger. Repentance first starts with God’s people. According to 2 Chron. 7:14 it starts like this: “If My people…”

God sometimes has to take us through windy roads and trails in the wilderness to bring us to repentance because the default nature of the flesh is to be rebellious to God’s ways. We wished our hearts were convinced the first time we heard the message of repentance. Unfortunately, that is not the case. “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no (Deu 8:2).” In this fallen world we are given a free-will. There is a fight to make the right choice as we learn to be on the side of the Spirit of God every day. Interestingly only 6 verses mention Nineveh’s repentance and the rest of the book talks about Jonah’s repentance which is often overlooked.

Repentance is a continuous process in the life of a believer

“Today if you hear His voice harden not your heart. But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today”; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:13). Respond every day when you hear His voice the areas that He asks you to repent. If not, the unconfessed sin becomes hardened like cement as each day passes by. The longer the wait the more hardened the cement becomes. The Bible calls this the deceitfulness or delusion of the operation of sin.

A new believer, when born-again, has sins that have already become hardened from the times of ignorance of the gospel. God delivers the newly born-again when he or she acknowledges Christ’s salvation and confesses sins. Thereon, the repentance process continues on a daily basis when that person checks their heart with the Spirit of God that indwells within. This process is better than the human fact-check process as the check is done by the Spirit Himself. Repentance is initiated and executed by the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is allow Him to show things in our own lives. This takes place as we spend time in His presence.

Every relationship is only good as the time put into it. It is one thing to be living with a person and another thing to spend quality time with the same person. Similarly, Immanuel means God with us. But intentionally spending time with Him is how the quality of relationship is brought about. Having dinner together is a way that people across all cultures spend quality time with each other. Jesus also related to a dining experience that He is calling the church into. Consider His message to the last church-the church of Laodicia in Revelation.

Dining experience

With the coronavirus frenzy the Lord was silently calling the remnant church into a dining experience with Him. The Laodician church was very active and vibrant in its own way. The church today, the Laodician church, have become self-sufficient and increased in goods and overheads (Rev 3:17).  “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” But in the eyes of the Lord the Laodician church was wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.  Surprisingly they did not recognize it themselves. This is a warning from Jesus to the church today. A false sense of security and riches can keep the church blindfolded to the things of God. In the case of the church of Laodicia the intervention was not a pleasant allegory. Jesus warned them that He will spew them out of His mouth because they have become lukewarm. Until the Lord intervenes one way or the other, we tend to keep going the same way. The status quo is acceptable until He allows for us to be shaken. Embrace the new normal of the dining experience with the Lord. God allows shaking for our own good. 

Lukewarmness is a serious problem

Lukewarm state is more deceptive than being cold. Because with coldness at least you know you are cold. But the lukewarm church thinks that they are rich while in reality they are poor. Today 80% of the professing Christians in church are in the lukewarm state. That is the default state for most folks who confess to be believers. They don’t want too much of spirituality and too much of the world. They are comfortable being somewhere in the middle. In other words, they want to choose spirituality their way that is comfortable for them. Frank Sinatra represents the innate nature in each of us when he famously sang “I did it my way.”

When it comes to relationship with the Lord, the lukewarm state is not desirable by God. He is confronting us to be either fully in or fully out. No more middle ground. Imagine Jesus as a gardener. He uses a leaf blower to separate the lukewarm category of believers so that they are compelled to choose the hot side or cold side. There is no more middle ground left as one group chooses to become wise virgins and the rest foolish virgins. Both the groups grew up in church together.  “And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they (even) drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ (1Co 10:3-4).”  They all started with Christ, but one chose to become wise while others became foolish over the period of time. The middle church is vanishing today. One decides to go all the way in and the other becomes colder.

On one hand it is a painful and scary process to go through separation in the church-at-large. On the other hand, it is beneficial for the majority in the middle to make a choice to become fully devoted to the Lord. The separation is sometimes scary and even shocking. The people that went to church together or a family member one has gone so far left while the other chose to follow the Lord all the way in. The poison from the Babylonian system that has infiltrated the church over the years has been at work for some time now. It is not a pleasant time. It is time to examine first and foremost if we are on the side of the wise virgins.

From repentance to dining; from dining to overcoming; and from overcoming to habitation

Once Jesus identifies the problem of the Laodician church He reminds them to repent in Rev. 3:19: “ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”  He is disciplining us out of love and bidding us to become wise virgins. Little afflictions cause us to return and be pleasing before the face of God and qualify us for pardon. Our afflictions are insignificant compared to the afflictions that Christ suffered before us. Rebuke is painful initially but beneficial to bring us closer to His presence in our lives. Repenting the right way determines whether we chose to be hot or cold; wise or foolish virgins.

There is no more occasion to hide under a church culture or a big building like in the past. It is a time of exposure so that all that is immaterial give way to the real deal which is His presence in our lives. The admonition from the Lord in this season is to be zealous and repent. No more can one choose to remain lukewarm. If we don’t choose to become wise in the Spirit, we automatically become foolish. There is no more half of the time in the world and other half with God.

Once we repent, we don’t remain there. We go further into a dining experience with Jesus as He bid the Laodician church. He bids us come into intimacy with Him. To the repentant Laodician church He says, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ Rev 3:20.  Repentance helps us develop a better hearing to God’s voice. He does not want us to be checking in and out. He longs to dine with us and talk to us as Immanuel. A hot church learns to walk in intimacy with the Lord.

From intimacy and dining experience the Lord bids us even further to be overcomers. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne (Rev 3:21).  Learning to walk in intimacy with the Lord causes us to walk as overcomers. The disciples that missed to pray with Jesus in Gethsemane fell for the temptation while Jesus overcame the suffering that He was about to endure. Overcoming comes as a result of repentance and intimacy. As a church we do not stop at intimacy rather move forward to overcome the world and the obstacles.  

Learning to overcome, we are given the privilege to habitat with Him just like Jesus is set down with the Father in his throne. The word “set down” is translated to settle down and to have a fixed abode. The little time we spend on earth qualifies us for the permanent habitation with the Father. It is important to have the big picture where the Lord is taking us with repentance. The journey that is initiated through repentance is a journey that continues to eternity. Each step qualifies for the next. Jesus exemplified intimacy with the Father. There were times He prayed all night after a whole day of ministry. He also arose early to go and pray before a busy day. He longed for the time with the Father. The enemy is threatened by our prayer and will fight our quality time with the Lord in this season. Overcoming becomes a norm when we minister from the place of intimacy. The overcomers are the ones who will rule with the Lord and habitat with the Lord. “…and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thes 4:17).”

Note that every message to the church in Revelation ends with the words, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev 3:13).  It is actually a disclaimer that the messages to the church in Revelation are not for the fainthearted but for the ones who would like to be fully surrendered. In other words, the overcomers mentioned at the end of each church are the ones who are willing to do all the way from repentance to intimacy and to habitation. The rich young ruler who came to see Jesus almost made it. He was excited and so was the Master to take Him into the next level. Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matt. 19:21). The word perfect used here is in the sense of going completely in. Jesus wanted the rich young ruler to be an overcomer as he exhorts to the churches in Revelation. Instead the young man responded lacking in faith. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful (Mat 19:22). If we don’t choose to go further with the Lord, we cannot learn to be an overcomer nor have the privilege of sitting with Him on His throne.

Ten days of awe

During the Ten Days of Awe it is a solemn time to fix our eyes on our redeemer and atonement and ask for forgiveness from anyone we have wronged. In the Jerusalem Talmud Rabbi Yohanan said: “Three books are opened on Rosh HaShana before the Holy One, Blessed be He: One of wholly wicked people, and one of wholly righteous people, and one of middling people whose good and bad deeds are equally balanced. Wholly righteous people are immediately written and sealed for life; wholly wicked people are immediately written and sealed for death; and middling people are left with their judgment suspended from Rosh HaShana until Yom Kippur, their fate remaining undecided.”

Talmud is not the Bible, but it is interesting to see in Jewish tradition the parallel between the hot, cold and lukewarm category of believers. If lukewarm is the undecided category according to the Talmud, the importance of the Ten Days of Awe cannot be stressed enough as it is high time to make the choice whether to be hot or cold. The undecided category is about to vanish as it is time for the lukewarm to choose the real side, they want to be in. The ten days end with Yom Kippur which is also called the Day of Atonement. As we enter into the Ten Days of it is also an appointed time to examine our own hearts and make amends with the Lord. It is more than a Jewish tradition. The Pesach lamb has been slain  once and for all since two thousand years on Golgotha. The shadow of the Passover lamb has become a reality for all humanity to repent and fully come in to the Lord. Shortly after Yom Kippur is Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles which symbolizes habitation with the Lord.

Judgement begins in the house of God first

The contract of repentance has never been a better deal than it is today. It has been since the feast of Yom Kippur before Jesus’s death on the cross. Yhwh did all that is needed for us to boldly enter all the way into the throne of grace. Therefore, on His end He is ready, willing and able. It is up to us whether we chose to be the counterparty of the same contract. During the Ten Days of Repentance journey let us not forget that repentance also begins in the house of God first. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of those that obey not the gospel of God? 1Pet. 4:17. It makes sense that the Lord first deals with His people before the people in the world. How can a just and holy God take pride in calling a group of redeemed humankind His own that are not walking in holiness? How can He deal with the ones that do not know the gospel before He chastens His own that do not walk circumspectly in the word?

Repentance of the messenger

Jonah (remnant) needs to repent first so that God can deal with Nineveh (the world). It is true that that land has to bear the consequence of sins of its corrupt leaders and folks. However, the healing of the land is conditional to the repentance of His people first according to 2 Chron 7:14.  Nineveh is a classic story of repentance that happened as a result of repentance of Jonah and taking his assignment seriously. Jonah was merely a messenger of God. God had to deal with him first before He dealt with Nineveh.

 The fact that Nineveh repented seemed to be a far-fetched idea to our natural eyes. How come they repented speedily? The world around us that we feel is far gone from repenting can respond swiftly once we His people are positioned right. It took a repentant and obedient messenger in the first place.

The problem starts with the church. Are we willing to see the world around us repent? Jonah was not so keen to see Nineveh actually repent. Is the church today keen to see the world around us saved? We talk a lot about it but can do more if we repent like Jonah. When there is a crisis or calamity in our land are we not more worried about our security, families and our 401K’s? Jonah in many ways is a man after our own hearts.

Praying through the return journey of Jonah

The book of Jonah is foremost the journey of Jonah to repentance before and after he delivers the message of God as a prophet of God. God’s mercy was sufficient to deal with both Israel’s sins and Nineveh’s sins. Surprisingly, Nineveh responded faster than Israel who called themselves as the children of God or the house of God. For Israel it took over forty years in the wilderness to know God while it only took forty days for Nineveh to humble themselves. As a result of Nineveh’s repentance God extended Nineveh’s life another two hundred years. They were later judged as a result of their future generations that forgot God. This final destruction of Nineveh is recorded in the book of Nahum.

As we take the repentance prayer journey may the Lord position us for the year ahead-The new Hebrew year 5781 that begins at sundown on September 18^th 2020. The Bible admonishes us to return to the Lord. “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil (Joel 2:12-13).”

Ten areas God called Jonah to repentance

The journey of return of Jonah has a lot of parallels to the return and repentance of the remnant in this season. 

1. Time for church to be willing to go outside the box like Jonah. Jonah was called to be a prophet to Israel. He did not realize that one of his major assignments was to the kingdom of Nineveh, a gentile nation outside Israel. How many times we got comfortable within the confinement of the four walls of our church. Our comfort zones may be different from God’s assignments. We lose track of what God wants when we get caught up in our own idea and ways of ministry. Sometimes we make our decisions under the presumption that it is God’s will. It is time to repent and come out of our boxes of doing church and ministry and seek what He wants in this season ahead. If the governments can implement new policies in the name of a virus and create a new normal, it is time for the church to arise to God’s new normal-walking in step with the Spirit.
2. Be willing to return to the first love. Jonah may have lost the first love with the Lord when he made plans to go to Tarshish. For some of us in the church our first love could be the church activities or a preaching career. Until our first love for the Lord is restored, we tend to lose focus of His perfect will. When we don’t seek Him wholeheartedly, we misunderstand our calling and assignments. Jonah planned for a crusade in Tarshish where wealthy Israelites lived instead of obeying the Lord and going to Nineveh. The Lord longs for us and wants to help us be restored our first love. There was a time when Peter decided to give up His calling and go back fishing. Jesus came to him and only asked him one thing-do you love me more than the people and things around you. Jesus asserted Peter’s calling when He appeared to him after resurrection and asked a simple question three times: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? … He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? …He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep (Joh 21:15-17).”

3.Be willing to sacrifice everything and our own lives for the sake of the call. Jonah’s decision to take a dive into the middle of the sea was a daring step. Jonah realized that his decision to be on the wrong boat became more complex than just a personal choice he made. It put a whole bunch of innocent passengers’ lives at stake. Jonah was willing to trust God and let go of his life not knowing what will happen to him. Or he probably wanted to die early without finishing God’s call and assignment upon his life like he requested in the last chapter. Whatever his motivation was to be thrown into raging waters, God had a plan. God also has a sense of humor. God decided to turned Jonah’s decision to resemble His own Son being on the earth for three days. Jesus willingly laid His life for the sheep. Sometimes God allows desperate things to happen in our lives so that we tend to take desperate measures towards the direction of true repentance. He does that because He loves us and we would not listen otherwise. Jonah was willing to sacrifice his own life. Instead of justifying his decisions he chose to pray in the belly of the fish and repent.

4. Return from running away from God’s presence. The word Jonah means dove. Jonah chose to flee from God’s presence by trying to escape in a boat going in the opposite direction. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD…. (Jonah 1:3). There was another dove in the Noah’s ark that longed to be back in the ark until it was time to be fully released (Genesis 8). Obedience and doing ministry are not always about being busy doing work for the Lord. It is about operating in the presence of the Lord first and serving from there. Returning to God’s presence leads us to serving God the right way. Without His presence in our life there is no ministry. The dove in Noah’s ark brought back an olive leaf. A man or woman of God is called to operate in the peace that comes from God’s presence. And he stayed yet another seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more (Gen 8:12). It is better to be sent by God with His presence going before us than running away from God’s presence and trying to please Him our own ways.
5. Return from the sleeping state. Jonah was fast asleep in the bottom deck of the ship. Like Jonah the church can at times be in deep sleep. In one of His parables Jesus also reminds us that “while they were sleeping the enemy sow tares.” The enemy has been quietly sowing tares while the church was asleep in America in the past. It is happening a lot lately. The enemy systematically targeted our schools and colleges to hijack our next generation. Also, the infiltration has been happening in high levels of governments through policies that were anti-biblical. The call to return in this hour for the church is to return from the state of slumber. Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. When we return from our sleep like Jonah the Lord can enable us to be a sharp threshing instrument to take back what the enemy stole from our families and countries.
6. Return to true sacrifice and worship unto the Lord. Jonah prayed one of the most beautiful prayers of repentance and penitence in the Bible in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2).  It was a not desirable place of worship. Not only it lacked stage lights and worship band, it was a stinking slimy place. And the room hardly had any lighting and was pitch dark. Jonah was still able to worship the Lord and return to Lord’s presence. It doesn’t matter where we worship, we can still be connected with the Lord. Jonah had no clue what his future looked like. Yet he chose to worship. Probably he was unaware that as he prayed the Lord was simultaneously taking him to his destiny in a living submarine. Cry from the depth of your heart in whatever circumstance you are and it quickly reaches His throne. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. Jonah 2:9. From the belly of the fish Jonah offered thanksgiving from his heart. Return to sacrifice of worship from your heart. The genuine expression of worship is to surrender ourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifice, living in holiness and experiencing all that delights God’s heart (Rom 12:2).
7. Arise and preach the gospel. So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh to do what the LORD had ordered when the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time (Jonah 3:1-3). God had not done with Jonah yet. God arranged and gave him a second chance to obey. He preached to the people of Nineveh. It is time for the church to take the responsibility of the great commission seriously in this season. The Lord is giving us a second chance. The broken world is waiting to be called into the harvest. All creation longs for freedom from slavery and decay and to experience the wonderful freedom coming to them through God’s children. “To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth (Rom 8:21-22) TPT.  “So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 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 3:3-5).
8. Repentance from self-interest over God’s interest. Jonah went into a post-ministry depression right after the Nineveh preaching tour. There were still some deep issues and some residue in his heart that God had to deal with. God continues to deal with His servants because we are His children first before His servants. He wants us to be healed and mended. “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Heb 12:5-7). A godly person will be pleased when God is pleased. In other words, the hearts and interests of the Lord and an intercessor need to be in synchrony. In Jonah’s case, his displeasure was against God’s liking of Nineveh repenting. An intercessor has no self-interests rather surrendered to the will of the Lord. Jonah could take some discipline from the Lord to get Him there. Jonah struggled in the area of having the heart of an intercessor. He had difficulty feeling God’s heart for people. He was obviously a good preacher. No wonder Nineveh took his message seriously and repented. Jonah’s heart was a work-in-progress and so are our hearts if we remain open to His Spirit.
9. Repentance from emotional and anger issues. “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry (Jonah 4:1)” Jonah had emotional issues that he had not fully dealt with. The Bible says, “When you are angry make sure you do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil (Eph 4:26).” God was giving him time to repent but Jonah became angry again. “And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. (Jon 4:9).” The Lord had to draw examples from nature to train him in the area of taking victory over the area of anger by allowing a plant for his shade on a scorching day and let it die later. We are not entitled to have any blessing because we deserve it. Let us return to the Lord in areas of soul and emotions that need to be mended.
10. Repentance from being displeased with the Lord’s compassion. “…For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents thee of the evil. Jonah 4:2.” Obviously Jonah was glad when God showed him mercy. But he was not keen on God having mercy on Nineveh. And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd (Jonah 4:6).  We ought to show compassion to others as we ourselves have experienced God’s compassion. Jesus compared uncompassionate servants to one who had received forgiveness from a bigger debt that later went and put the one who owed him a little in prison until every penny was fully paid. 

The repentance of Ninevites was astounding. God relented His hand of judgment on them, however, Jonah was not able to come in terms with God’s great compassion on Ninevites. “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? (Jonah 4:11).” The book of Jonah ends with this question from God that remains to this day of His great compassion for all His creation.

The book of Jonah portrays the beautiful picture of God’s mercy for His creation. It also demonstrates the single most powerful response a fallen human can make with the holy God who holds all things in His hands: Repentance. The book of Jonah ends with a startling question that many intercessors struggle with today-the extent of Yhwh’s compassion on the unregenerate.

How to respond in repentance during this season 

 When we think of repentance we quickly think of national sins while we forget our own rebellious ways as believers. God first needs a container for the harvest: a remnant that is fully sold out before the Lord can usher the harvest in.”…holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience (1Titus 3:9). There is no mystery of faith if there is no container to hold it. Church is the house of the living God which is the pillar and ground of the truth “But if I tarry long, thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1Ti 3:15).”

A template from 2 Chronicles 7:14

“If my people” (the remnant) …shall do four things:

1. Humble themselves

Prayer or any communication with God always begins with an attitude of humility before Him.  Arrogance or pride constantly looks for avenues to manifest in all different forms in our lives on a daily basis. The disciples displayed pride when they argued among themselves who is greatest among themselves. Humility accepts the least among ourselves as somebody in the Lord. Humility also accepts one another’s role and function in the body of Christ, even when they are not of our fold. Humility is also accepting and recognizing the people who would not accept or recognize us. There is nothing noteworthy in us that we can come to His presence except for His Son Yashua. During your time of repentance take a few minutes in silence to just humble ourselves before Him.

 

2. Prayer intervenes and intercedes

Prayer is how we engage God to intervene in our situation. It is also a powerful weapon that breaks through any crisis and chaos in company with the Lord. Daniel was a man of God. He chose to pray with his minority friends that lived in a large nation. Daniel’s prayer invited God to intervene in the captivity that his people were facing. Daniel’s prayer in Dan 9:20 started by confessing his own sins and then the sins of his people. Repenting of our own sins is the good starting point for the remnant in this season. Then we can confess the sins of our people and our nation. Our prayer to be effective for our communities and our nation starts by forgiving them first.   

3. Seek His face. Once we follow the above steps the third step in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is to worship and seek His face. Jonah offered sacrifices of praise in the belly of the big fish. Worship brought the breakthrough for Jonah and back to the center of God’s will. Worship brings God’s presence back into your life. There were a lot of things Jonah could be possibly praying and worrying about in the fish’s belly. As the worship went up. “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land (Jon 2:10). Although Jonah had no clue what was going on in the belly of the fish, his worship before God’s throne brought the missing pieces to perfect alignment. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand (Ps 95:6-7).

4. Turn from their evil ways. Note 2 Chronicles 7:14 doesn’t mention evil works but says evil ways. The Hebrew of ways is derek. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel (Ps. 103:7). When we think of evil we think of fornication or the long list of works of the flesh in Gal 5:19-21. Indeed, we need to stay away from the works of flesh. Evil ways are more than just works of flesh. Derek is an issue of the heart. It is unbelief that causes us to go astray in our hearts. “Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart, as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted Me, tested Me, and saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways; to whom I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest (Ps. 95:7-11). God’s original intent is not for us to wander in the wilderness. But Israel’s unbelief caused them to circle in the wilderness for forty years. We not only need to repent of our evil works but also our evil ways that keep us from entering His rest. Jesus is bidding us to come into a dining experience for us. He doesn’t want us to just serve Him rather serve Him in rest and peace. Returning from our evil ways is a higher calling for the remnant. It is an invitation to serve Him in intimacy and restfulness.

If we follow the above four conditions the answer is pretty straightforward. “then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14). God’s answers come from the heavenly realm. He then forgives our sins. The last part of the promise is key to the healing of the nations and the land. He promised to mend and repair the issues of the land. In the case of Nineveh, the Lord had mercy on the people and even the cattle, the Bible says. He is slow to anger and longing to heal and mend the hearts of men and the land. When the remnant returns to the Lord, God can bring the rest of the plan to full circle stunningly.