Young People’s Blog

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it” (Jonah 1:2).

“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?” (Jonah 4:11).

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, and was also in what is present-day Iraq. It was on the Tigris river, somewhat north of the original site of Babylon. It was a “great city,” and evidently had more than 120,000 little children in it, who were too young even to know their right hand from their left. It too fell into ruins, but was discovered back in the 1840s. They eventually uncovered the scrolls of Ashurbanipal’s library, more than 30,000 clay tablets, most of which are now in the British Museum in London, England. (Ashurbanipal was the last great king of Assyria.) They also uncovered the huge winged bulls that were originally at the entrance of the king’s palace, and which had to be sawn into several pieces in order to be transported to England. They too are in the British Museum, and you can still see the places where the pieces were put back together.

Although Nineveh was a wicked city, they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and God did not destroy them at that time. He was gracious to them, especially to the young children who were too young to be part of the wickedness. God is gracious to this world today too, and has not brought down judgment upon it yet. He is waiting for more people to be saved, for He is “longsuffering, and not willing that any should perish.”

“The king [Nebuchadnezzar] spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).

“And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant” (Jeremiah 51:37).

The Babylonian empire was a mighty empire in its day, and Babylon was no doubt a beautiful city. The hanging gardens that Nebuchadnezzar built for his wife are still regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Yet the Lord foretold by the prophet Jeremiah that the city would become heaps of rubble, and a dwelling place for wild animals.

Babylon was eventually destroyed and fell into ruin. In fact, the whole site of the city was so obliterated that many historians began to wonder whether the city had existed at all. Historians were not convinced until excavations that took place about 180 years ago revealed that Babylon had in fact been a famous city.

All this shows us that human glory and fame is very temporary, and that even the best of man’s attempts to build something permanent often fall into ruin after some years. You and I, as believers, have the privilege of building for eternity, and of using our time and resources for heavenly glory, not earthly glory.

“And Abel was a keeper of sheep…and Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:2,4).

Abel brought to the Lord a blood sacrifice, for he realized that he could not approach God unless there was a substitute for him, that died in his place. Unlike his brother Cain, he realized that the produce of a cursed earth could not be acceptable to God.

Abel’s sacrifice was a picture of the Lord Jesus Himself, who was the ultimate sacrifice that puts away our sins, if we accept Him as our Savior. All the sacrifices in the Old Testament, beginning with Abel’s lamb, were only a picture of the real Lamb of God—the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His blood that cleanses us from all sin. Scripture calls today the Lord’s day, and it is a day when we can specially remember that the Lord Jesus died for us.

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass…that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there…And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:1-2,4).

Here we have the story of how the tower of Babel came to be started, and once again, it was in the land of Shinar—in present-day Iraq. It was here that God eventually confounded their language, so that people began to speak different languages. This compelled them to separate from one another and to spread themselves out over the earth.

But many other things took place in this part of the world. For example, the Garden of Eden was in the territory of present-day Iraq. Noah built the ark somewhere in this area of the world. Abraham came from the city of Ur, which was in southern Iraq. Jonah preached in Nineveh, and it was in present-day Iraq. Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den in present-day Iraq.

Many things happened in this part of the world which is well-known for its oil, and for being at one time the domain of Saddam Hussein. You and I as believers know many things that happened there, many of which influenced the world in a large way.

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth…and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 10:8,10).

Most of you have probably heard of the country of Iraq, and especially as it was invaded by several western countries over 20 years ago, in 2003, because they suspected that its ruler, Saddam Hussein, was secretly making weapons of mass destruction. But did you know that Iraq is mentioned many times in the Bible? It is not called by that name, but is referred to as the land of Shinar, Mesopotamia, or Babylon.

The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, and the two rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates. This is where the present country of Iraq is, and a lot of Bible history took place within the boundaries of that country. That part of the world has a long and important history, and is very significant in the Word of God. Tomorrow we will see some of the things that happened there.

“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” (Romans 14:7).

Our verse today reminds us of something very important, namely, that we all have an effect on others. The way we live our lives affects others, whether we realize it or not. Often younger ones will look up to those who are a little older than they are, and will say and do the same things the older ones do. In this way we can have either a good effect or a bad effect on others.

When I was a small boy, I overheard some worldly people repeatedly using the phrase, “By golly,” not knowing what it meant. I did not realize that “by golly” really means “by God,” but that because people do not want to be heard using the name of the Lord in vain, they say, “By golly.” I thought they were saying, “By gully,” and started to say it too. My mother had a difficult time getting me to stop using that term, for I thought it sounded smart. But I learned it by listening to older people.

Let us always be aware of the fact that we influence other people by our walk and ways. If we walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, it will have a good effect on others.

“Render therefore to all their dues…fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:7).

In the world today, we sometimes see people who do not want to honor their country or their government, and who refuse to stand up when the national anthem is sung or played. This has happened frequently in the United States during the past few years, when people have chosen to kneel down instead of standing up. Usually this is done as a protest against some perceived injustice in the country. Several years ago in Australia, a nine-year-old girl was threatened with suspension from school for refusing to stand up for the national anthem. Others have refused to say the pledge of allegiance.

While we as believers know that we are heavenly citizens, we are also told, according to this verse, to give honor to whom honor is due, and fear to whom fear. Standing up for a national anthem or a pledge of allegiance is a way of honoring those whom God has put in authority over us.

“For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues” (Romans 13:6-7).

None of us likes to pay taxes to the government, and especially if we feel that we are paying too much, or that the government is wasting the tax money paid to them. I have known worldly people, and sometimes even Christians, boast about how they managed to cheat the government by avoiding paying their proper taxes.

But here we are explicitly told to pay our taxes, and the Bible says that those who collect taxes are God’s ministers. God has appointed them, and we are to respect them. Would we think of cheating God’s ministers? I hope not.

In the days of the Roman Empire, when the Apostle Paul wrote these words, the government was quite corrupt, and often those who collected taxes were corrupt as well. They often made themselves rich by collecting much more than they were supposed to collect. Yet Paul still calls them God’s ministers, and told believers to honor them. We should do the same.

“And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased” (Matthew 14:32).

The end of this story is that when the Lord (and Peter, who had also walked on the water) got into the boat, suddenly the wind stopped. What a relief to the disciples! What a demonstration of the Lord’s power over His creation! Now they could row the boat easily.

Let us remember this in our lives too. The Lord sometimes tests our faith, but He will never disappoint us. When He came into the boat, a miracle happened, and the wind stopped. The Lord is able to do the same thing for us too. He can make big problems disappear quickly, and give us rest and peace in our lives. Let us always have faith in Him, and trust Him even in the most difficult of circumstances.

“Jesus our Lord…who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:24-25).

All our offences—our sins, were against us, and a holy God could not just forgive our offences; the penalty had to be paid for them. But the Lord Jesus stepped forward in our place (if we are true believers) and took the awful punishment for sin upon Himself. Then something else happened: He died and was placed in a grave, but then rose again the third day. Why does it mention His resurrection as being connected with our justification?

It is because when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, it was the sign of God’s approval and perfect satisfaction with the work He had done on the cross. We can be absolutely sure of our salvation because our Savior rose from the dead. If He had not risen, it would have meant that the work was not complete, and that God was not satisfied. But our Lord Jesus did rise, and we can be sure of our justification because of this.