Chapter Two
The Sleeping Bride
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he Scriptures record for us, in the Old Testament, the story of someone else who was sleeping in the boat. Unlike Jesus, though, his slumber was not due to his obedient walk, but rather because of his rebellion. In the book of Jonah we read about a prophet who was called by God to cry out against the sin of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. It was a very large city that was filled with wickedness, much like our nation’s capital. Jonah refused and tried to run from the presence of God. I see in this a picture of the American church that is, presently, running from their calling from the Lord to warn others of what God has already begun to do in the wicked cities of our nation. She too is sleeping in the ship while a great storm is taking place around her. Because of her rebellion, the Lord has placed a spirit of deep sleep over her (Isaiah 28:9-10). In this spiritual state of slumber she is oblivious of the raging sea that is about to shipwreck her faith and destroy others. It will take a great shaking, one that has in fact already begun, to awaken her. In the meantime, our entire nation is being affected by her sin. Like the sailors on the ship with Jonah, fear will grip many hearts in the multiple calamities that will strike us if she does not turn from her wickedness. As we’ll see, the cry of impending judgment is actually the mercy of God to let us know what He is about to do. Through it He is offering a window of opportunity to repent and be spared, whether that be an individual, a community, or even a nation. If, like the leaders of Nineveh, the leadership in these cities will issue a similar proclamation, asking its citizens to earnestly fast and seek the Lord, turning from their evil ways and their violence, and the people turn from their wickedness, God will relent concerning the calamity which He has declared He would bring upon them. If the proclamation of repentance were to come from Washington DC, as some have in the past, an entire nation could be spared. May those with ears
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