This series is based upon part of Isaiah’s prophecy that is familiar the world over. It was uttered by the prophet about the year B.C. 740 as noted in the column of my bible. The verse in question is from Isaiah 9:7. Verse 6 is the prominent verse used in sermons around the world on Christmas Sunday morning. But this study is taking a step further as we read: "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." The language and contents of this verse seem to suggest an ongoing process, with no suggested end in sight. I have said many times when teaching from this lesson, that if his government is constantly on the increase, his kingdom must also be on the increase in order to accommodate the government.

In the previous letter, we purposely placed emphasis on the word SHALL or SHALT, and we did that for a good reason, to the intent of seeing how God dealt with the term when man is brought into the equation. Was God willing and ready to modify his actions described when the word shall is used? As we usually do, we are going to study "close up" a few cases where God used the word in strict and concise terms. We will observe each case on its own merit, involving the people to whom the word shall was used; how the people reacted to it, and finally, how God in turn settled the matter. The important fact in our search, is to note carefully whether God allows us to incorporate changes to God’s original intent and purpose. We will highlight three cases, along with the ultimate result of each case.

Let us revisit the story of Jonah, who tried all he knew how to escape from going to Nineveh to warn that nation of God’s pending judgment. "And Jonah began to enter the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. As far as the story goes, the Lord offered no room for negotiation or for some sort of compromise. The people had forty days—and that was the end of the story as the people understood it. They people saw two choices!

They could accept the prophet’s message and what seemed to be their fate; Or, as a second choice, they could do something—any thing to offset the pronounced judgment. So, how did the people react? Let us bear in mind the fact that neither the people of Nineveh nor the king himself knew the options God had already put in place from ancient times, in his dealings with mankind. They were not aware of the truths that we now have at our fingertips from Old Testament scriptures. For instance, we read; "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Psalm 34:17,18.

This heathen king knew not God so also were the people! But let us look at the mindset of the king, which resonated down among the people. "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. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Obviously, the king reasoned thus: "Who can tell if God will turn and repent (change his mind) and turn from his fierce anger, that we perish not. In other words, the king is saying, if we repent and seek God’s face and he kills us, we were sentenced to die anyway, so what have we got to lose? Let us not die as sitting ducks—anything is worth trying, rather than doing nothing! Did their action impress God enough for him to respond in kind to their actions?

"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." Jonah 3:7-10. What is the main point of the lesson so far? It is showing in real life lessons that simply because God said "It shall come to pass" if the related statement or announcement signify pending judgment, so far as shown in the case of Nineveh, it does not have to happen the way it was pronounced. But our study would not be complete if we fail to bring the prophet Jonah to the fore and analyze his reaction to the mercy that God showed to the people of Nineveh. Preachers, exhorters, and even graduates from bible schools have expressed their individual opinion as to why Jonah refused to carry God’s message to the people of Nineveh in the first place.

I have heard it said from the pulpit that Jonah had a personal, negative view regarding the Ninevites; much like the rift between the Jews and the Samaritans. Others said it was due to the violence that plagued the city. But what was the real cause of Jonah’s action and reaction? "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. This is some heavy reasoning on the part of Jonah, reaching even to the point of wanting to die on the spot.

He gave the reason why he even tried to run away and escape the mission that God had called him to do. Basically, because if the words of a prophet fail to come to pass, the prophet is labelled as "a false prophet." Notice that his reasons did not include the wickedness of the people, their racial origin or any such thing. As outlined in his defense was the fact of how God would react after he had delivered God’s message of judgment on the city and the people. God took him to task in a deliberate dialogue in which his case was brought to bear upon the facts on both sides of the issue.

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the eastside of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord 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. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, it is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 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; and so much cattle? Jonah 4:1-11.

What is most compelling in this real-life story is to understand God’s approach and handling of the case that was levelled against the people of Nineveh, in contrast with Jonah’s approach to his mission of mercy. Here are some facts that we need to consider! "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." Jonah 1:1,2. But, as shown above, God took stock of all that was involved before deciding to execute the promised judgment upon the city and the people. God resolved within himself that the six score thousand people of Nineveh could not discern between their right hand and their left—and notice that God even included the amount of cattle they possessed.

As we noted before, although God did not offer some sort of compromise the people acted swiftly in repentance, seeking God’s mercy—but without any guarantee that God would hear or listen to their prayers. The lesson that God demonstrated to a dejected, grumbling, sulking angry prophet, lays open to us even today, how God deals with the evil and sinfulness of people the world over. When we fast-forward to our day and the ministry of God’s chosen people we are often left to wonder if God’s pattern of mercy and forgiveness is known, or being practice by the church. In Matthew 9, we are given a lesson of Christ’s dealing with sin, and how he brought us into the picture of the ministry as it relates to sin. The people brought to Jesus a man sick of the palsy.

Instead of saying, "be thou healed" or "I come against thee, thou demon of the palsy" Christ said: "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." Immediately, certain people began to think within themselves, this man blasphemeth. He immediately took them to task in introducing a truth that was unknown in that time frame and was made relevant to all of God’s people down through the ages. Listen to the new truth that Jesus introduced on that day. Please pay keen attention to what comes next, and don’t ever let it slip away, out of your consciousness, because it lays the foundation for our ministry.

Jesus asked: "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? Here comes the plumbline, and the full measure of what all ministries ought to understand and ought to be. "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." Matthew 9:1-6. We can suggest that when Jesus said "the son of man, and not the Son of God, he included all of us who would follow in his footstep. He forgave sins as a member of the human race. Later in his ministry, in fact, shortly before he ascended up into heaven he gave command to his disciples, which, by the divine process has followed down the line of inheritance to where we stand today. Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room and greeted them saying, "Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus unto them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so (by the same token—with the same authority—and the same mandate) send I you. John 20:21.

After breathing upon them to receive the Holy Ghost Jesus went on to explain what the ongoing ministry ought to be. "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." John 20:19-23. This aspect of dealing with sin was not known to the prophet Jonah, even though he was being made a type of Jesus Christ, being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Actually, it is amazing in reading the Old Testament, we see so many ordinary people whose lives were indictive of events that would unfold in the New Testament as God’s personal acts, as prelude, or template of New Testament fulfillments.

We have learned from the story of Jonah, his message of pending judgment for their sins, how they repented, not knowing upfront if their prayers would be heard and honored by God. We have learned that God took into account the number of people, and even the number of cattle, and went about in changing his mind and spared the city. We also learned how the prophet reacted to God calling off his judgment, and all of these truths are relevant to us today. This is the first of three cases we are looking at to see that "It shall come to pass, or thy city shall be destroyed" these shall be DO NOT HAVE TO BE, THE WAY THEY ARE PROPHESIED! This is case number one, and we shall move on to the second case of "Thou Shalt" and observe how the sentence of "thou shalt" actually worked out in real time—in real life story.

Let us turn to a second case, involving another real-life situation. All of these real-life stories are well known, and have been preached in countless numbers of sermons, taught in bible studies and even included in volumes of books featuring these bible stories. To keep the essence of the story intact, I will need to quote a number of verses, so try and stay focused. "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Ladies and Gentlemen! If I am in a live service and hear that spoken word of prophecy, I would begin to shake in my shoes.

Many years ago, there was a prayer meeting in my home, and during the meeting a word came directly to a certain person with the prediction "tomorrow this time, the bell shall toll." Sure enough, at the time predicted the person in question began making her way pass the house with a rope in her hand: she was headed up the hill on our property to hang herself on a tree. It was people from the group who had to take a hold of her and take away the rope: thus, hindering the prophecy to be fulfilled. As in the case of Nineveh, so it was in the case of Isaiah. The word from the prophet was concise and emphatic, with no suggested alternative or "a way out." Thou shalt die and not live sounds conclusive to me! Added to that is the suggestion to set thine house in order! Think for a moment all that the dying king was now directed to take care of in preparation for his death. But in his response the king did not ask to live.

"Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore." Isaiah 38: 1-3.

The king is saying to God, before you take away my life, look for a moment on the record of my life. The king had nothing with which to bargain with God! Apparently, he decided not to make promises he could not keep. But God reacted swiftly to the king’s remorse and his tears. Now, before the prophet left the building, the Lord spoke again to the prophet. "Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city." Isaiah 38:1-6. Throughout scripture, especially in God’s dealings with Israel, his promises are always conditional: "If thou wilt—so forth and so on—then will I!

I would dare say that those principles are still in place in our dealings and relationship with God. He drives on a two-way street. He is always ready and willing to reciprocate! We have been given proof in scripture how the nature of God works on our behalf. David wrote, saying, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. (this refers to godly fear) Psalm 103:8-11. So far, we have shown how God can be flexible, tolerant, patient, and ready to minister to our needs and our concerns as we send up our prayers to him in faith. The cases of king Hezekiah and the case of Nineveh have shown to us how flexible and responsive God will be to them of a broken heart and of a contrite spirit. There is a third case of God’s judgment taken for granted, resulting in it being brought to fulfillment just as it was predicted—even though it could have been changed, if the man standing at the helm had taken steps to repent, seek God’s goodness in submitting to the will of the Divine.

This case brings us to Shiloh where the priest ministered and was involved with a young boy named Samuel to whom God spoke and delivered strong words of warnings to the priest Eli, who was now old and the light in the tabernacle glowed faintly. The sons of this priest acted wickedly, while the father let the situation went from bad to worst. The Lord spoke to the child Samuel several times, and each time the young lad went to the priest Eli for an explanation of what was happening. Finally, the child Samuel was called by Eli for him to recall all that God had said to him. "Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son, And he answered, Here am I. And he said, what is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee and more also, if thou hid anything from me of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good."1^st Samuel 3:16-18. But there is more to the story than what we have said so far.

"And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever." 1^st Samuel 2:27-31.

These strong and concise words of God’s prophecy was given to the priest Eli, and as we read earlier, when the child Samuel rehearsed them to him, all he did was to say: "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good." 1^st Samuel 3:18. Notice the difference between the other two cases and this old priest, who still maintained the light in the temple. God turned away his wrath and judgment from the people of Nineveh who went into sackcloth and ashes repenting of their wicked ways. King Hezekiah turned himself against the wall and wept sore, calling God’s attention to his years of serving the Lord and with a pure heart, he did all that was right. As we mentioned a while back, the king did not ask to live, and he did not see to bargain with God. He wept sore and God turned away the death sentence and added fifteen years to his life. In these two cases the pending outcome was altered and turned around so that they did not happen the way the prophets spoke.

 Continued in the next chapter.