Can We Afford to Write Off the Human Race? - George P Ritter - April 1977

George P Ritter

As cities went it was a fairly large one. To date it had enjoyed a fairly influential existence in its particular geographic region. And for the most part the city fathers had no reason to suspect anything but continued prosperity for the future. But then it happened. It was just one man who came crying in their streets with a chilling message that their great metropolis would be overthrown in 40 days. They could have laughed, scoffed and written him off as a visionary crackpot. But a funny thing happened. They took him seriously. The king responded by dressing in sackcloth, calling a city-wide fast, and ordering everyone to clean up their individual lives. By now you've probably surmised that the city was ancient Nineveh and the bearer of the bad tidings was Jonah. The most significant part of this story isn't Jonah's three-day stay inside a specially prepared fish, but the fact that the people of Nineveh, from the king right on down, actually took his message to heart and embarked on a program to clean up the crime-laden streets of their city (Jonah 3:7-8). - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library