Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

God reveals Himself as the Divine Warrior, the Lord of nature, moving in irresistible judgement against Nineveh, through a vivid poetic description. Although He is slow to anger, He will by no means acquit the guilty, and when His anger is aroused and released there is no escape. But He is always reaching out to save those who put their trust in Him. He knows who belongs to Him, and He will be their stronghold in the day of trouble. He will protect them and His wrath will not fall upon them.

An overview of the Book of Nahum and its relevance to our time. Nahum is the sequel to Jonah. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, had repented when Jonah warned them that the Lord would destroy their city. As a result God had mercy on Assyria. But after a time, Assyria returned to her evil ways, and in 655 BC God's patience finally ran out. Through His prophet Nahum, the Lord declared that He would bring the Assyrian Empire to a final end, through the total destruction of its great capital city. Even though the Assyrian Empire was still at the height of her power, Nahum described the total destruction of Nineveh in great detail. About 40 years later in 612 BC, the prophecy was perfectly fulfilled when Nineveh was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians.

We see how God used a plant as a covering to show Jonah the contrast between being covered and uncovered, so that he could develop a heart of compassion for the people of Nineveh. We consider the evidence that shows God was successful in this, and that Jonah wrote his book for Israel to learn from his experiences. We then see how the whole story of Jonah is a wonderful type of Christ, in His death, burial and resurrection, followed by the Gospel going forth to the Gentiles. Also we discuss how Jonah helps us to reconcile the chronologies of Assyria and the Biblical Scriptures.

When Nineveh repents, God decides to not destroy her. But Jonah is angry. Why was he so upset? We contrast Jonah's attitude with God's heart of compassion for the lost, revealed through His Plan of Salvation, not only for the people of Nineveh, but for all mankind, as demonstrated by the Cross. We also explore the connection of Jonah with the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles, confirmed by the fact that the Jews read the book of Jonah on the Day of Atonement.

Jonah preaches to the Ninevites. What did he say? How was it that they all repented and turned to God from the greatest to the least? If God gave wicked Nineveh a great revival, can He not do the same in our communities today? We also discuss the theological issue raised by the fact that God relented or changed His mind concerning His declaration that He would destroy Nineveh. If God is perfect and so cannot change, how could He change His mind concerning what He would do with Nineveh?

In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus said that Jonah was a type of Himself, especially in His death and resurrection after 3 days: "The sign of the prophet Jonah - for as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth - a greater than Jonah is here."

We discuss, did Jonah really get swallowed by a whale? Did Jonah die and rise again after 3 days? Through Jonah's prayer in the great fish, we discover some insights into what happened during the 3 days and 3 nights. Also we discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophetic type of 3 days and 3 nights. Was Jesus crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?

When God hurls a storm at the ship, the sailors cast lots to find out why. The lot fell on Jonah, forcing him to declare his faith in Jehovah. As a type of Christ, he offers himself to die, so that the sailors might live. As a result the sailors are saved both physically and spiritually, because they now believe in the LORD.

Jonah flees to Tarshish. Where and what is Tarshish? Could it be the UK? If so, what are the implications for us today? We look at the many Scriptures that mention Tarshish, both in history and in end-time prophecy, including Ezekiel 38:13, Isaiah 60:9 and Psalm 72:10-11.

Introduction to the prophecy of Jonah, and its historical, geographical and spiritual background. Was Jonah a real person or is it just an allegory? Why did Jesus compare Himself to Jonah? We explore the balance between God's judgement and His mercy, and how it applies to our life and society today in the modern age.

Whether you are a believer or unbeliever makes a huge difference at your death, because the condition of each soul at death will determine its eternal destiny (Ecc 11:3). All mankind will be divided into 2 groups. There is a HEAVEN to gain and a HELL to shun! Before the Death and Resurrection of Christ, at death both believers and unbelievers went down to a place called ‘Hades’ (Greek) or ‘Sheol’ (Hebrew), a place under the earth for departed spirits, but the believers and unbelievers went to 2 different compartments of Hades (Luke 16:19-26). Jesus taught that by death you have made your final decision and your eternal destiny is then fixed forever. It will then too late to repent. At this point, the destinies of the righteous and unrighteous are sharply and permanently divided.

In Old Testament times all went down to Hades when they died, even believers, because before Jesus died and rose again, bringing in the New Covenant, it was impossible for anyone to be born again, and so it was impossible for their spirits to go into Heaven. In this teaching we reveal the awesome difference that the New Birth makes, enabling us to go to Heaven when we die, because our spirits have been made perfect in Christ (Matt 16:18). The Old Testament saints did not go to Heaven when they died, for they had to wait for the New Covenant to be established by Christ’s Death and Resurrection before they could be made perfect (born again) in spirit, and so be able to possess the promise of Heaven (Heb 11:10,16, 39-40). But now these O.T saints are in Heaven, because when Christ rose again this promise could be fulfilled and they were born again and made perfect in spirit (1Pet 4:6), and then taken up to Heaven (Eph 4:8). They are 'the spirits of just men made perfect' who are now in Heaven (Heb 12:22-24).

So when believers die, we depart our bodies (2Cor 5:8, 2Tim 4:6, 2Pet 1:13-15), and we go to Heaven (2Cor 5:8, 12:2-4, Phil 1:21-24, Rev 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 14:13).

Unbelievers die in a state of unrighteousness, and go down to Torments in Hades, the temporary place of punishment, because they died in their sins and have been found guilty, and now it is too late for them to repent (2Pet 2:9). They rejected the grace of God, the work of Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit. They must wait in this holding-cell in Hades until they are resurrected at the end of time and made to stand before the Great White Throne for their final Sentencing (Rev 20:11-12). Their degree of their rebellion against God will determine the degree of their punishment in the Lake of Fire. Then they will be sentenced and dismissed into their final place of punishment - the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:15). At present only their soul is under punishment, but when they are resurrected and thrown into the Lake of Fire, both their body and soul will be under punishment (Matt 10:28). So, Hades is an initial temporal place of punishment for the soul, but the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) is the final and everlasting place of punishment for the soul and the body. Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) confirms the everlasting punishment of the wicked (v41,46).

God’s Court-System of Eternal Judgment takes place in 2 Stages:

*(1) Stage 1 happens right after his DEATH (Hebrews 9:27). This determines whether you are guilty or innocent, depending on if you are ‘in Christ’ and so have received His righteousness, or if you are still ‘in your sins.’ The righteous go up to Heaven, and the wicked go down to Hades, to wait for the 2nd Stage.

*(2) Stage 2 happens right after his RESURRECTION. The Judge will determine the Degree of Reward for believers (according to their faithfulness), and the Degree of Punishment for unbelievers (according to their sin).

There are only 2 possible eternal destinies for every person - either (1) a state and place of everlasting life and blessedness in God’s Presence, for those who have received Christ as their Savior and Lord, or (2) a state and place of everlasting punishment, for those who have rejected Christ and His offer of Salvation. Every man's final destiny is fixed by God at the time of his death, so it is essential that we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and share the Gospel with the lost before it’s too late.