On Jonah
3:4 and prophecy always being contingent, even if it is not implied:
As “Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey,”
that is, the first day, the day of the beginning of his preaching, “he cried,
and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” The message was
simple, yet it was spoken in such a positive manner and with such conviction
that the people were willing to give heed. Imagine a foreigner, probably rustic
in appearance, entering into the capital city of the world and crying to the
people that their city would be overthrown! Warnings of this nature are
conditions; this should be understood. A principle of divine sovereignty was
later recorded by Jeremiah: when God speaks to destroy a nation, if that nation
turns from its wickedness, God will repent of the evil He had determined
against it. On the other hand, if Jehovah speaks concerning a nation to build
it up and it turns to do evil, God will repent Himself of the good He had
thought to do (Jer. 18:7-10). This principle, though not specifically stated by
Jonah, is implied. (Homer Hailey, Commentary on the Minor Prophets [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1972], 75-76e)
Mic 3:12
and the fulfillment of true prophecies being delayed:
The prophet lays down a conclusion that falls as a
thunderbolt from heaven: “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a
field”; it is a figure of total destruction. The temple stood on Mount Zion;
therefore, with the plowing of Zion it would be destroyed. The entire city, the
pride of the nation, would fall. Where once had stood houses and centers of
business there would be only heaps of stones. The mountain on which the house
of Jehovah had so majestically resigned will be grown up with trees and become
as a forest. The fulfillment to the prophecy was averted until the time of the
Chaldeans, but it did come. To the nation and to Jerusalem the razing of their
temple would be the climax of all destruction. (Homer Hailey, Commentary on
the Minor Prophets [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1972], 204)
Mal 1:11:
In contrast to HIs people’s offerings, which should
have been expressive of faith, devotion and love, but which were an abomination
to Jehovah, the Gentiles would offer a pure and acceptable worship. A question
must be raised here as to whether the declaration of Jehovah concerning the
Gentiles is in the present tense or future. Grammatically, it can be either;
but there is no evidence that among the Gentiles Jehovah’s name was held in
this degree of greatness, or that incense and a pure offering of praise were
being made by them to Jehovah. Such an idea is at variance with Paul’s
description of the Gentiles in Romans 1:18-32, and with his declaration, “There
is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). The prophecy looks to that time
when, under the Messiah, not in any one locality, but from one end of the earth
to the other, God’s name would be great among Gentiles. The “incense” offered
are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8), and the “pure offering” is the
sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips, and the doing of good in a holy life
(Heb. 13:15-16). Through the gospel of the Messiah Jehovah’s name would be
reverenced as great. (Homer Hailey, Commentary on the Minor Prophets [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1972], 409-10)