One of the most impactful stories in Scripture regarding a city going from near destruction to redemption is found in the book of Jonah.
“Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me” (Jon. 1:2).
Leader Kevin Jessip notes that the great Assyrian city of Nineveh was full of wickedness, yet God chose a man, Jonah, to warn them of coming judgment and destruction. But Jonah resented what the Lord was asking him to do. Then, after three days in the belly of a whale, Jonah cried out to God and repented himself for rebelling against the calling of God and attempting to flee from Him. The Lord spared Jonah’s life, so the second time God spoke, Jonah obeyed, entered Nineveh, and an amazing miracle took place.
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast. And everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth” (Jon. 3:5).
This account of rebellion to redemption—both for Jonah and for the people of Nineveh—is parallel to the world today. Rebellion has happened, but will redemption occur?
This is the hope of national leaders across America, who have been Spirit-led to be involved in a movement called “The Return” on the Washington Mall on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, when thousands will gather to pray for the sake of our nation and its people.
“In Nineveh, the miracle began when the obedience from a reluctant prophet delivered the word of the Lord, and the people responded in humility, and turned back to the Lord in fasting, prayer and repentance,” Jessip said. “Hallelujah! Thank God for His mercy, which remains today! This is a pattern in Scripture that continues. Abominations occur in a land and a people. God chooses a man to deliver a warning prior to his righteous judgement. The word is accepted or rejected, depending on the choice exercised in free will, which brings about blessings or destruction.
“We are in a critical time in America,” Jessip continued. “We have been warned. God in His mercy has afforded us a time of reprieve to turn and repent for our land to be spared from destruction; it’s a Nineveh moment! ‘The Return’ is a chance for America, 40 days prior to our next election, to turn back to God, just like Nineveh. ‘The Return’ is the gathering to spark a movement to gather, fast, pray and repent for our wickedness.”
New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Cahn is one of the many who are calling for the nation to return to prayer, return to repentance and return to God.
“We have driven God out of our public life and have called what is good evil and what is sin good,” Cahn says in a video that has already been viewed by nearly 800,000 people. “America’s fall from God is not only progressing—it’s accelerating, to the point that it is no longer just a falling away, but a war against the purposes of God.”
Cahn and Jessip will join with other leaders such as Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Gordon Robertson, Anne Graham Lotz, Alveda King, Michele Bachmann, Marcus Lamb, Bishop Harry Jackson and many more, who are all helping to spread the word about “The Return.”
Coordinated events within “The Return” movement will also take place throughout America’s cities, towns, houses of worship and homes, as well as in multiple countries around the world, as many believe the nation has been given a critical window of opportunity to repent and return to God, especially as America and much of western civilization was founded on a biblical foundation stone but has turned away from that foundation.
“The Return” is set for 40 days before the presidential election, and on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, in the days of America’s founding and dedication to God. Surrounding the “The Day of Return” on Sept. 26 will be 10 days, known from ancient times as the Days of Awe, to be set as a special time of prayer and repentance from Sept. 18-28. Visit “The Return” at thereturnwebsite.org to register and learn more.
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