If you are a fan of classic comedies, you are probably a fan of the classic: “Ground-hog Day”. In this 1993 comedy, “a weather man (played by Bill Murray) is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. When he awakens the next morning, however, he finds that it's Groundhog Day again, as is every day thereafter, forcing Phil to relive the day over and over again. First, he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day. Eventually, he learns from his experiences and used the opportunity to do what was right, and escapes reliving that day. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/faq?ref_=tt_faq_2#.2.1.8)
Jonah chapter 3 represents Jonah’s ‘ground-hog day’—a chance at a re-run of that monumentally significant day when he began the long defiant walk from his home in Gath-hepher, headed for the port of Joppa (1:3) and kept on going. Now God speaks again (Mackrell, P. (2007). Opening up Jonah (p. 67). Leominster: Day One Publications.)
Do you find yourself trapped in a situation? Making the same mistakes over and over? Or seemingly unable to overcome past failures? Jonah is a book of opportunity after failure. If we are not careful, we can often have a personal defeatist attitude that God does not share about us. We feel we are either disqualified or removed from service for past sin. But if God has forgiven the sin that we have genuinely repented of, who are we to say to God that it is not really forgiven and cleansed.
Through three ways of showing hope after failure, in “Jonah’s Journey” of Jonah 3:1-10 we see: 1) Jonah’s Commission (Jonah 3:1–4) 2) Nineveh’s Confession (Jonah 3:5–9) and 3) God’s Compassion (Jonah 3:10).
We can have Hope after failure though understanding first:
1) Jonah’s Commission (Jonah 3:1–4)
1) Jonah 3:1-4 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (ESV)
Charles Spurgeon said, “Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He who obeys God, trusts God; and he who trusts God, obeys God.” When God first called Jonah to go to Nineveh, the son of Amittai simply could not trust that God was right in extending His mercy by giving the enemies an opportunity to repent. Jonah did not trust that God knew what He was doing. We have no reason to assume that Jonah had changed his basic prejudices about the Ninevites when his second call came. His harrowing scrape with death in the deep forced the prophet to trust God for his survival. The “death-water” conversion shocked Jonah into promising that he would obey God. And so, God began again with Jonah. The willful prophet ran away from God and, in a terrible crisis, ran back to God. Now for a time at least, Jonah ran with God, doing what he was told. Chapter 3 shows us the magnificent results that can happen when we (obey) God. There is only one way to do anything—God’s way. Obedience is the secret of spiritual power (Ogilvie, L. J., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1990). Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 22, p. 437). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.).
It is a measure of God’s graciousness that we read, Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. Although God’s word came to Jonah a second time, demonstrating his forbearance and mercy, examples in Scripture show that not everyone has a second (opportunity) to do what God has commanded (cf. Gen 3; Num 20:12; 1 Kgs 13:26). The Lord did not wait for Jonah to go to Nineveh on his own initiative. God cannot compromise with the prejudices of his spokesmen (Smith, J. E. (1994). The Minor Prophets (Jon 3:1–4). Joplin, MO: College Press.).
• This text should bring thanksgiving to the heart of every believer who has been given another opportunity to do what God requires. This text, more than anything else, points to God’s sovereignty and His insistence upon the accomplishment of His will (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 255). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
Please turn to Isaiah 40
The story of Jonah is a story of disobedience and restoration. It is a story of hope not only for the disobedient Israel, but us also. It calls us to put aside preconceptions, prejudices and fears. Replaced with all of that is the confidence in God and His sovereign plan. Notice how Isaiah describes the wisdom and way of God in Isaiah 40:
Isaiah 40:27-31. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (ESV)
• Israel, like all of us, must not deceive ourselves to think for a moment that our actions are hidden from God or that He is too busy to notice. He gives power to accomplish His plan. Our confidence and strength is not in youth, or other human means but in the gracious renewal and empowering from our God.
God now commands back in Jonah 3:2 “Arise, go to Nineveh. Nineveh is the Hebrew equivalent of the Assyrian ‘Ninua’ which, in turn, is a name of the goddess Ishtar (the Babylonian fertility goddess). In their cuneiform text, her name was represented by a fish within an enclosure. She was their chief deity, and as Jonah had just had a unique and notable experience with a fish (indeed, he had been a man within a fish enclosure!), this would doubtless have had a tremendous impact on these superstitious pagans…we can wonder with good cause whether something marked Jonah from the fish’s belly. Could he have been bleached and even scarred by its gastric fluids and thus had a startling, even ghostly, appearance?( Mills, M. S. (1998). Jonah: A study guide to the book of Jonah (Jon 3:3). Dallas: 3E Ministries )
• We wonder how God can work all things together for good? (Rom. 8:28). Jonah’s previous internment in the great fish was not only instrumental in his repentance, it got him to where God wanted him, but it also most likely affected his appearance, better enabling him to accomplish the task he is commissioned by God to do.
In going to Nineveh, God described it and commanded to go to: that great city and call out against it/proclaim to it the message I tell/give you”. ‘That great city’ refers primarily to its size, but overtones of its political influence and the grandeur of its buildings are not lacking. It was the last capital city of Assyria, the largest gentile power at that time. Here were stationed the fierce troops and the swift cavalry of the king. The citizens of Nineveh felt secure behind its massive walls—100 feet high and broad enough for three chariots to be driven abreast on the roadway running along their top. Nineveh may have had as many as a half-million inhabitants. (Spaude, C. W. (1987). Obadiah, Jonah, Micah (p. 66). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.).
To it Jonah is required to deliver the divine message and nothing else. A prophet’s mission was not one where he had liberty to say what he wanted. It was God’s message alone that His messenger may proclaim in the divine name (1 Kings 22:14; Jer. 1:7; 23:28; John 7:16; 12:50; 2 Cor. 2:17). Yet, he probably would have spoken Aramaic, a common language used in trade and diplomacy in the ancient Near East (Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jon 3:2). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.)
• When people wonder why revival is not coming to our town or land as a whole, I often wonder what message has been either implicitly or explicitly delivered. Out of a desire to be liked, the church tends to water down God requirements or threat of judgment. If not, Christians tend to think that their voice just doesn’t matter. The message of Jonah is that the person of God can be mightily used if they just deliver His message. But learning from the approach of Jonah, it must be using the words that people will understand.
In verse 3 we see how: Jonah arose/obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Depending upon Jonah’s starting place, the trip to Nineveh would have been approximately five hundred land miles. According to the usual manner of transport (camel or donkey caravan), it would have taken approximately one month to traverse this distance. Going by foot would have taken even longer (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 256). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
• Do we sometimes assume the following God’s will, will bring instant results? It may take some time to just get us to the place that God wants us to minister.
This is the chastened and renewed Jonah, acting in compliance with the divine injunction. He has considered his ways and resolved to walk in obedience, and so he hastens to obey the divine command (Ps. 119:59–60). His actions are ‘in accordance with the word of the LORD’, not what he himself thought would be for the best. Nineveh, the hated city, was to hear God’s word of warning, delivered by an authentic prophet, and thereby be given (an opportunity) to repent. Whether Jonah liked it or not, he went. And there is nothing here to suggest that Jonah liked it any more this time than the first. ( Stuart, D. (1987). Hosea–Jonah (Vol. 31, p. 483). Word, Incorporated.)
• The ultimate indication of true belief is not mere assent with divine truth but obedience to the letter. God knows what He is doing and desires the best for us. When we second guess Him, or think that times have changed so much that we need to update the directive, we lose both the power and blessing of God behind the directive.
The idiom that Nineveh was an exceedingly/very great/important city is literally rendered that ‘Nineveh was a city great to God’. The greatness referred to would thus be of status, rather than size. What is being emphasized is that the city was of significance and importance in God’s sight: God cared about it. In looking back to the past, the narrator is emphasizing what was true when Jonah was there and is not saying anything about conditions in his own day. The phrase has no implications for the time of composition of the book. Some have suggested that the use of the past tense (“Nineveh was”) indicates that the city no longer existed at the time of writing. Given the city’s destruction in 612 B.C. by the Medes and Babylonians, this interpretation would date the narrative sometime after the late seventh century B.C. The past tense does not preclude an eighth-century date, however, for it may simply indicate the status of the city when the prophet arrived (Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 1567). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.).
• Is this community important to God? Over and over again we hear of God using the insignificant things to the world, to show the significant things of God.
There is much debate regarding Nineveh as to the description that it was “three days’ journey in breadth/a city of going of three days/ a visit required three days”. “Three days’ journey,” which in light of v. 4 represents the city’s diameter, would amount to some such length as 450 stades or over 50 miles, if Herodotus’ reasonable definition of a day’s march as 17 miles (v. 53) is followed. It is often suggested that the reference is not just to the city proper, but to the much larger surrounding ‘metropolitan district’ (cf. Genesis 10:11) (Allen, L. C. (1976). The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah (p. 221). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
• Although we are a part of Ajax Alliance Church, just as our composition involves more than just those who live in the village, our responsibility extends outwards also. The Kingdom of God naturally extends well beyond our building and so does our responsibility. Just as the early church spread in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8), so to we are call to witness to the people of Ajax, Durham, Ontario Canada and to the uttermost parts of the earth, not neglecting these any of these concentric spheres where we are placed.
Verse 4 notes that Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey/On the first day. He began his first day’s activities, and—then we are not told precisely how far into the first day, but the implication is not too far. Jonah called out/proclaimed: “Yet Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown/overturned!”. The form of the verb “overthrown/overturned!” suggests impending action. Unquestionably, the warning of doom was the surface and intended point of the declaration, but ironically the word can be used positively with the sense of reformation or transformation (Beeke, J. R., Barrett, M. P. V., & Bilkes, G. M. (Eds.). (2014). The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (p. 1275). Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books)
• What is the hardest point of faithfulness? The beginning. Our rebellion, doubt, lethary, excuses or distractions move us away from obedience. That first prayer, first word or first act is not only the hardest but the first action on the path to tremendous results. No great endeavor is achieved by wishing, hoping or dreaming. It begins with the first act of doing.
Illustration: Jonah was not the first servant of the Lord to have been given another opportunity for obedience after initial failure. He will not be the last. The words of Jesus in Matthew 12:20 that the Lord’s anointed servant (i.e. Jesus himself) will not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smouldering wick, indicate that it is God’s habit not to discard those who fail him. Wind instrumentalists blow through a reed. If damaged in any way, it leads to a dull hollow sound. For all practical purposes a bruised reed is worthless and easily replaced. So too is flax which, when damp, only billows out smoke and never ignites. In either case the obvious remedy is the easiest—give up and start again. But the Lord refuses to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax. He does not drop team members who let him, and the rest of the team, down. He does not have to use Jonah but chooses to do so. In fact he delights to build up his church with what would otherwise be rejects. ( Mackrell, P. (2007). Opening up Jonah (pp. 67–68). Leominster: Day One Publications.)
• You may look to a past failure or even present discouragement and conclude that it’s too late to act. But, God is so gracious and forgiving that He calls even now to change course, to admit your need for Him and go forward in renewed Gospel hope.
In response to Jonah’s call to repentance we now see:
2) Nineveh’s Confession (Jonah 3:5–9)
Jonah 3:5–9. 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” (ESV)
In verse 5, that the people of Nineveh believed God, is a truly astonishing response! So much so that many have doubted if it actually occurred. They argue that if such a major city of the ancient world had indeed turned to the LORD, then some record of it would have survived. That is, of course, just what has happened, and the record is before us in Scripture. That there have not been found any secular records bearing on this event is not too surprising. If Jonah’s mission is dated between 780 and 755 BC, then few records have survived from that troubled period of Assyrian history. Jesus’ own testimony (Luke 11:32) is that “they repented at the preaching of Jonah” with the result that they will be present at the judgment condemning those who rejected Jesus’ preaching. It is hard, then, to deny that at least some of the Ninevites were genuinely converted (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 261). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
But what is meant that the people of Nineveh “believed God”? The Hebrew idiom he’emîn be, ‘believed’, denotes more, however, than just believing what someone has said; it expresses the idea of trusting a person. Significantly, the response of the Ninevites is presented here in terms of what God expected from his own people (cf. Exod. 14:31; 2 Chr. 20:20), but frequently did not receive (cf. Num. 14:11; 20:12; Deut. 1:32; 2 Kgs 17:14; Ps. 78:22). (Wiseman, D. J., Alexander, T. D., & Waltke, B. K. (1988). Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 26, p. 134). InterVarsity Press.)
For the immediate time, the new perception of God and of themselves profoundly altered the behaviour of the people of Nineveh. They called for/declared a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the to the least of them. Sackcloth was thick, coarse cloth, often made from goat’s hair, and usually worn only by the poor (1 Kings 21:27; Neh. 9:1–2; Isa. 15:3; Dan. 9:3–4; Joel 1:13–14). They adopted an outward posture to reflect their genuine conviction on hearing Jonah’s message regarding their sinfulness. It is emphasized that this reaction was not just on the part of a few, but was widespread in the city, affecting all classes of people. In all of this, it was a common means in the ancient world of expressing grief, humility and penitence—the hallmarks of true repentance. (Wiseman, D. J., Alexander, T. D., & Waltke, B. K. (1988). Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 26, p. 134). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
• God desires that our faith in Christ may be seen. Some of the strongest apologetics for Christianity are changed lives, families, workplaces and societal interactions. If people can’t see a difference in these spheres of our lives then we are either disobedient or there is not really a change and we must repent of sin.
The king shared in the general reaction. Verse six record that when the word/news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, removed his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in ashes. ‘The word/news’ may be of the reaction going on in the city, or just of the contents of Jonah’s message, for prophecies regarding the welfare of the state would have been relayed to him without delay. The king too is convicted of the wrong that has been perpetrated, and humbles himself. His royal robes would have been costly and grand. Sitting on the ground is the posture of humility and self-abasement. It may also have been in the open-air for all to see. By overtly avoiding normal comforts … he sought to show the genuineness of his prayers for mercy (Stuart, D. (1987). Hosea–Jonah (Vol. 31, p. 493). Word, Incorporated.)
• This is such a stark contrast to the modern concept of leadership. Godly leadership lifts up God and His standards. Corrupt leadership spews self confidence and sinful pride.
What the people had already spontaneously initiated is now formally and officially approved by the king in verse 7. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed/eat or drink water”. The issuing of a joint decree is something that was common later on in Persian times, and may indicate that the weakness of the king at the time of Jonah’s visit was such that he ruled jointly with a council of nobles. The fast is extreme, being extended to include animals, both cattle and sheep. The referent in “Let them not feed/eat” refers to the animals, because the word for ‘feed/eat’ is literally ‘pasture’, or ‘graze’, which of course applies only to animals. Again, the evidence we have for such a custom of involving animals in times of public humiliation and mourning only comes from a later Persian period, but there is no reason to suppose that this widespread and deep-felt reaction to Jonah’s proclamation could not have led to such a decree earlier on. The command in verse 8: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, indicates that all are to express their sorrow and grief at the situation in which they find themselves by donning sackcloth. The inclusion even of animals in this royally mandated fast is the act of a desperate monarch and a desperate people. Fasting and uncomfortable dress represented self-denial. By eschewing normal comforts and making themselves physically miserable, they sought to show the genuineness of their prayers for mercy (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 266). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
• On one level it is easy to profess faith. But true faith shows itself genuine when it applies itself to family, work and possessions.
Please turn to Nahum 2
The response that is called upon the people goes beyond the physical. Prayer is required (cf. 1:6; 1:14; 2:2). Let them call out mightily/urgently to God. The situation is so dire that they must not be half-hearted in approaching the God who has given them this warning of impending doom. Such prayer is in contrast to the situation of the sailors earlier when each called on his own deity. Moral amendment is also required. Only a radical change will make a difference. Let everyone turn/ give up their evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. These are the words of the king of Nineveh, not Jonah, but they seem to require that Jonah’s message be more than the words of 3:4. He also told them why divine judgment was impending upon them. ‘Violence’ refers to any infringement of human rights and not only physical harm. Nineveh throughout its history had an altogether justified reputation for predatory behavior (Nahum 2:11–12; 3:19). Each person must turn from his evil way, i.e., “the violence that is in his hands.” (Knight, G. A. F., & Golka, F. W. (1988). Revelation of God. (p. 110). W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Handsel Press.)
The Prophet Nahum now predicts the fall of Nineveh:
Nahum 2:6–13. 6 The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; 7 its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. 9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. 10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 11 Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. 13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. (ESV)
• Written between between 664/663 and 612 B.C, the Prophet Nahum predicted the fall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as a future event. Nineveh fell to a coalition of Medes and Babylonians in 612 B.C. In Nahum chapter 2, Nahum takes the reader into the city as it falls to the invaders. He places the reader in Nineveh as the city is being entered and overrun by the coalition forces. Nineveh was filled with tremendous wealth, due to the plunder seized during numerous military campaigns and the tribute received over the many years Assyria ruled the Near East. Here, the Assyrians, who previously had been proud of how they terrorized other peoples, now experience extreme terror.( Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1709). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• We in the west now live in the age of terror. Leaving behind being a people who honored God, we live in a nation filled with Pride and a failure to regard people with justice and righteousness. Unless people do what is right and have a leadership embody Godliness that He requires, judgment will come at the hands of God’s instruments.
For the people of Nineveh in Jonah’s time, it is not viewed as being automatic that their repentance will lead to divine forbearance, and that their turning will induce a divine turning. Just as the pagan captain and his crew had recognized the sovereignty of divine action (Jonah 1:6, 14), so too do the king and his nobles. He responds in verse 9: Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish (cf. Joel 2:14). The repentant recognize that they have no case to argue for acceptance. Their future well-being is dependent solely on divine grace. Yet, though their grounds for hope are faint, they are not totally without foundation, for why else would God have sent Jonah with his message of warning? The good news through the gift of repentance:” God forgets, and never holds the thing against you. Think of how wonderful are the implications of that one fact for your life. God simply does not hold grudges against people who humble themselves and ask his forgiveness through Jesus Christ.” (O. Palmer Robertson, Jonah: A Study in Compassion (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1990), 42.)
Illustration: There is an account of a man who survived being swallowed by a sperm whale in 1891, although some doubt has been cast upon its authenticity. Initially thought to have been lost at sea in a whaling accident, James Bartley was discovered when the whale was caught and cut open a couple of days later. He was pulled from the stomach unconscious but he came round and eventually resumed his life as a whaler. The significant aspect of the account is that for the rest of his life he was strangely bleached. Considering he had lain in the gastric acids of the whale’s stomach at temperatures of around 105°F it is hardly surprising. It is not unreasonable to think that Jonah was similarly bleached. If so, it is difficult to imagine people holding back from the inevitable question: ‘What happened to you?’ His story would then unfold as a living example of the truth he proclaimed. Both Jonah and the Ninevites had willfully ignored God’s word to them (although in the case of the Ninevites the voice of God came indirectly to them through their consciences). Both Jonah and the Ninevites, as a consequence, faced the imminent judgment of the Lord. Jonah could tell them that he had duly turned from his sin and cried out to the Lord. There was no need to explain his deliverance and restoration in detail—that much was self-evident. The personal testimony of Jonah and the message he declared were all of a piece, both aspects reinforcing the other in a powerful plea to the Ninevites to repent and turn to the living God. (Mackrell, P. (2007). Opening up Jonah (pp. 72–73). Leominster: Day One Publications.)
Finally, in response to Nineveh’s repentance we see:
3) God’s Compassion (Jonah 3:10)
Jonah 3:10 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (ESV)
In this statement, the narrator then adds an authoritative comment to interpret for us what has happened. There is a play on words in the original here that is often found in the Old Testament. The same word may be used to describe moral ‘evil’ or ‘sin’, and also ‘calamity’ and ‘disaster’. Indeed the one is often the outcome of the other when God acts in judgment. So here their ‘evil way’ would have resulted in the evil of destruction, had not God responded graciously to the acceptance given to his message and decided to act otherwise. They proved the genuineness of their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20). It is not their pious actions or prayers that merit forgiveness. God can forgive anybody, even a (self-) important city famous for its wickedness, which had oppressed Jonah’s own people. It was that possibility—that God would actually be true to His forgiving nature and spare Nineveh—that the Ninevites now grasped toward (Stuart, D. (1987). Hosea–Jonah (Vol. 31, pp. 494–495). Word, Incorporated.).
• It’s one thing to pray for justice and long for Christ’s return to execute that justice. But do we really pray for our enemies? Do we genuinely desire their repentance? If not, then we have forgotten just how guilty our sin is before God and just how gracious God is in forgiving even our sin.
What is meant when the text reads that: “God relented of the disaster that he has said he would do to them”? This is an anthropomorphism: matters are viewed from our human perspective. It appears to us that there has been a change in God, but what has in fact changed is human conduct. God in himself is unchanging, and there are numerous scriptures to support that. ‘For I am the Lord, I do not change’ (Malachi 3:6). ‘And also the strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For he is not a man, that he should relent’ (1 Samuel 15:29). Or this: ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning’ (James 1:17). (Williams, P. (2003). Jonah—Running From God: An Expositional Commentary (p. 84). Epsom, Surrey: DayOne.)
The Ninevites here have changed their conduct, but in the opposite direction: they turned from their evil way. God would have been inconsistent if his attitude towards them had remained the same despite the change in their behaviour. God is consistently against sin. There is no variation in his loathing of it, or in his determination to punish it. That is a constant feature of God’s character. God is utterly consistent with Himself; it only appears that he is changing His mind. The Bible uses human analogies to reveal the divine character of God (Jer. 18:1–10). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be amazed (p. 88). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Please turn to Jeremiah 18
When God announces that his judgment is about to fall upon the sinful, it is a statement of what will inevitably happen if they continue on their present course. But it is a conditional statement. It is intended to alert the wayward and bring them to repentance. If that occurs, then God responds appropriately to the changed circumstances. From a temporal perspective, God responds to human action; from an eternal perspective, God chooses the means (human repenting) as well as the end (divine relenting). The repentance of Gentiles contrasts with the repeated lack of repentance on the part of Israel (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1690). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Jeremiah 18:5-11. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ (ESV)
• Many of the biblical prophecies are conditional; the human response of repentance or disbelief matters because the goal of prophecy, more than simply telling the future, is the moral formation of God’s people. God has prophets preach judgment so that repentance results. Repentance then removes the necessity for judgment (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1407). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
The story of the sparing of Nineveh in chap. 3 parallels Jonah’s own experience. He too had been the object of divine anger and later experienced God’s miraculous redemption. So too was the experience of the Ninevites. This same truth could be said of every believer who has taken hold of the promises of God through Jesus Christ. Because of sin, which pervades the world, all stand condemned. Only through God’s miraculous intervention in the person of Jesus Christ is there any hope. The story of Jonah and Nineveh is the story of every true believer (Smith, B. K., & Page, F. S. (1995). Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Vol. 19B, p. 270). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
(Format Note: Outline from Willmington, H. L. (1999). The Outline Bible (Jon 3:1–10). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publisher. Some base commentary from MacKay, J. L. (1998). Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah (pp. 47–60). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.)
