Jonah’s Obedience

Jonah 3:1–10 NASB95

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

a. Jonah’s Preaching (3:1-4)

b. Nineveh’s Response (응답) (3:5-9)

c. God’s response (응답) (3:10)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Jonah’s Preaching (3:1-4)

i. Chapter 3 begins with God coming back to Jonah and telling Jonah a second time that he is to arise and go to Nineveh to proclaim the message in which God was giving him to preach. The repetition here is almost identical to what he wrote in 1:2. God literally tells Jonah to arise, go and proclaim. The difference here is that God tells Jonah, go proclaim the proclamation I will tell you to proclaim. God gives Jonah a mission to do what He wants him to do instead of just preaching against them. Rather, this time, God will provide the message for Jonah to present.

ii. I think it’s easy to overlook a great truth here. One of the best parts of verse 1 is the fact that God doesn’t remind Jonah what he has done. It reminds us exactly of the forgiveness we have received in Christ. When people do hurtful things to us, it is hard to completely forget what they did to us. We have a hard time not mentioning to the person who wronged us and even if we don’t mention it, often, it affects the way we view the person. But here with God, God doesn’t change his view of Jonah at all. He doesn’t tell Jonah of his prior mistakes. Instead, God overlooks what Jonah has done due to his repentance to God in chapter 2.

iii. This reminds us that although we sin, once God forgives us, He doesn’t hold it against us. This simple truth is related to us by God telling Jonah what to do again. The Bible says that the word of the Lord came to Jonah for the second time. God gives Jonah a second chance to do what He had called Jonah to do. There is great humility in the fact that God allows Jonah to receive a second chance.

iv. So in verse 3, it says that Jonah arose exactly the same way in chapter 3 as he did in chapter 1 except this time, he obeyed what God had told him and went to Nineveh. What we see about Jonah is that he was truly a man who experienced the mercy of God and knew the grace of God. We see the fruit of true saving faith: obedience. So we see that Jonah arrives at Nineveh and does what God called him to do.

v. The book of Jonah writes that Jonah was a great city. Historically, we know that the city was about 60 miles in circumference. It was much larger than Babylon. The walls of Nineveh were one hundred feet high, and wide enough to have 3 chariots to ride next to each other. In 4:11, it says that since there were more than 120,000 children, the city most likely had a million residents.

vi. The end of verse 3 tells us that the city was 3 days’ walk so in verse 4, Jonah starts walking through the city. On the first day of walking, he cried out and said, that in 40 days, Nineveh will be overthrown.

vii. Jonah preaches that in 40 days, the city would be destroyed. The word here overthrown is the same word used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jonah was telling the inhabitants of Nineveh that God would destroy the city just as he had done to Sodom. But also, at the same time, Jonah says something interesting. Jonah says that in 40 days, it would be destroyed. Jonah was giving a warning to his listeners which gives us the idea that God was giving them a warning and would allow them to return from their wicked ways.

viii. This turning away reminds us of what God had done not long ago for Jonah. Jonah had sinned greatly and wickedly against God when he disobeyed God. Jonah knew that he deserved death and he told the men on the ship to throw him overboard so he could die. But we see that God preserves him and not only that, allows him to return back to land. This theme of God’s patience and grace is imbedded into the book of Jonah. It is no different here. The fact that God gives Nineveh a chance to turn back reminds us of God’s patience not only with Nineveh and Jonah, but also with us. It reminds us how loving God is and the book of Jonah truly depicts it beautifully.

b. Nineveh’s Response (3:5-9)

i. So verse 5 opens with, after hearing the message of Jonah, the people of Nineveh believe in God. This was probably the best sermon in human history of how an unbelieving people who hated God and didn’t even know him could respond to him in faith. Nowhere in the Bible was such a revival experienced such as this and it happened through the preaching of Jonah. The message was so moving, that the people of Nineveh believed in God and they called for a fast and put on sackcloth.

ii. But what is interesting here is how the words change. In 3:1, it says that the word of Yahweh came to Jonah and spoke to him. But here in 3:5, it says that they believed in Elohim. They didn’t believe in Yahweh, but they believed in a god. Although they listened to the message of warning that Jonah had preached, they didn’t believe in Yahweh. Rather, they were like the other men in chapter 1 who prayed to their own god and later, when Yahweh saves them, they worshipped Yahweh for He had saved their lives. In the same way that these men wanted to live and would believe any God if this deity would save them, the Ninevites were the same.

iii. So when Jonah came preaching doom and gloom, they were willing to believe in this God that Jonah was preaching just so they could live. So similar to the men in chapter 1, these men also offered a sacrifice and made vows. Here in chapter 3, it tells us that they fasted and put on sackcloth. This idea of wearing sackcloth denotes someone who is penitent so in that way, the people of Nineveh were repentant.

iv. Verse 6-9, the preaching of Jonah reaches the king of Nineveh, and he also does what everyone else does. He puts on sackcloth and sat on ashes to show his penitent heart as well as the people. Verse 7, the king calls for a fast and nobody was allowed to eat or drink anything. It is interesting to note that the king doesn’t allow animals either to eat or drink.

v. Verse 8 tells us the reasoning for the king’s reasoning for why he doesn’t allow man or beast to eat or drink. The king says that both man and beast must be repentant and let them call on God earnestly so that he might turn his wrath away from them. It goes to show how desperate the king was to try to move God to relent from destroying the city. What’s so interesting is the last part of the king’s statement. He tells his people that they are to ask God earnestly and turn away from the violence which is in his hands. What the king states here is very true. The king decrees that people’s lives, the ones who are to call on this Yahweh, are to live lives that match their prayers.

vi. The king was telling his people that this God, Yahweh, will only listen to you if your lives match the prayer that you are seeking. This truth signifies that a true penitent heart will live the way he promises to God. When we make these promises and follow through, that shows a truly penitent heart. They understood that a penitent heart would receive mercy from God. We saw the exact picture of this in Jonah.

vii. Verse 9 shows us the king’s mind. He was just guessing and willing to do anything at this point so that God would relent and withdraw His anger from them. This is also an echo of 1:6 where the captain of the ship was telling Jonah to pray to his God so that they would not perish. Notice that in 1:6, the men were praying to God to preserve them of their lives. Here, it is no different. It is not salvific in the sense that they were asking God to rescue them from sin, but rather, from this peril they were facing. The captain was hoping for a present peril to be removed if Jonah’s God should “take notice”; the king was hoping for an anticipated peril to be diverted should he “relent.” In both cases these pagans recognized that, as Jonah declared in 2:9, “salvation comes from the Lord.” It is in God’s hands whether sinners should perish or be delivered.

viii. It is important to note that the king understood that they could only live if God would preserve them. Unlike Jonah, the king and the people in Nineveh were seeking physical safety from harm. Jonah, on the other hand, received physical and spiritual salvation. Jonah understood and knew salvation is from the Lord because he had experienced the saving power of God, not only by being spared, but also understanding that he did nothing to be spared.

ix. We don’t want to miss the repetition here in verse 9. It says that God may turn and relent, meaning to turn away and withdraw, to turn his burning anger. What verse 9 is saying is that the king of Nineveh was hoping to change the mind of God. He was hoping that if he could do enough good, that God would change his mind. There was extreme anxiety in the mind of the king. There was hope yet no guarantee that God would turn away his anger from them.

c. God’s response (3:10)

i. This brings us to God’s response. In verse 10, it tells us that when God had seen their deeds, God relented. God turned away His anger from them. This is difficult for us to understand. Why would God change His mind? We have difficulty thinking that God changes His mind and many people say that God doesn’t change His mind. But the question is, did God really change His mind?

ii. The answer is no. God said in verse 4, that He gave 40 days for Nineveh to repent. This caused men to repent and turn away from their sinfulness. At that point, if God still destroyed them, God would be a liar. But the fact that God relents, it shows His faithfulness to His promise.

iii. At the same time, what this verse teaches us is that God honors a penitent heart and genuine repentance. Some people ask then, “was Nineveh saved? Will the people of Nineveh be in Heaven?” The answer is we don’t know, but what we do know is that, God honored their genuine repentance. The people repented for their wickedness and asked for what? They asked for deliverance from physical harm. What did God provide? Exactly that. God withheld His wrath from them and it goes to show the mercy of God. The focus should not be on the Ninevites per se, but rather, on the God who saved the Ninevites.

iv. Some people will say it’s salvation by works, but it’s not. God had given the condition that in 40 days, the city would be destroyed. But if they would repent, God would be merciful (4:2). This is why God even gives them 40 days. But because they obeyed, God preserved them.

v. I want us to be reminded on the power of prayer. God calls us to pray and repent and when we do, God will honor this. Just as God honored Nineveh, a people who hated God, and didn’t even know Him, God honored their prayer in their ignorance. In obedience to the preaching of Jonah, God blessed them.

vi. In the same way, God honors us when we ask Him with a truly penitent heart. If you don’t know Christ today, if you are like the Ninevites, there is great hope for you. If you are penitent, you recognize your sin and that Christ is the only one who can save you from your sins, and you put your trust in Him, He will deliver you. This is what we learn from this story of the Ninevites. The story’s focus is not on whether the Ninevites made it to Heaven or not, but rather, on the mercy and forgiveness of God.

3. CONCLUSION