Repenting Pagans

A Second Commission.

Interpretation:

There are a couple of things that truly stick out to me in this second commission:

God gives Jonah a second chance. That’s what mercy and grace does.

God’s will is still God’s will. He wanted the word preached to Nineveh, and He didn’t let that go.

Also, there is a change in the tenor of God’s command — go and preach what I tell you. It could be that we are getting a glimpse of God’s hear toward Nineveh.

Instead of fleeing, this time Jonah at least complies with God's will. However, there is a great difference between complying and conforming. In our own lives, do we simply comply with God's will, or do we conform, whole hearted surrender, to God's will?

Illustration:

The testimony isn’t that unfamiliar to ministers. They hear the call of God, but instead of turning into ministry, they rebel and try to place themselves as far as possible outside the will of God, only to find their lives wrecked before finally surrendering to preach and teach the gospel.

It happens on grand scales, and in our every day lives. I remember being away at a retreat and hearing the pastor talk about drive-by hamburgers. Sure, he was feeding the poor, but God he was complicit, not committed.

You probably have a similar story in your own life, where you were hesitant or even outright rebellious, but God brought you back to what He desired for you.

Application:

When God gives us a second chance…or really, another chance…it’s not for us to go on our merry way. He’s not interested in our “I’m sorries” so that we can return to our life…it’s so that we can return to His will. So let’s think this through:

When you repent, do you return to your life or God’s?

When you obey God, do you do so out of compliance or commitment?

A Simple Message.

Interpretation:

Nineveh is a great city. Chapter 4 will note that it has 120,000 people.

It was a three - day journey. This could be how long it took to walk through the area, and if so, if wouldn't be just the walled in city of Nineveh proper, but the whole province.

This message is only eight English words…only five in Hebrew!

"Overthrown" doesn't just mean the city will fall. The word is the same one used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The threat here is that all of Nineveh would be wiped off the map. This is a dire warning indeed.

While God gives no caveat, there is one implied: God is patient and will relent for 40 days. If the book is meant to be a prophetic message to Israel about God's patience, mercy, and grace, then Israel should know that God is patient, but that patience will run out.

Illustration:

The approach that one scholar took in handling Jonah 3 was to point out the fact that as much as we don’t like it, the gospel does confront us with a message of doom.

Application:

JTB called out, “Repent, for the kingdom is near.”

Jesus cried out, “Repent, for the kingdom is near.”

And we, too, call people to repent, for the kingdom is near.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Some will hear this message and think they have forever. Hear the counsel of Psalm 95:7–8 “For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

Destruction was at the doorstep, but it hadn’t come yet. Oh the patience of God who gives us opportunity after opportunity. But this patience is limited. Forty days. The time is brief. Respond to God.

A Sign for Others.

Interpretation:

The people believed God.

True belief is always accompanied by action. The Ninevites respond with brokenness, humility, and contrition - they fast and put on sackcloth.

Even the ruler of Nineveh joins in the brokenness. What word reached him? Yes, Jonas preaching, but Jonah preached God's word, so ultimately it was God's word.

The king issues a decree that ALL will join in the humble repentance. What is remarkable is that the king's words sound much like Joel's prophecy. Joel says that there should be a fast called for ALL society, and he states, " who knows, He may turn and relent?" in Joel 2:14.

There is concern Again from a pagan in Jonah that people NOT perish.

At the end of the day, the people turn from their wickedness and God relents of HIS judgment. It shows an IMPORTANT principle: when God's people respond rightly, God responds with Grace and Mercy.

But about this whole “sign” business. Jonah’s lumped in with the prophets in both our OT and the Hebrew Scripture, but why? Simply because Jonah is a prophet? Where is the message for Israel in all of this narrative, let alone a prophetic message? In the strictest sense, it’s probably unfair to classify all of Jonah as a “sign act,” for there is no command to interpret the act. That business is left to the interpreter at the end of the book. But, what I can tell is that Jonah’s narrative communicates a powerful truth first to Israel and then to us.

Illustration:

Use an object lesson, and people think nothing of it. Probably the best visual aid I’ve ever done is bringing an empty cardboard box on stage to talk about how we like to be able to define and limit God…you know…put Him in our boxes.

I’ll often use the image of a throne with steps leading up to the throne…

Or the relationship pyramid.

What about smashing some jars before the lesson gets started?

Hiding your brand new underwear under a rock?

What about baking bread over human poop?

Use a visual aid, and most people think nothing of it. But, what about walking around naked for three years?!

What we see clearly modeled for us in Jonah is that, for lack of a better way to say it, repentance moves the heart of God.

Application:

I’m not sure where you find yourself on the spectrum this morning.

Are you and unbeliever having nothing to do with God? Heed the dire warning: destruction is coming and the kindness and patience of God won’t last forever.

Are you an unbeliever but digging deeper into the claims of Christianity?

Find a “Jonah” type who can help you dig deeper into the truths of the gospel. Join a life group. Join a Sunday morning Bible study group. But whatever you do, don’t be passive. We see the greatest to the least of the Ninevites responding to the message.

Remember that repentance is the key — not having all the answers. Turn from your path and to Christ.

Are you a believer running from the will of God?

What do you think you’ll find out there but heartache and headache, ultimately eating the same slop as the swine?

Repent and return.

Are you a believer obeying God out of compliance rather than commitment?

Don’t begrudgingly serve think that God is withholding something good from you. Remember the older brother syndrome.

The best way to show our love for Christ is through whole-hearted commitment.

Wherever you’re at, here’s the beauty of Jonah 3 — repentance moves the heart of God. From the most wicked and vile nation to the stray prophet on his second chance, repentance moves the heart of God.