Jonah 3

So at the start of chapter three

English Standard Version Chapter 3

3 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.”

So at the start of chapter three, we come back to what was supposed to be the main plot of the story. If we go back to chapter 1, this whole story opened with the word of Yahweh coming to Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it because of the evil that flowed out of it. Remember that Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the biggest and baddest empire the world had ever seen. They were the arch-nemesis for Israel, known to this day for their brilliant military tactics as well as the sheer cruelty in their suppression of neighboring nations. So all along, this was supposed to be a story about God and Nineveh, but the first half of the story becomes about God and his rebellious prophet. But after pursuing Jonah, bringing him to the bottom of the sea in the belly of the fish, we’re back on track at last.

So God tells Jonah, God’s messenger, to go give his message to the people of Nineveh, specifically, that their evil ways have come to God’s attention. And begrudgingly, Jonah obeys God. So how does he do?

English Standard Version Chapter 3

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!”

So this is so interesting. First off, the author of the story is being hyperbolic here with regards to the size of this city. Archeological discoveries suggest that Nineveh was about 7 miles wide, which in that day was absolutely gigantic, so the readers would be smiling and nodding when they hear that it would take three whole days to go from one side to the other, it was massive in their eyes.

So Jonah goes just part of the way into this huge city and he speaks his message, which is all of five words in Hebrew, eight words in English. Jonah preaches a five words sermon, which some of you are like, now that’s the way to do it Pastor Collin. But’s what’s hilarious about this sermon is all the things that are missing in it. Remember, God sent Jonah to preach against the city because of their evil ways. Well what’s missing here? Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown…why? Why will Nineveh be overthrown? We don’t get that. How will it be overthrown? Fire from heaven? Invasion from a bigger, badder nation? Plague? No information. Is there any way to prevent it? No information. And perhaps most glaring in all this is that God’s messenger has failed to make any mention at all about the God who sent him. Who is Jonah speaking for? No information.

There’s so much missing here that we’re driven to ask, what is going on here? But if we’ve been following the story up to this point, should we be surprised? We already know that Jonah strictly does not want the Ninevites to repent and receive the mercy of God. That’s why he ran from God in the first place. But after the whole belly of the fish incident, here he is, physically doing what God has asked, but I think what we’re seeing here is a bit of prophetic sabotage. Jonah is giving away as little as possible to try to set these people up for failure, to do what he can to ensure that they do not turn to God and receive the mercy that Jonah knows God wants to give. Isn’t this consistent with what we’ve come to learn about Jonah so far? Absolutely.

But let’s see if Jonah gets his way.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

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.

One thing we see over and over in this story is that people do not act the way that stereotypically they should. Prophets are supposed to be these icons of faithfulness that declare the words of God - Jonah…not quite the case. The Ninevites are supposed to be this obscenely cruel nation of cold-hearted people - but here, even after this gambit of prophetic sabotage by Jonah, where he doesn’t even mention God at all, these Ninevites are so primed and ready to receive this message that they fill in the gaps themselves and respond with these passionate and symbolic actions of belief and repentance. Say what you will about him, but Jonah was right in one thing: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love - and the only explanation for why these Ninevites turn in belief towards God was that he had primed them and been working in them all along, so that despite Jonah’s best efforts, they believed God. And they called for a fast, which is to refrain from food, and wore essentially burlap sacks, both of these are symbolic demonstrations of dependence and devotion to God, lowering oneself in humility before him, removing all distractions, and seeking his presence and guidance.

They believed God, and they expressed that belief by these active responses of fasting and putting on sackcloth. Okay, but what is it they believe about God? Well, before Jonah came waltzing into their city, they thought that it was just fine to be a part of this cruel empire that oppresses and subjugates and destroys its neighbors. That’s what they believed, and then they are confronted by this judgement of God that what they thought was good and fine is actually not good and not fine, it’s wrong. So they must now choose what they believe: do they get to define what is good and evil or does God? And we find that they believe God, and this belief is intertwined with these active life responses, where they are now saying, we’ve got to change course. In fact, everywhere in the Bible, this is the image of belief - that it necessarily involves active response.

And this is important for us to hear, especially if we’ve spent time here in the South, where the language of faith is woven into our culture in ways that are not always helpful. What do we mean when we say, “I believe in Jesus.” Typically

And this is important for us to hear, especially if we’ve spent time here in the South, where the language of faith is woven into our culture in ways that are not always helpful. When think about what it means to belief something, we typically see that has a purely cognitive experience. I believe that Frasier is the greatest TV show of all time. I believe

And how do we know they believed Go