Obedience and Repentance

Jonah 3 ESV

1 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!” 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.” 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.

I’m going to start off this morning with a simple question. What keeps us from doing what God asks of us? Seriously, what keeps us from doing what God asks of us? Or a better question may be, are we close enough to God that we HEAR Him speaking to us? I would suggest, many Christians today struggle with hearing God because they have not made Him essential to their lives. We find Jonah, a man of God, hearing from God and choosing to ignore Him. As a result, he found himself in the storm of his life, being thrown overboard facing imminent death, and then being swallowed by a giant fish and sloshing around inside its belly for three days before being spit out on a beach covered in fish bile. Notice one thing very important here, Jonah did not make that same mistake again.

In our lives, we can get busy. We push ourselves, we try to make our lives “better”, we try to have more, we try to do everything in the world except focus on our relationship with God. As a matter of fact, we may even bluntly ignore Him just like Jonah. Then we wonder why He doesn’t answer our prayers. We wonder why our lives are full of storms. We may even wonder if we are going to perish when we get wrapped up in the seaweed of life. But it is our reaction to God when He calls out again that matters.

God Calls Again, Jonah Answers

Jonah 3:1–5 ESV

1 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!” 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.

After God had spared Jonah from his first willful disobedience, He came to Jonah a second time. Jonah was given a second chance to do what God asked him to do. Go into Nineveh and preach God’s Word.

Look at the contrast:

Jonah 1:1–3 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 3:2–3 ESV

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.

What had changed about Jonah? Did his heart towards God change? Did his attitude towards God’s calling change? Did he fear another round of punishment? We do not know WHAT changed in Jonah, but we now see him being obedient to God’s second call. Notice an important item - Jonah had to CHOOSE to obey God.

I again have thought about how Jonah - a prophet, someone who heard from God, listened for God, spoke on behalf of God, and guided the people of God - could blatantly disregard God’s command and run from Him. But then, what has really changed? From the beginning of time until now, do we not hear God and choose to ignore Him? Yet Jonah repents - The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines repentance as a change of attitude and action from sin toward obedience to God. If we intend on changing the place we find ourselves in, we must see if we are in our out of the will of God. If we are out of God’s will, then we can get a fresh start the same way Jonah did by repenting - turning from our action of sin towards obedience to God.

Warren Wiersbe made this comment:

You don’t have to read very far in your Bible to discover that God forgives His servants and restores them to ministry. Abraham fled to Egypt, where he lied about his wife, but God gave him another chance (Gen. 12:10–13:4). Jacob lied to his father Isaac, but God restored him and used him to build the nation of Israel. Moses killed a man (probably in self-defense) and fled from Egypt, but God called him to be the leader of His people. Peter denied the Lord three times, but Jesus forgave him and said, “Follow Me” (Jn. 21:19).

However encouraging these examples of restoration may be, they must never be used as excuses for sin. The person who says “I can go ahead and sin, because I know the LORD will forgive me” has no understanding of the awfulness of sin or the holiness of God. “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Ps. 130:4, NKJV). God in His grace forgives our sins, but God in His government determines that we shall reap what we sow, and the harvest can be very costly. Jonah paid dearly for rebelling against the LORD.

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh. Jonah obediently went where God sent. Not only did he go, but he was to deliver a specific message that he would receive from God Himself. Jonah was not to give his opinion, he was not to give his person thoughts, he was not to tell them what others had said - he was to only preach the Word of God to the Ninevites. This task took dedication, as Nineveh took three days to travel around. Three days Jonah travelled, speaking God’s Word to them “yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”. In Chapter 1, we are told the sin of Nineveh had gotten so bad God could no longer ignore it. Jonah was to take the Word of God to them in an effort to bring them to repentance. When God’s man heeded God’s call and took God’s Word to a sinful city, they repented and believed God.

Notice they did not just repent in word alone, but they called for everyone to fast and put on sackcloth as a sign of their shameful acts towards God.

Could you imagine what might take place in the United States if we, as Christians, took the calling of God as seriously as Jonah, after his repentance, and took the Word of God to a lost and dying world? Even more so, if we were to publicly confess our own sins to each other and repent with fasting and sackcloth? Could WE also see a great revival throughout this nation again? We see, for Nineveh, the people believed and publicly repented - from the greatest to the least.

National Repentance

Jonah 3:6–10 ESV

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.” 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.

Oh, to have a leader that would repent and turn to God! In the picture we see of verse 6, that is exactly what happened - the king heard the word spoken by Jonah, ROSE FROM HIS THRONE and publicly repented by covering himself with sackcloth and sitting in ashes. This king of Nineveh recognized the Word from the King of Kings and dethroned himself!

Not only did he repent, but the king and his leaders issued a proclamation. “Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 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.” Notice that not only did the people fast, but the decree was for the animals also. This shows just how moved he and the people were to the Word of God brought by His messenger Jonah. They were sincere. They were real. They had been changed. They cried out for mercy, the publicly humbled themselves to God, and they repented of their sins. Why did it impact the king as much as it did?

He recognized the hopelessness of his nation. He had a great hope God would withhold His judgment and the kings people would be spared. His proclamation was confirmation of the kings belief that if the city as a whole believed in God and repented of their sins, then maybe God would spare the people and the city.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Paul spoke it, Nineveh experienced it. God showed mercy beyond belief. He saw the Ninevites placing their faith in Him, repent of their sins, and He spared them. He did not destroy the city after 40 days. Why? Because the people believed God and repented.

Closing

Before the Ninevites could believe God and repent—which they did—the preacher Jonah had to proclaim the complete message of salvation to them as well as warn them of coming judgment. Before the Ninevites could be saved, they had to believe Jonah’s word from God and repent. And one thing is known for sure, when they repented, God heard their cries and withheld punishment.

Today, if WE believe in God, and repent of our sins, we will be saved. Just like Nineveh. But notice it is not a superficial word only, but a change (a conversion) that takes place. By repenting, we turn from a life of hopelessness, from a life of sin, from a mind focused in this world and turn to a God of hope, a life of righteousness, and a mind transformed by the power of God. As a result, we are spared the wrath of God, just as Nineveh.

Have you experienced a true, life-changing experience of repentance of your sins? Have you ever felt the need to turn to God for help? Have you ever received forgiveness of you sins and felt the overwhelming peace of God? If not, today is the day.