Jonah 3:1-10

The Lord first instructed Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh in chapter 1. Jonah disobeyed. In the text before us, God instructs Jonah again to go to Nineveh and to “preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”

God most certainly wanted Nineveh to turn from its wicked way. Sending Jonah to deliver His message was hardly God’s only option but it most certainly is the option which God chose. In sending Jonah a second time, God sends us a message. We would be remiss to ignore that message. That message is loud and clear: Past failures do not count. Past failure to act upon and to obey the word of God does not result in one’s being eternally cast aside. God sees past our present failings but He also sees the victories which we cannot see.

The Jonah that God sent to Nineveh the second time was not the same Jonah to whom God spoke on the first occasion. The individual whom God sent in chapter 3 is one whom He raised up from the belly of the fish. The Jonah to whom God spoke the first time was not ready to go to Nineveh and deliver God’s message. The Jonah to whom God spoke the second time was fully qualified. God supplied the needed qualification training in a period of three days and three nights.

As it was with Jonah, it is with us. Past failures are to be cast aside.

Verses 3 and 4 document Jonah’s response to God’s instruction. Jonah went to Nineveh as directed and he proclaimed that Nineveh would be overthrown in 40 days. Jonah’s actions and his words were in exact compliance to the Lord’s command.

The author of this book was moved by the Holy Spirit to describe Nineveh as a great city of three days journey. While we do not know the distance of a day’s journey, it would seem likely that Nineveh was stretched out along the Tigris River for fifty or sixty miles. The size of the city is important because it gives perspective to the mission which Jonah had been given. Jonah was to declare to a very large and, in all likelihood, a very powerful city that God would cause the city to be overthrown in 40 days.

It is evident that Jonah clearly communicated that his God (the God of heaven which made the sea and the dry land) would cause this to happen. God, through Jonah, presented the Ninevites with a choice. Believe the God of Jonah or do not believe the God of Jonah. The people believed and responded by proclaiming a fast and by putting on sackcloth visibly proclaiming their internal sorrow (v. 5). Fasting and putting on sackcloth was done from the greatest of them to the least. We do not know the population numbers of the city but we do know that the number of children which were too young to discern between their left hand and right hand to be 120,000 (see Jonah 4:11). It is apparent that those who heard Jonah’s message declared it to others who, in turn, made God’s message known to all. In the vernacular of today, the message of the coming fall of Nineveh went viral.

When the king heard of that which Jonah spoke, he removed his robe and donned sackcloth and sat in ashes. The king issued a decree requiring every person and every beast not to eat or to drink and to be covered with sackcloth. The king further decreed that everyone should cry mightily to God and to turn from their evil way and turn from their violence (v. 8).

Why? God had announced that the city would be overthrown. God did not announce that He would spare the city if the people were to repent. The question “Why?” is answered in verse 9. Who can tell what God will do if men cry out to Him?

New Testament believers know the answer. We know that He is able save all who come to Him by Christ Jesus who was, three days and three nights, in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40). He is able to save all who cry out to Him [For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:13)].

The Ninevites cried out to God and God responded. God saw their works (v. 10). God saw that they had turned from their evil way. God saw and then God did not do (overthrow the city) as He said that He would do.

Why did God not overthrow Nineveh as He had said that He would do? The answer: God is God. God requires men to live by the law which He places in the hearts of all (see Rom. 2:14-16). The law is above all men. God is love. God is greater than the law. God, in His love, made provision for the failure of men. The Ninevites called out to God whom they did not know. They called out confessing their evil ways. They called out for His mercy and His love was made known to them.

Returning to verse 9. Note the use of the pronoun “we.” In this instance, “we” refers to the pagan Gentiles of Nineveh. “We” are all that turn from evil ways and call upon the Lord. The human author of Jonah also uses “we” in chapter one. In chapter one, like in verse 9 of chapter 3, “we” refers to a people who do not know God but call upon Him. The “we” of chapter one, like the “we” of chapter three, cry out to God whom they do not know such that they shall not perish. Neither the Ninevites of chapter three or the mariners of chapter one perished.

God in His love extends His righteousness to all who will call upon Him believing that He will provide as He has promised.