The Book of Jonah. Pt. 5

Good morning to our readers, both here and around the world. 

I am thankful that you have joined us today to continue in our study of the book of Jonah. 

The text below concludes this prayer of Jonah. The Bible does not tell us when this prayer was made. Was it when Jonah was drowning? Was it after God raised Jonah from the dead in preparation for the whale depositing him on dry land? Was it when Jonah was in Abraham's bosom?

We do not know and we need not speculate about what God did not choose to tell us. God has told us what we need to know, and that is sufficient for us. What we do know is that Jehovah used a fierce storm to save sailors and to bring Jonah to full repentance. 

In his prayer, Jonah said he would "pay" his vows to the Lord. We do not know what that vow was, but most likely, it was that he would obey his God and go to Nineveh. 

Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.   

What happened when Jonah repented? 

Jonah’s mission was resumed.

Jonah was back to square one. God gave him a mission and after running away, suffering a severe storm, being cast overboard, drowning and being swallowed by a large sea creature, God gives Jonah the exact same commission, as He originally did in chapter one. 

JONAH 2:10 "And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." 

 

JONAH 3:1-3 ¹ And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ² Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. ³ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 

Jonah experienced the sure mercies of Jehovah. 

Just as David received saving mercy from God when he confessed his sins with Bathsheba, so Jonah was forgiven. 

PSALMS 51:10-13 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee 

Jonah discovered that Jehovah is the giver of second chances. 

JONAH 3:1-2 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,    Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.  

These are wonderful lessons that show us the heart of our God. Jehovah knows that we are made from dust and that we are weak and frail people. He knows that we will sometimes obey Him fully and other times we will fail Him. He has graciously made provision to correct us, and to allow us the opportunity to confess and forsake our sins, in order to enjoy being restored by Him. 

What happened when Jonah obeyed Jehovah?

When Jonah preached to the wicked Assyrians, there was a dramatic response to the word of God.

Nineveh was a very great city and it took Jonah 3 days to navigate around it. His message was simple. In 40 days, the city would be overthrown just like Sodom and Gomorrah. 

The citizens of Nineveh, from the King down to the lowest servant, believed what Jonah preached and repented with fasting, ashes and sackcloth. They believed God. This response was totally unexpected because of how the war like Assyrians treated their enemies. No one would have thought that they would submit in humility to a God that they cannot see and did not know. 

JONAH 3:4-10 ⁴ And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
⁵ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
⁶ For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
¹⁰ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Sackcloth is cloth made of black goats’ hair, coarse, rough, and thick, used for sacks, and also worn by mourners or as a sign of repentance (Matt. 11:21). It was even put upon animals by the people of Nineveh.  

Ashes often were associated with sacrifices, mourning, and fasting. Grief, humiliation, and repentance were expressed by placing ashes on the head or by sitting in ashes. Dirt, sackcloth, fasting, the tearing of clothing, and covering of ashes visibly demonstrated repentance. 

This may be the largest response to gospel preaching in history. 

The population estimates for the city and surrounding area of Nineveh was about 600,000 according to the historian Xenophon. 

Nineveh became monotheistic instead of polytheistic!

The king of Nineveh was Adal-Nirari and he reigned from 810 to 783 B.C. It was during his reign that the Assyrian nation turned from polytheism to monotheism. It was a dramatic and incredible transformation. The nation turned from following lifeless idols to worship the One, True, Life Giving and Life Sustaining God of heaven.

God put the destruction of Nineveh on hold in response to their repentance. This is great news. God intended to save Gentiles too!

Did God really repent?

JONAH 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 

This is an example of something that is called an anthropomorphism.  That is a term that means people are applying human character traits to God. To repent means to change your mind about something that was wrong and to follow that which is right. Mankind can, through repentance, align himself with the will and purposes of God.

God always does what it right and there is no changing of His will or purposes. No one can stop or alter what Jehovah has determined to do. 

We must also remember that the Infinite, All Wise God that we serve, knows the beginning and ending of all things before any of it comes to pass. God is never caught off guard, or taken by surprise by anything that happens at any point in history. His plan and His purposes are always moving forward. The following texts show this truth to us. 

Moses makes it clear that God does not repent. He will always do what He says He will do. He gave the Ninevites a choice and His response would be determined by their choice. 

NUMBERS 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  

Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Ephesians 1:5-9 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Jehovah sent His word to a wicked nation through His prophet, Jonah. He gave them two clear options. Repent or be destroyed.  

Either option could be true, depending upon their response to Jonah's preaching. The response of the Ninevites to the word of God would determine which outcome they would receive. 

They could reject God’s message and Jehovah would destroy the city. They could accept God’s message and turn to Him in repentance. The king and all the people chose repentance instead of destruction.

Points to Ponder.....

• Making a vow of service to the Lord is serious business. We must always follow through on our vows.

• We will stumble and fail. Our Father knows this about us and He has made provision for us to be restored.

• We must repent and confess when we fail or sin.

• We will find that our God is the bountiful giver of second chances. 

• When He restores us, He will send us out again, to do His kingdom business. 

• We must be willing and ready to serve.

Well, we covered a lot of ground in this post. I hope you see the encouragement for us from what went on in Jonah's life. He failed to obey and exhibited rebellion when he ran away. He suffered the consequences of his sin. 

We see that Jonah had a wrong, self centered response to the revealed will of God. 

Yet, God saw fit to use Jonah's circumstances as a way to give us a picture of Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Jonah called out to Jehovah and Jehovah heard his prayers. God restored Jonah to life and gave him another opportunity to obey. 

There was an overwhelming response of repentance to the preaching of Jonah as God shows His prophet that He desires to save Gentiles as well as Jews. This is such wonderful news. The people of the world who are not God's covenant people and who were always isolated from the promises of God, can now enter into those same promises through the new birth. 

This is why we must share the Gospel of Christ with the whole world. This is God's plan. Jesus Christ is the only Savior, the only way to the Father, the only hope for all mankind. Each day when we arise, we can choose to obey His will and live rightly before our compassionate, holy and righteous God of Glory. 

Next post, we will see the conclusion to this book and learn some more valuable lessons for our own lives.

Bob