Jonah Goes To Nineveh. Jonah 3:1-10
Jonah was a native of Gath-hepher in Zebulun. Some think that he was a contemporary and disciple of Elijah, and that he therefore lived about 850 B.C. He is the oldest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us. That the book is historical may be gathered from the references of our Lord in Mat_12:39-41 and Mat_16:4.
The narrative presents a most striking contrast between the long-suffering mercy of God and the hard indifference of a good man to the fate of a great Gentile city. Probably it indicates the dawn of a better era, when the Chosen People shall enter upon that long education, the results of which Paul tells us in Eph_2:19-22; Eph_3:1-8.
An Unwilling Prophet of the Merciful God
HIS PREACHING IN NINEVEH, Jon_3:1-4
THE CITY’S REPENTANCE, Jon_3:5-10
JONAH GOES TO NINEVEH
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
“Go to Nineveh the great city and declare to it the message which I am going to tell you.”
So Jonah went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk [about sixty miles in circumference].
Then on the first day’s walk, Jonah began to go through the city, and he called out and said, “Forty days more [remain] and [then] Nineveh will be overthrown!”
The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them.
THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH REPENT
When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah’s message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance].
He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No man, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat or drink water.
But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and every one is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish.” [Joe_2:13-14]
When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God [had compassion and] relented concerning the disaster which He had declared that He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
A REPENTANT CITY
Peter was not only forgiven, but restored to his office; so also was Jonah again sent to Nineveh. Thank God for our second chances! There was no hesitancy this time. The prophet arose and went. The story of his deliverance seems to have reached Nineveh and to have prepared its people to receive his word, Luk_11:30. We must deliver God’s messages and preach only as He bids us. He will tell us what to say.
Nineveh is said to have been sixty miles in circuit, the distance of a three days’ journey. It was full of violence and cruelty. But the sight of that strange figure, clad in a rude sheep-skin mantle, smote its conscience. The alarm spread from the streets to the palace. Even the great king felt it within his sculptured chambers. It stirred him to action, so that king and court, peers and people, and even the brute creation, became united in one act of common humiliation. The repentance was city-wide in its scope, Jon_3:5; was practical, Jon_3:8; and directed toward God, Jon_3:9. What a contrast to Israel! There, prophet after prophet was exposed to refusal and even to cruel usage. Whatever fear there may have been upon man’s side, there was no hesitation upon God’s. He abundantly pardoned! See Isa_55:7.
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