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Jonah 3
Have you ever experienced déjà vu? Have you had a strange sense that you've been somewhere or seen something before? You find yourself doing something, or saying something or meeting someone and you have this strong impression that you're rerunning a previous episode or rehearsing a previous conversation from your own life history. As you read the beginning of Jonah 3 you should have a strong sense that you've been here before - indeed, we appear to be back where story of Jonah began. The Word of the Lord comes to Jonah for a second time and the words of Jonah 3:2 are an exact repetition of Jonah 1:1. Jonah is given the same commission "Get up & go to the great city of Nineveh and cry out against it"
We learn, as Jonah did, that God's purposes will not be thwarted by a rebellious prophet. God has pursued Jonah and brought him back to square one. Jonah is now being given a second chance to obey. How patient the Lord is with Jonah. Jonah's experience shows that forgiveness and restoration are possible even for those who disobey the Lord, for God is a God of second chances, if you admit your sin, repent of it, and seek His mercy.
This time, when God's call comes, Jonah gets up and goes in the right direction (3) "Jonah obeyed the Word of the Lord and went to Nineveh." Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It is described (3) as an important and a large city for it required three days to visit it all. It was to this great city that God dispatches His prophet. What influence and impact could one man have? We will soon discover that one man with a divine message is sufficient to turn even a great city like Nineveh upside down.
Jonah begins proclaiming the Word of the Lord. He announces the imminent judgment of God against the city. Imminent not immediate judgment, for Jonah issues a 40-day warning. "The end is coming" he proclaims, and implicit in that announcement of impending judgment is a call to repent, to turn from wickedness and evil, and to throw oneself upon the mercy of God.
There is an immediate response to Jonah's preaching. In v5 we read that the Ninevites believed God. This is a summary statement, the validation of which is given by the remainder of the chapter. The belief of Nineveh is the root of the fruit subsequently described. These pagan people put their trust in God, and where true faith is found, its twin, repentance, is never absent. A common way in the Ancient Near East to express grief, sorrow, humility and penitence was to fast and put on sackcloth. That is what the Ninevites did; they declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. Even the king of Nineveh is affected.
In v9 we have another case of déjà vu for we have an echo of the words spoken by the ship's captain in 1:6 "Who knows? God may yet relent and turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish". This statement suggests that Jonah has also spoken of God's character, that He is both sovereign (free to do as he pleases) but also that He is compassionate. God is both great and gracious - a truth reinforced by Jonah's own recent experience.
How does God respond to the repentance and faith of Nineveh? (10) When God saw their deeds (the outward turning from evil was evidence of the inward turning of their hearts, proving that this was not just a repentance of the lips), He had compassion upon them and saved them from destruction.
The response of Nineveh to Jonah's preaching has been described as the greatest revival in history. If revival is defined as an unusual and remarkable public response to the gospel where large numbers of people are convicted of sin and converted, then this certainly qualifies as revival. Whether or not it should be described as 'the greatest' may be disputed, but it was certainly great. Jesus Christ draws attention to the response of Nineveh, as a warning to those who listen to his preaching. Matt 12:41 "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here."
We could examine Jonah 3 (as others have) to derive principles that are valid of true revival, and that would be profitable. But when we realise that each individual conversion is a personal revival, then we are also able to look at this chapter and determine fundamental elements of any genuine spiritual experience. For, the equation "repentance + faith = salvation" is as true of personal conversion as it is of public revival.
1. The revival of Nineveh was initiated by God
It was God who chose and called and commissioned a specific man (Jonah), to deliver a specific message in a specific place (Nineveh). It was God who uniquely fitted Jonah for the task to which he was appointed. As we have seen, Jonah's training and qualification to deliver this particular message was in the school of the great fish (excuse the pun). It was the school of hard knocks and then the school of God's grace that peculiarly equipped Jonah for his mission to Nineveh. Jonah was custom-built by God for this particular task. And it was God who gave Jonah the message he was to proclaim. v2 "Proclaim to Nineveh the message I give you" Jonah was only the mouthpiece, the human voice through which God spoke. The Ninevites believed God, not Jonah. Jonah was only the messenger.
Similarly, in personal conversion, it is God who is at work, initiating a work of revival. God calls and equips messengers, giving them messages to proclaim, and sends them to specific places, so that people might hear the bad news of judgment upon sin and the good news of His mercy and grace, and be saved. Pray that the Lord would continue to call and appoint and custom-build people as His messengers.
2. The revival of N came through the faithful proclamation of God's message
The message Jonah proclaimed, as recorded in v4, seems very short - only 5 words in the original Hebrew. But from the response of Nineveh described in the following verses, this banner headline must have been accompanied by a description of the One from whom it came, namely the Lord God, establishing His power and authority, and also by a call to repentance and faith. But as presented, Jonah's preaching in Nineveh is courageous, for his message was provocative. Jonah announced impending judgment and the 'doom & gloom' merchant is never liked.
Jonah preached God's word fearlessly and faithfully. The message was solemn and serious; it was simple and direct; it was clear and uncompromising; it was challenging and confrontative; it emphasised man's guilt & condemnation, and God's just judgment. It was hardly a message likely to win popular support. To use contemporary jargon, Jonah wasn't very 'seeker-sensitive'. But Jonah spoke what the people needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear.
But the message was not only confrontative; it was also compassionate, for judgment was being delayed for 40 days. A door of opportunity was being left open, and there was yet time for the people of Nineveh to turn from their wickedness and turn to G in faith, seeking forgiveness & life from Him - which they did.
We need to pray for fearless and faithful proclaimers of God's message; men and women who speak both with conviction and with compassion. Compassionate confrontation is the great need of our time.
3. The revival of Nineveh was characterised by conviction of sin and conversion
The people of Nineveh were convicted and converted. They repented and believed and were saved. The characteristics of true individual conversion are just the same. The Word of the Lord touches an individual; he/she comes under conviction regarding their unrighteousness and they become aware that they stand defenceless before God, the just judge. There is a genuine and serious sorrowing over sin.
The Ninevites' sorrow over their sin was real and heartfelt; it wasn't something forced and superficial. They had an acute and genuine sense of their wrongdoing, they turned away from it, and prayed earnestly that God might have mercy.
The result of the revival in Nineveh was changed lives. Those who had once engaged in wickedness and violence turned from their evil & sinful ways (10), giving testimony to the reality of their repentance. Their faith issued in good works. A transformed life is indisputable evidence of individual conversion. It is one of surest signs and clearest indicators that true faith is present and that a work of God has occurred.
The story of Jonah has captured the hearts and minds of many down through the years, but we are able to proclaim the message of one greater than Jonah who has now come, namely Jesus. He came proclaiming a message of coming judgment, calling all to repentance and faith, from the greatest to the least.
Even today, God still sends His messengers to proclaim impending judgment and to call everyone to turn from their sin, to humble themselves before God, seeking forgiveness and life in Him. God's judgment is still impending. The door of opportunity is still being held ajar. For how much longer we don't know. It will be better by far to know Christ as your Saviour now than to face him one day as Judge. Don't delay! If you haven't already done so, admit your sin and turn from it, turn to God seeking forgiveness and life from Him. Turn and trust, repent and believe, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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