Dear saints, what comes to your mind when I say “the prophet Jonah”? My guess is that the first thing that pops into your
head is “Jonah and the whale.” Jonah was called by God to go and preach a message to people of Nineveh. Jonah didn’t
want to do this so he tried to run away. God caused some things to happen and Jonah was thrown into the sea and then he
was swallowed by a whale. Three days later God caused the whale to spit Jonah out. Then Jonah went to preach to the
Ninevites.
Did you know that God had first called Jonah to preach to his own people—the people of Israel? He did. What do you know
about the Ninevites who were Assyrians? Listen to these words from Professor Spaude; “Assyria was especially noted for
her violence and her heartless cruelty. The prophet Nahum calls Nineveh ‘the city of blood, full of lies’ (Nahum 3:1), where
people stumbled over corpses without number piled up in the streets. One of their kings was said to take great delight in the
high mound of human heads he erected after his victories. Assyria also took slaves in battle and deported entire populations
to distant lands.” When you hear this description is there any doubt why Jonah ran away from God’s call to do mission work
in this country? All of us might have sinfully done the same thing.
The account of Jonah and whale, which is in the chapters before our text, shows how God called Jonah to repentance.
Through this experience Jonah learned to trust God to protect him, to understand God’s patience with sinners, and to
understand God’s desire for everyone to repent and to be saved.
“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’” (Jon 3:1–2). What a beautiful picture of God’s grace—his underserved love. God is
giving Jonah a second chance to carry out the mission work to Nineveh. These words come to Jonah right after “the LORD
spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land” (Jon 2:10).
Notice that God says nothing about Jonah’s earlier disobedience, why? Samuel tells us; “The LORD sees not as man sees:
man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sa 16:7). God saw the change in Jonah. He
knew that Jonah had repented of his sins and was ready to go to Nineveh; to share what he had learned about sin and
grace.
“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD” (Jon 3:3). There is no hesitation in Jonah, he
hears God’s call and he sets out on the 600 mile journey to Nineveh. It would take Jonah at least 25 days to walk to
Nineveh. He would have plenty of time to recall how God used the law had shown him his sins and his desperate need for a
Savior, and how God used the gospel to create repentance and faith.
“Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth” (Jon 3:3). The Hebrew words “was an
exceedingly great city” are a matter of discussion between Hebrew grammarians. It is a very unusual expression. What the
ESV has is a valid translation of these Hebrew words. However, I translated this expression as “Nineveh was a great city
belonging to God.” It fits the context of the book. Peter and Paul expressed it this way: “The Lord … is patient toward you,
not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pe 3:9); “He desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Ti 2:4).
Now, what is meant by the expression; “Nineveh was … three days’ journey in breadth.” When I consider that this book is
about carrying God’s message to a group of people this lead me to believe that this expression refers to the time it would
take to walk through the main streets and neighborhoods of Nineveh. In chapter 4 we read; “Nineveh, that great city, in
which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left” (Jon 4:11). This is a Hebrew
way of referring to children which tells us there could have been as many as 500,000 people living in Nineveh at this time. It
was truly “great city.”
“Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown!’” (Jon 3:4). Jonah is sharing God’s message with people in the streets, shops, standing in doorways, anywhere
he can find them. Now, I believe the expression “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” is a summary of the
message Jonah preached not the entire content of the message. However, even in this summary we see the law—“Nineveh
Jonah 3:1-5,10
shall be overthrown” If the Ninevites don’t change their sinful ways God is going to destroy them. We also see the gospel—
“yet forty days.” God is patient; he is giving them more time to repent.
Dear saints, do you remember the definition of repentance? Repentance is recognizing your sin, trusting in forgiveness
through faith in Christ, and striving with the help of the Holy Spirit to sin no more. God shows us again in this story that the
means he uses to create repentance is his Word; law and gospel. Without his Word there can be no repentance.
God also shows us again what the biblical definition of love is; using God’s Word to share the truth. It is unloving not to use
God’s Word to show people their sins. In other words, if you see someone you know sinning and you don’t show them from
Scripture their sin, then you hate them. That’s right, you hate them. What other word would you use to describe the action
of allowing someone to continue doing something that will destroy their faith and send them to hell? When someone
recognizes their sin through the law then you share the gospel because “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
who believes” (Ro 1:16). Only the gospel can create faith. Without God Word, law and gospel, there can be no repentance
and faith. May we never forget this truth. May we never fail to share God’s Word.
Let’s look at v. 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” (Jon 3:5). I like what Professor Spade says about this verse; “Here is the greatest miracle in the book of Jonah
and one of the greatest in all of Scripture. An entire heathen city is brought to repentance. Think of it—perhaps a halfmillion people, ‘from the greatest to the least,’ were led to confess their sins and turn in faith to the Lord for forgiveness!
What a miracle of mercy!” Imagine being Jonah and witnessing this miracle. In one day’s time God work through his Word
to create faith in all the people of Nineveh—“from the greatest of them to the least of them.” These people now believed
in the one true God and his promise of a Savior. Their faith is evident by their action. Their outward action reflected what
had happened in their heart.
Brothers and sisters, faith always produces good works. James the brother of Jesus said it this way; “faith apart from works
is dead” (Ja 2:26). Often times when I confront someone with their sins I get a response like this; “I don’t believe I have to
quit doing this [sin], but I still believe in Jesus.” That’s not saving faith. When a believer looks at God’s Word they are able to
recognize their sin and their spiritual nature responds by striving with the help of Holy Spirit to do what God says. No, they
won’t do it perfectly, but that effort, that striving, it’s evidence of their faith. Paul wrote to the Philippians; “Therefore, my
beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12). Christians are focused on following God’s commands.
Let’s look at v. 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” (Jon 3:10). Think about these words; “God saw what they did.” All these Ninevites
did was “put on sackcloth.” What God saw was what was in their heart. God saw their trust in him and his promises. God
saw desire to stop sinning and follow his commands. God saw their faith and it pleased him.
Do you know what is truly amazing about this? God he gave them this faith. These Ninevites had to the power to reject it,
but they didn’t. They chose with the help of the Holy Spirit to hold on to the gift of saving faith. Those who died with this
faith are in heaven. What grace; what amazing grace.
Brothers and sisters, it takes so little to please God. All he wants is for you to grow in faith he has given you. If you study his
Word and take the Lord’s Supper the Holy Spirit will make this happen. Faith in the one true God and trusting Jesus as your
Savior gives you eternal life in heaven. That’s God’s promise. You can count on him to keep it. You can also count on him to
keep his promise that those who choose to live as they want, to ignore his commands, he will send them to hell. It’s what
you and I deserve. But praise God, just like those Ninevites, God has given us faith. Heaven is our home. Amen
Jonah 3:1-5,10