Jonah Preaches to the Ninevites
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.” This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey to cross. On the first day of his walk, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
Nineveh Repents
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
AMAZING! These wicked Assyrians who have terrorized untold surrounding nations repent when Jonah warns them that they only have forty days before they will all die. Why are these people calling out to God and mourning and fasting?
The Assyrians have been unusually cruel in an age when cruelty to enemies is the norm. Skinning alive, slaughtering all inhabitants, and ripping open the wombs of pregnant women – this is all standard stuff for the Assyrians. God is probably reminding them of the terrible things they have done to others and threatening them with the same fate. This part of the Middle East is also prone to earthquakes and sudden storms. Perhaps God shakes the earth or sends strong winds to batter Nineveh with a dust storm while Jonah is preaching. At any rate, God sends the convicting power of the Holy Spirit on the rulers of Nineveh and they proclaim a solemn fast for everybody, including the animals. All the citizens of Nineveh drape themselves and their animals in sackcloth and cry out to God. When God sees the total repentance of the entire city of Nineveh, He relents.
How big is Nineveh in the day of Jonah? Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is a very large city for this day. It is about 96 kilometers (60 miles) around and has a population of about 120,000. Nineveh is so large that it takes three days just to walk across it. Consider any large city you know and then try to visualize all the inhabitants kneeling outside their homes, draped in sackcloth. Children and animals are probably crying for food and water. Adults and older children are calling out to God to spare them. Those in nearby villages can probably hear the noise of the repenting Ninevites.
APPLICATION: Have you ever felt a deep conviction of sin, a conviction so strong that you have found yourself prostrated on the floor? The conviction that has seized the Ninevites is not some light emotion. Many of us feel proud if we simply confess a few things such as losing our tempers in traffic or begin exasperated with a store clerk. But such emotions are nothing compared to the anguish that has gripped the Ninevites.
God has sent His messenger, and it is God who is graphically demonstrating to the Ninevites the depth of their sin and the destruction that will overtake them if they fail to repudiate it. Notice the simplicity of Jonah’s message: “Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” That’s it. Jonah’s preaching embodies one of the shortest sermons ever recorded, but it works.
Why is Jonah’s sermon so effective? God has sent Jonah, God has given Jonah this message, and Jonah has delivered it. Now it is God who is responsible for the results. Nobody accompanies Jonah. There is no keyboard player or worship band playing in the background to emphasize any points Jonah might make. Jonah makes no attempt to manipulate anybody; in fact, Jonah hates the Assyrians and would be delighted if God would destroy them. Few preachers in the history of the world have ever been more reluctant than Jonah, but he delivers the message anyway.
Several years ago, my husband and I found ourselves heading the Children’s Church in our home church in America. Our calling was simple: the lady who had been handling it thrust the materials into our hands and bailed out, leaving us struggling to save the situation. (That lady bailed out of everything – Children’s Church, choir, and the church itself.) With little experience and no program, we had to develop our own teaching materials. I became fed up with people who claimed they would help if they only felt called. When someone complimented me on the lessons we were teaching, I told them that it was very simple. On Monday or Tuesday, I would begin praying for the children and when I was in tears for their salvation, God would give me lessons to teach.
The story of Jonah proves that if God gives you a message, you don’t need gimmicks; you need the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Many times, preachers and teachers feel that if they fail to speak long enough, the congregation won’t be happy. Worship bands and keyboard players may feel impelled to accompany the preacher. But such things can be distracting when the Holy Spirit is trying to deal with someone. Either you believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to move in people’s hearts, or you feel you must make something happen yourself. The difference is simple: the Holy Spirit gets results; we don’t.
Jonah hates the Assyrians and would be thrilled were God to wipe them out entirely. But after a near-death experience in the stomach of a big fish, Jonah realizes that God is serious about giving the Ninevites the chance to repent. May God help us, so that we won’t be as reluctant to do His Will!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, give us ears to hear and tender obedient hearts to follow Your leading, even when You refuse to respect our prejudices. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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