Jonah Reading Plan | Week 5 – Day 2
Jonah Reading Plan | Week 5 – Day 2
Jonah 3:3 – 5 ESV
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 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.
Jonah preaches in Nineveh.
a. Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD: Having learned the lesson that resisting the will of God is both futile and counter-productive, Jonah now obeys the call and goes to Nineveh.
b. Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent: The idea behind this statement probably refers to how long it would take to walk around the city of “Greater Nineveh” — the metropolitan area around the city.
c. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! Jonah emphasized to the people of Nineveh what would happen if they did not repent — the city would be overthrown in judgment. Undoubtedly, this was not Jonah’s whole message to the people of Nineveh; but clearly it was his emphasis.
i. “Overthrown” is a word applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:25, Lamentations 4:6, and Amos 4:11).
a. So the people of Nineveh: The word “repentance” isn’t in this passage; but repentance isn’t really a word, it is something you do — and these people did repentance. One can have repentance without the word itself being spoken, and one can say the word “repentance” and never truly repent.
b. The people of Nineveh believed God: Repentance begins with believing God. As we believe Him and His Word, we have the power to transform our lives as He wills. You can do many other things associated with repentance, but if they do not begin with believing on and trusting God, they are all useless works of the flesh.
i. You can’t believe God apart from the Word of God. Therefore, any real revival or repentance will begin with faithful preaching and faithful hearing of God’s Word, just as it was in Nineveh.
c. The people of Nineveh… proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth: Repentance means doing something. The people of Nineveh fasted, mourned as if for the dead, and they did it from the highest to the lowest (from the greatest to the least of them).
i. If repentance is anything, it is not business as usual. When repentance comes, something has to change and something has to be different. In their case, the people of Nineveh took off their normal clothes and put on sackcloth — a thick coarse cloth, normally made from goat’s hair. Wearing it displayed the rejection of earthly comforts and pleasures.
ii. Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth: They even repented on behalf of their animals, dressing them as if the animals were in mourning for the dead.