Jonah, Part 3

Despite his best efforts, Jonah now stands on the shores of the one place he never wanted to go, Nineveh. Of course, he is not the same man he was when he first tried to run from God. Jonah has changed because God has continued to pursue him. Just as God continues to pursue each of us, he is the God of second chances.

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Jonah 3:1-11
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

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The Book of Jonah Themes
1. God is aware, active, and in control in all of creation.
2. Our sin is active opposition to the voice and activity of God.
3. God is always actively working out his loving plan of redemption.

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1. In God’s sovereignty He is active whether we realize it or not.

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Acts 17:26-28
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our own being.

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1 Timothy 2:4
that God who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

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2 Corinthians 5:16-20
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

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2. Our sin needs to be dealt with whether we realize it or not.

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Jonah 3:6
When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

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The Steps of the King
1. He rose from his throne.
2. He took off his royal robes.
3. Covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

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Psalm 51:3-4
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

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Jonah 3:10
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

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3. God’s love and mercy is always bigger than your sin whether you realize it or not.

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Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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