Jonah’s Second Chance, Nineveh’s Repentance and God Relenting

Jonah 3 :Jonah’s Second Chance, Nineveh’s Repentance and God Relenting

       In Jonah Chapter 1 God commanded Jonah to go to the great Assyrian city of Nineveh and preach His Word.

But Jonah responded by wilfully disobeying God and running in the opposite direction to the city of Tarshish in Spain that was literally the end of the earth in that day.

We see in chapter 2 God disciplined Jonah, as He does all the children that He loves but did not abandon Jonah or grow weary in patience or kindness to him. In this we witness the unyielding persistence of God to pursue those that He loves until they are transformed. We can take great comfort that regardless of how frequent, far, and fast we have ran from God that He never wearies in pursuing His children and speaking to them yet again… and including them in His ministry. 

Now let’s have a look through Jonah Chapter  3.

Jonah’s Second Chance

In verses 1-2 we see emphasis on the Word of God coming to him a second time, a second chance... despite Jonah’s unfaithfulness God was faithful and kind to Jonah speaking to him again and commanding him to preach His Word in Nineveh. This time in verse 3 Jonah was obedient and went to Nineveh

Now this chapter did not hesitate to give details of how great a task this would be and how daunting it was… 3 days… it would take Jonah 3 days of proclaiming:  “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” He went through day one; which in my eyes would’ve been a very long day for him to say just that simple statement over and over again. Very short and sweet, at first glance a bit crazy but what would encourage him along would be the response he receives from the audience his listeners.

Please note that Jonah didn’t speak the words of his own but what came out of his mouth were words given to him. These words, when uttered had great authority and power behind them. How do you know that Adrian I’m glad you asked In Verse 5 “The Ninevites believed God, A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, they put on sack-cloth.”

You see they believed God not Jonah the vessel was not on show here but what it had contained inside it and in Listening to those words would then create a city wide change!

Nineveh’s Repentance

In Verses 5 through 9 we would see Nineveh in response to these Powerful words of God by repenting and how they went about it would be go down in history! A nationwide fast was proclaimed, so that they would be spared not a drop to eat for anyone from the greatest to the least.

They were encouraged by the king to do these outward things which supported their inward change… in verse 8 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.

Verse 9 is where we have a laugh for a second. It begins by saying “who knows?” Now hold on a minute you mean to tell me that I’m doing all of this: Wear these crazy clothes, not eat my lovely meals, and sit around all day in dust but being saved isn’t sure?

But see the thing is it isn’t a laughing matter when you realize that this life of yours that you’ve been living in sin and violence and thinking its right will come to an end soon. This very life can be suddenly taken away from you in a mere forty days, not by natural death but by the Hands of the one who holds your life in his hands.

You see the King was hoping for what Jonah had received at the beginning of the chapter… A second chance…to make things right and go the correct path and giving up their evil ways and turning and going in the direction of God was the way forward!

God Relenting

We now come to the self-explanatory verse 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"
God deciding to change his mind is only something he can do… based on evidence that was presented in this verse believe you me this wasn’t a wishy-washy repentance this was the real deal. Coming before an all-knowing all seeing God and having him relent takes a sincere heart and sincere change in ways not one for show.

The people of Nineveh’s humble and sincere repentance was met with God’s compassion as He loved them, forgave them, and did not bring upon them the judgment they knew they deserved for their many sins. In this we see the pattern of God’s work throughout the ages in saving people from not only sin and death but also His fierce vengeance. Salvation begins with the preaching of God’s Word that is accompanied by a conviction of sin, sincere repentance, and grace and mercy replacing imminent anger and justice.

All of this is ultimately made possible only through the cross of Jesus Christ where God’s justice and mercy kissed and Jesus was punished for the sins of all of God’s people, including Jonah, the Ninevites, and everyone else who turn from sin to throw themselves upon the mercy of God

So what Now?

We truly need to see our need for God’s grace and no one else’s, because his grace alone is sufficient! After seeking and finding his grace, we need to cling closely to the God of Grace and mercy. Nineveh said “Who knows?” But we know that through scripture and through the internal transformation that we’ve received through Jesus Christ that grace was the way in and still the way on. This will help us to pursue his calling continuously because it’s the most valuable thing in life.

          As believers we need to take comfort in this scripture and see God’s second chance in our situations. When we don’t feel close to him or don’t “feel” forgiven. That he has forgiven us as soon as we’ve asked for it and wants to commune with us again.

          For those who don’t know this saviour and wonderful God to you I must say that it’s time to examine one’s life and like the people of Nineveh the judgement on sin is imminent and we need to ensure that we received God’s love not his wrath.

Have a peaceful day.

By Adrian

Its An Exciting Thing To Know The Word Of God

It’s an exciting thing to know the word of God!

Friends it is very exciting to know the word of God. Why?  Because knowing the word means knowing him! What’s greater than that!?

Quote from the book “Power of your words” by Robert Morris

“As believers, we are all explorers who seek to discover the truths contained in the Bible. We know that there really isn't any new truth to discover – after all, the Bible has been around for thousands of years – but some of the teachings we uncover will be new to us. That is why we can read the Bible over and over again and gain new insights every time. God’s kingdom is vast, and there are many wonderful new things that we can discover each day.”

Isn’t that wonderful? It’s been around for thousands of years but never gets old!

2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

What is the word of God?

Even though people say “The Book of the Bible” it’s actually the world’s smallest Library, one book with 66 books inside…

It is simply a book… and we should see it that way… Yes, when I was told this my eyebrows raised and squinted just as you are doing right now.

We never find it difficult to read famous books, magazines, Horrid Henry, crime novels do we? When I say we I do include myself in this as well… They were never hard to read through were they? Hmmm, I wonder why? We can all think of loads of reasons why… but I will just say that we have expectations and a positive mind-set that whatever is contained within those pages should be of some interest to us!

 We should read the Bible that way too!...Paul said ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness  So therefore when we pick up the word of God we should have an expectation to be taught, be told off, corrected on the journey of life and be trained. The most important part is that we know this happens in Righteousness, You see friends this is all happening while we are in right standing with God! Why? v17 makes it clear: so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work!

 Now I don't know about you, but sometimes I think I do "good" because of who I am, and when I do think that way I get grumpy about Wednesday...Because I run out of My goodness! But I feel we should be and reminded that God is our source daily not just Sunday!

Why is the word of God Important to Us?

We see that scripture is God breathed but it is also there for our enhancement, encouragement and enjoyment. Take time one day to look at the grammar…, scene changes…. The flow of the story… Personally I think The King James Version of Songs of Songs would put Romeo and Juliet to shame! David and Goliath would make “Gladiator” seem like they need a bit more training!

But what makes the word of God important to us isn't because it’s a just a library that we read… but because of who wrote it… The bible has both a human and Divine Author… and what makes it more important is that as we read it the Holy Spirit helps us to uncover the truths contained within its pages.

Luke 24:32: They asked each other “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?  

Normally when we read one verse for emphasis, we should either read the whole chapter or a few verses for context to understand the verse…

In Luke 24:  Jesus met these men on the road to Emmaus, and they were speaking of current affairs and were sad about it all… He then addressed their Sadness in v17-18 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them Cleopas asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know what have happened there in these days?”

They told Jesus about what happened and that his tomb was empty but they were sad. Jesus then began to show them in scripture why such things must happen… from the Moses downwards….he explained to them why these things must be… This made a complete change of significance…, it was there but they didn’t know its value until Jesus revealed it to them. Then he had a meal with them and it opened there eyes and they realized it was him…, he then disappeared out of their sight! (Personally I would passed if he just disappeared) but they just said to each other 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

We do read familiar things in the Bible… and through the Holy Spirit they apply to our different circumstances… we should seek out the word for encouragement amongst the familiar things that we read day in day out… in the psalms, proverbs, the gospels etc.

Why is it exciting to know the word of God?

There are many ways in which God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit… But the word of God supports most of those ways… and should never be substituted for anything else. We…me included must be careful not to fall into the habit of saying…”I didn’t read my Bible today but I read a book that had scriptures in it”…This isn’t wrong to do…but should not be a substitute for the pure nutritious word of God for something else that refers to it.

Just like how we have sustenance and energy from eating at least a meal a day…everyday… we need to get that from the Word for our spirit…why? To be equipped for every good work!

I must encourage you to attend a group that studies the word weekly or have friends who speak God’s word and discusses it regularly... Here at Granville Street we have bible study prayer meetings etc. Take a program and have a look.

Finally…I can stand up on the mountain top and shout with a loud voice that it’s an exciting thing to know the word of God!…but what would make it true is that you would have to read it and meditate on it and find excitement for yourself!

In Joshua Chapter 1:7-9 it says:

Joshua 1:7-9 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In conclusion

Let those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour be encouraged to continually keep going back to The Word of God and in doing so uncovering its hidden treasures stored within its pages! For those of you who are yet to know the God of the Bible that I’m writing about and would like to know more about Him. Go to this link and read more - http://tinyurl.com/y8c7qvo after that contact me or a Christian friend you know, we would gladly introduce you to him!   

Until Next time Peace Be With you

Written By Adrian