Perhaps God Will Relent

Jonah 3:6-10

⁶ The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 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.

We consider Jonah’s rescue from a violent sea through the throat of a great fish to be truly miraculous – and it is. But consider now the repentant hearts and actions of an entire city (and a huge city at that) coming before a holy God with sorrow and confession all at the same time. That is equally miraculous and the results are astounding, for thousands are spared from destruction and saved for eternity! That is a genuine miracle.

The miracle begins with the king of Nineveh. It appears he doesn’t even hear Jonah’s message (Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be changed!) first hand. Word of Jonah’s cry “reaches” him and his reaction is instantaneous.

3:6 This verse describes the king’s personal reaction. As the head and representative of his people, his penitence dramatizes that of the entire populace. Generally in the OT, most kings are not fond of prophets: Pharaoh disdains Moses (Exodus 5–11); Ahab rebuffs Micaiah (1 Kings 22); Zedekiah rejects Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37–39); and Manasseh probably has Isaiah sawn in two (cf. Heb 11:37). But Jonah encounters a ready audience in the temporal authority in Nineveh. In fact, it seems that the unnamed king is driven to repent merely by hearing a secondhand report of Jonah’s sermon (“When this word reached the king,” Jonah 3:6). Thus some time elapsed after Yahweh had spoken through Jonah before the king responded with repentance and his call for prayer, and the earlier sermon had already hinted that Nineveh could “be changed” through repentance unto salvation (3:4). Therefore, Yahweh’s action might be summarized as follows: “Before they call, I will answer; even as they speak, I will hear” (Is 65:24). Paul puts it this way: The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—the righteousness that is by faith. (Rom 9:30)

Lessing, R. R. (2007). Jonah (p. 307). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House.

As I read these words this morning I wondered what would happen if those in authority over our nation would suddenly declare that all of us should fall before the Lord in repentance. I fear that leader would be laughed out of office. And there certainly wouldn’t be a positive response from the entire nation – although there would be many who would heed that call and respond with action.

Speaking of faithful action – that is what we see on the part of the Ninevites. They don sackcloth – from the greatest to the least (the King down to even the animals!) - and bow before Yahweh. And the king even articulates the fact that he doesn’t know what God’s response is going to be; He could be gracious or He could still choose to destroy Nineveh. Recognizing this fact displays the king’s understanding that God will do whatever He wants, and His judgment would be right either way. But of course, the king hopes that God will relent and show mercy, which of course is what God does. Clearly, God sees faith both in the actions of the Ninevites as well as what is happening in their hearts. Faith can be seen by God alone, but both God and people can see good works.

One might think that this should be the end of the story. But it is not. There is still the issue of Jonah. He may have obeyed God’s call to preach to Nineveh, but the festering problem is not pagan Nineveh, but the Israelite Jonah, thus the need for a fourth chapter.