Jonah 3
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And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Jonah 3:1-10
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3So 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. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And 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.
The People of Nineveh Repent
6The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And 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, 8but 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. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10When 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.
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Jonah 3:1-10
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3Jonah 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. 4Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6When 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. 7This 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. 8But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10When 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.
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
The Lord spoke to Jonah a second time. This time he obeys, getting a second chance. This time the enormity of the task did not deter Jonah from going on one of the "biggest evangelistic campaigns" in the Old Testament. The Lord was with Jonah as "...From street to street he went, sounding the note of warning." Prophets and Kings, 270.
Big or small, today cities still represent a big challenge for the church commission from God: “Go to the great city [of Nineveh] and proclaim to it the message I give you” (Jonah 3:2 NIV).
God gave a specific message to Jonah as He is giving a specific message to His church for this time: “The Three Angels’ Messages.” As in Nineveh, we can also expect great results proclaiming the message of love from Heaven. A message of urgency and warning wrapped in the love of Jesus is to be proclaimed today because time is ending. As in Nineveh, joyful results from the conversion of souls will happen with the faithfulness to the mission. "So the people of Nineveh believed God...from the greatest of them even to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5).
Lord, help us to go and preach the message in prayer, beginning in our circle of influence.
Moises Pena-Rivas
Literature Evangelist, Literature Ministry promoter, New Mexico, USA (as of this writing)
