As we go through Jonah, chapter three, there are a handful of important factors which all lead up to one major theological point and one major implication. This chapter of Jonah continues in the theme of the sovereignty of God to do His perfect will, but it also shows us that salvation was no different in the days of Jonah than it is today. It is by grace, through faith that the Ninevites were saved.

Verse one of this chapter makes it very clear that there was a waiting period before God called upon Jonah again. Jonah did not go to Nineveh upon being vomited out by the fish. It may have been that he needed some time for physical restoration or simply that God allowed him that time to ensure he repented. At any rate, he was called a second time to go to Nineveh. It’s important to note that up to this point in the story, God has not told Jonah exactly what message to preach, just that he would “cry out against it” (1.2). God says, “…proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you” (v. 2). At this time, Jonah goes in ignorance and obedience to do the work of God.

There is a bi-fold application here. First, we do not have to have full understanding in order to serve God; we simply must be willing. God can use us more if we serve out of weakness than out of our strength. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In response Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12.9,10). God desires to use us in the areas that we are weak. Why? So that He alone gets the glory.

I use this example all the time as it is part of my personal testimony. God uses me as a teacher of His word. When I was growing up (and still to a great extent) I had very poor reading comprehension. I would read things over and over and have very little idea what I was reading. But, when I read God’s word, it comes alive to me and I understand, not just the raw narrative, but also the intricacies of it. I also am not a skilled teacher. My wife likes to point out that my brain works very different than most people. I guess I see the world a little different and as a result lack the ability to explain things to people. But again, when it comes to God’s word, He uses me to bring His word to His people. Do I of my own accord have anything to boast about? No way! In every way I serve Christ, I do so out of my weakness.

Now an area which is strength for me is music. In this area, God has used me for a long time, but in the last few years, God has made it abundantly clear that He will use me elsewhere. I have no choice but to glory in His sovereignty and submit to His good and perfect will regardless of my own personal desire.

This is not to say that we should immediately discard any talents that we might have; rather we should be aware of where God desires us to serve. Often that will be in our weakness, but it will always be for His glory. If we find ourselves receiving the glory, we must change our direction.

Second application is that obedience to God is proof of our repentance of sin. God never set out to form a legalistic society that would “not sin;” instead He wants people to do His work. “So…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10.31). I tell people all the time to quit worrying about what might be sin and focus instead on how what you are doing glorifies God. If all we do glorifies God then we are not in sin. Sin is not sin because it is ‘bad.’ Sin is sin because it is counterproductive to the good and perfect will of God our Father. So as we are obedient, as we do whatever we do and do it for His glory, then we are demonstrating repentance from sin.

In verse four, Jonah begins to go into the city. It is noted that it would take three days to get through the city, but that he only went one day into it proclaiming God’s message. He had one simple message, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (v.4). Again there are two major implications of this text. First, God’s work might look hard, but He will make it easy on us. Jesus said, “…my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11.30). Jonah preached God’s message for one day and we find as we read on that it spread through the whole city, even to the king. Second, God is Lord over the harvest. It is our responsibility to do God’s work, to preach His word, as He has commanded and whoever has ears to hear will hear and will come to God. When we do the simplest things for God or say the simplest things, as Jonah did, and God provides fruit, then the glory is all His.

In verse five through eight, we see Nineveh come to repentance. They repented in sackcloth and ashes, by fasting and by turning away from evil. Sackcloth was made from camel or goat fur and was often black. It often covered the whole body, including the head. Ashes were either put on the head or sat on. There is some definite symbolism here, but the point in Jonah is that the people were mourning their sin. This was a demonstration of their remorse. The fasting is interesting as well. The Israelites and other cultures as well, recognized the dead as being unclean. So, if someone died in your house it became unclean and you were not able to prepare food to eat. Also, if someone were to bring you food from outside, it would become unclean upon entering the house. There were so many legalistic cleanliness rights that it became a common practice to simply fast during times of mourning over death. The fasting of the people of Nineveh was also an act of mourning. The last thing mentioned as part of repentance is the turn from evil. They quit doing what did not honor God. When we are in sin, we must mourn that sin in order to get rid of it, to truly repent. If we are not convinced to the point of mourning that our sin is wrong, then we cannot be fully repentant of it. Even Judas, when he betrayed Jesus, and he realized his sin, he returned the coins to the Pharisees as an act of remorse (Matt 27.3). I’m not making an argument that Judas was saved; it is a picture of how God wants us to repent.

In verse nine, we find out that they repented because of the possibility that God might decide not to destroy them. This plays out really well in Psalm 2. Verse twelve of this Psalm says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry…Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Even the Assyrians (Ninevites) recognized that a return to God would bring blessing upon them and deliver them from wrath. The application: we never have committed too much sin, or any sin so heinous that God will reject us. If we repent in sackcloth and ashes, in mourning over our sin, and repent of sin, God will deliver us.

Image Credits: Brent Nelson, flickr.com

Repent and Serve–Jonah 3