Overview
Jonah 3 begins with God once again instructing Jonah to go to Nineveh and deliver His message. This time, Jonah obeys and enters Nineveh, proclaiming that the city will be overthrown in forty days. The people of Nineveh, from the greatest to the least, believe God’s message and declare a fast, putting on sackcloth as a sign of their repentance. Remarkably, the message reaches the king of Nineveh, who issues a decree for everyone to fast, wear sackcloth, and turn from their evil ways and violence. The king expresses hope that God may yet relent and withhold His fierce anger, so that they might not perish. The chapter is significant in showing the power of God's word to provoke repentance and change, even in a city notorious for its wickedness. It highlights the themes of divine mercy, repentance, and the possibility of redemption for even the most sinful. The response of Nineveh contrasts sharply with Jonah's initial reluctance to heed God's call. The chapter concludes with God seeing their deeds and repentance, leading Him to relent from the disaster He had planned to bring upon them. This demonstrates God's compassion and willingness to forgive when people turn from their wicked ways.
Jonah 3
1 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.
End of Jonah 3
1 Year Plan: Dec 14 - Jon 2, Jon 3, Rev 10
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.
End of Jonah 3
1 Year Plan: Dec 14 - Jon 2, Jon 3, Rev 10
Got a Question or Comment?
