Reluctance: The Preaching Prophet
Jonah 3
By Jay Haugh
September 26, 2021
Jonah was defiant and disobedient.
Jonah repents. He changes the way he’s thinking and living.
God’s lesson: Jonah is a sinner in need of God’s grace too.
God’s Second Call
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, —Jonah 3:1
We have a God of second chances.
God loves to give mulligans.
God’s Command
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” —Jonah 3:2
We don’t change God’s Word, we’re changed by it.
Jonah’s Course
So 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. —Jonah 3:3
The Content
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” —Jonah 3:4
It’s a message of upcoming judgment. But it’s a message of grace.
Destruction is coming, but mercy is available.
The Response
And 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. —Jonah 3:5
The “putting on of sackcloth” was an outward sign of mass repentance.
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. —Jonah 3:6
Everyone repents because no one is exempt or above judgment.
Jonah shows us God’s power over the hearts of humanity.
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation… 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here. —Luke 11:29-30
Jesus tells us that Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites.
{note
God punishes those who reject Him and His way, BUT He forgives those who turn to Him. He spares those who look to Him with repentance.
The Cure
Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” —Jonah 3:9
They’re trusting if God saved Jonah from judgment and death, He can save them if they turn to Him.
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. —Jonah 3:10
God sees their hearts and their actions and turns away His wrath.
God extends mercy. He covers them with His grace.
God is not man that he should lie or… change his mind —Numbers 23:19
BIG IDEA: God is faithful to forgive and save when we come to Him with repentance and faith.
STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
God calls Jonah a “second time” in verse 1. Consider the last time you failed to obey or respond to the opportunity God placed before you. What are you feeling internally? What do you need to do to be better prepared?
Jonah’s message was simple (8 words in the text). What is the simplest way you can share the gospel message without missing its necessary aspects?
How is Jesus a sign of Jonah (Luke 11:29)?
How was Jonah a sign to the Ninevites (Luke 11:30)?
How is Jonah’s story (Chapter 3), your story?
What confidence do you gain from knowing that God never changes?
How does His immutability (i.e. never changes) strengthen your hope for you and your loved ones?
What would you say is the central point of Jonah 3? What’s God trying to communicate?
Where did God “break in” and get your attention in the passage? What are you “hearing” from God?
Where is He calling you to repent? What is He calling you to do or believe?