Jonah 3
Restoration, Jonah Goes
To
Open your Bible to…
Joel 2:13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Pray
Intro
√ Intro
We closed our last study with Jonah being vomited up onto the beach by the fish that had swallowed him.
You’ll remember that chapter 2 records how it was that God brought Jonah to a place of repentance so that He could get Jonah back on track.
Reminds us that God is always working to bring every wayward saint to repentance that He might restore us to a vibrant relationship with Him.
It also reminded us that if we won’t listen to His Spirit then we’ll discover that He has ways to get our attention and bring us to repentance!
Remember Jonah’s experience…
The goad of repentance
The prayer of repentance
The response of repentance
Save yourself some misery and obey the Lord! Jonah’s experience reminds us that it’s always easier to obey the first time that God speaks!
√ Chapter 3 ~ Restoration, Jonah goes to
We pick up the story where we left off, Jonah on the beach, repentant and ready to do the Lord’s will!
Jonah’s Obedience (vs. 1-4)
Jonah 3:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,
Jonah 3:2 “Arise,
go to
Jonah 3:3 So Jonah
arose and went to
Jonah3:4 And
Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and
said, “Yet forty days, and
√ Jonah’s obedience
Verses 1-4 cover a period of about a month…
End of chapter 2 he’s on the beach at Joppa (or some place
on the coast of the
550 miles from
Chapter 3 he’s entering the gates of
The significant point though is that Jonah has finally obeyed the Lord!
√ A second chance
Note vs. 1 because it is very significant…
“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time…”
We’re reminded that our God, the God we serve, the God Who saved us is a God of…
…second chances!
Even though Jonah had willfully disobeyed a direct command of the Lord…
…God didn’t give up on Jonah, rather He gave him another opportunity to do the right thing!
We can rejoice and be thankful that God is long-suffering and merciful toward all people and that He gives us every opportunity to do the right thing because He loves us!
Ap. Another chance
The encouragment we find from Jonah’s experience (as well as all the other saints in the Bible) is that God gives us second, third, forth, etc., chances!
So, if you’ve ever disobeyed the Lord and then wondered whether or not He will ever use you again…
…that answer if yes!
Our Lord is committed to us for the long haul. He’s promised that the work He began in your life is a project that He will finish!
Phil. 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
And…
Eph. 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph. 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The word “guarantee” means…
“a pledge, i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest.”
In our modern vernacular we would say that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the “down payment” of our salvation.
That is, the fact that you have the Holy Spirit living in you is proof that you are saved and that Jesus is coming back to get you just as He said He would in John 14:1-3…
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” ~ John 14:3
So, if you feel like (or know for sure) that you’ve failed the Lord and wonder whether He will ever use you again…
…you can be sure that once you’ve repented He will give you another chance.
Ap. Another Word
The exhortation is that God will not give us a fresh word until we’ve done what He’s already asked us to do!
Notice that God doesn’t give Jonah a new word or revelation.
Rather, He gives him the same word ~ command, that He gave him the first time!
That’s a pattern we see repeated from Genesis to Revelation.
Ex. Abraham ~ God appeared to him 7 times
Each new revelation from God didn’t come until Abraham had done what God told him to do!
Ex. Philip and the Ethiopian
God told Philip to go and where to go, but He didn’t tell him why until he got there!
Ap. Hearing from God
If you’ve been praying and asking God to speak to you but haven’t heard from Him then do this…
Go back to the last word that He spoke to you and keep on doing what He told you to do until He says differently.
Go back to the last word that He spoke to you and begin doing what He told you to do.
I find that most of the time that I’m not hearing from God it’s because I’ve…
Become dissatisfied with what He has given me to do and I selfishly want to do something else ~ it’s then that I need to learn godly perseverance.
I’m not doing what He’s already told me to do ~ it’s then that I need to learn godly obedience.
Much of what God wants us to do has already been revealed in His Word.
If a person isn’t doing what God has given all of us to do…
…then why would we expect Him to give us a new Word?
So, the key is to obey the Lord and do whatever it is that He’s given you to do!
√
In vs. 3
“Now
Some critics of the Bible have pointed to this verse as “evidence” that the Bible is not historically accurate.
They point out that a city that was “a three day journey in extent” would have to be something like 60 miles across and that there were no ancient cities that size.
Ah, but modern archeology has proven that Jonah’s account is accurate!
“
(NYC has 5 “Boroughs” ~
In the case of
(Cities of
The total circumference of these 4 cities…
…60 miles, a “three day journey”.
√ A
Vs. 3 also says that
The inner wall was 50 feet wide and 100 feet tall (that’s 10 stories high ~ ref. the Embassy Suites is 9 stories tall)!
15 huge gates in the walls.
A series of 18 canals delivered water to the city from the surrounding hills.
Population estimates are of 150,000 people making it the largest city at that time.
So, Jonah has finally reached the city and now begins to preach a message of judgment as God had commanded him.
Jonah 3:5 So the
people of
Jonah 3:6 Then
word came to the king of
Jonah 3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.
Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Jonah 3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
√
Wow! Don’t you wish
everyone that you shared the Gospel with responded as quickly as the people of
That is, Jonah was only a day into his journey across the city (vs. 4) and the people were already responding to his message!
From the poorest person to the king everyone repented!
Must have been a great surprise to Jonah, but not to God for He had been preparing the Assyrians for such a time as this!
Ex. The people were ready to repent!
Historically we know that the king of
765 B.C. ~ a great famine & plague
June 15, 763 B.C. ~ a total eclipse of the sun
759 B.C. ~ another great famine & plague
Jonah shows up at the end of 759 B.C. and says…
“Yet forty days, and
vs. 4
…and that people believed him!
Ex. God prepares the way before us
The account of Jonah’s experience once again reminds us of how God’s sovereignty and Man’s free will work together.
God used a man, Jonah, to preach a message to the people of
The man, Jonah, has the freedom to obey or disobey.
The people of
God prepared the people to believe Jonah’s message before God even called him!
The point is that God, the God of second chances, wanted to
extend mercy and grace to the wicked people of
So, He prepares the people through a series of “natural” disasters to be open to the message that Jonah will bring.
All Jonah has to do is go there and open his mouth!
So, when Jonah finally obeys the people of
Ex. New Testament ~ Peter & Cornelius (Acts 10)
God worked on both sides, in Peter’s life and in Cornelius’ life, to prepare Peter to preach the Gospel to Gentiles…
…and Cornelius’ household to believe in a Jewish Messiah!
Ap. God still works in the same way!
Just let His Spirit lead you and you’ll find that people will be more receptive to the Gospel you preach.
God’s Mercy (vs. 10)
Jonah 3:10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
√ God’s mercy
In response to the repentance of the people of
“…gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm”
Joel 2:13
The reality is that God does not want to destroy anyone!
Rather, He wants to save everyone who is willing to repent of their evil ways.
Paul tells us that God…
“…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” I Tim. 2:4
How much more so is that evident than in this example where we find God holding back His judgment from the most wicked people on the planet…
…so that they might hear His message and repent before it’s too late!
What a contrast to
the people of
Yet, who would not repent!
God warned
Amos 5:27 Therefore
I will send you into captivity beyond
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
And…
Hos. 11:5 “He
shall not return to the
But the Assyrian shall be his king,
Because they refused to repent.
It is interesting to note that when God finally brings
judgment upon His own people
…people of
Close
√ Jonah
So, in chapter 3 we read of Jonah’s Restoration, Jonah goes to…
Jonah obeyed
God shows His mercy
All of which reminds us that God is…
“…gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm”
Joel 2:13
He’s given us a message to preach to a wicked world that is heading for judgment.
He’s preparing the hearts of the people all around you to hear the message…
…you just have to be faithful to open your mouth and share it!
I think God wants to save more than just one city before the End!