Jonah, Returning to the God of Second Chances

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Jonah 3:1-3a (NIV)

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time and Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh.

Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown

God’s message to the people is bleak.

Time is coming down to the wire; they only have 40 days until they will be overthrown. By overthrown, I don’t mean they might lose a coin toss or be defeated in a short battle. No, they face extinction. The word overthrown is the same Hebrew word we see used in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis. (You can read it HERE)

The people believed what he spoke

Why do you think Jonah ran the first time he was asked to preach to these people? I wonder if this would have been like God asking me to preach to the Hell’s Angels? First off, why would they listen to me? “Ummm…..God, you know they are like super evil and won’t welcome me, right? I might get killed delivering this message to these particular people. These people are seriously evil and they are not even remorseful of their horrible deeds, why do they deserve your mercy?”

But Jonah’s successful preaching campaign had nothing to do with his ability or the Ninevites worthiness.

Jonah delivered God’s divine truth for the purpose of a needed change

These people needed a revival and that is what they got! This unexpected revival, change of heart, acts of repentance was exactly what God had in mind!

When 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. Jonah 3:10 (NIV)

Yes, God would have destroyed the entire town if they had not repented. But instead, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened.

This is not the only time we hear of God relenting in scripture. Some of the other times we have seen God relent or change His mind are:

When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, he saw that the people had fallen into sin. They were worshipping a golden calf! God was ready to destroy the entire nation, however, Moses pleaded for the people and the Lord changed His mind. (Exodus 32:14)

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. Judges 2:18 (NIV)

This brings about a question, I have often wrestled with.

Does Prayer Change things?

Let’s go to the Bible for some answers to that question. In James 5:16, which I write about HERE, says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man produces much. It is through our prayers that God’s work is done here on earth. I firmly believe our prayers matter and produce much!

God allows for situations to be influenced significantly by the prayers of His people. We miss out on so much when we underestimate the power of God unleashed through our prayers.

The most important thing prayer changes is the heart. Without a change of heart, we will never experience repentance.

The Art of Repentance

This story of repentance we read about in Jonah provides us with three lessons we need to take on our voyage.

1. Believe – “The Ninevites believed God.” (V5)
2. Humbled themselves – “and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” (V5)
3. Changed – “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways.” (V10)

So a whole city turns to God in repentance after seeing Jonah and hearing the message. Wow, the whole city has a change of heart. What a powerful effect God’s word had on the evil Ninevites!

God’s love and compassion to even the evilest sinners show us that no one is beyond redemption. The gospel is for everyone who will believe, humble themselves and change.

How can you learn from this reluctant prophet and begin to obey God, doing what He says and going where He leads?

Heavenly Father we thank you that you are a God of second chances. We come to you in our sackcloth of repentance and ask that you would do for us what you did for the Ninevites, and hear our hearts. We pray that we would be not only sorry for the times we did not obey your Word but that we would be truly ready and able to make the changes needed in our lives empowered by your Holy Spirit. We turn from our evil ways and worship the one true God! In Jesus’ name. Amen

Join us next week as we see how God’s grace is quite unsettling!

{Originally posted May 2019}