Jonah 3:1-10

Obeying God

© 2000, J.W. Carter
Scripture quotes from KJV

Jonah 3:5-9.

5The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."

Why did the Ninevites believe Jonah? Remember what happened to Jonah? For three days he was lost at sea, presumed drowned. They could see that Jonah did not return to the surface of the water. There is no evidence that any of the sailors actually saw Jonah taken by the leviathan. Jonah’s prayer in Chapter 2 implies that he was sinking in the waters when he was snatched up like a tantalizing lure. The sailors witnessed the supernatural storm and its supernatural ebb. They had murdered a passenger on the boat and had thrown the cargo overboard, most likely bankrupting the ship owner. This was not a circumstance that would go unnoticed. Three days after this event who washes up on shore, but a very repentant Jonah with the biggest fish story ever told. He had told the sailors that he was running from God, so most likely he mentioned that his call was to Nineveh. Finally, after washing up on shore Jonah would still not leave for Nineveh until God called him again. This provided time for the news of Jonah’s experience to reach Nineveh. The Ninevites knew very well the history of Israel and how Israel’s God had so often demonstrated His presence. They would also have known of the destruction of Sodom. It doesn’t take a mental giant to put these three facts together. Jonah is an Israelite prophet, sent by Israel’s God to proclaim the destruction of the city. The Ninevites are in deep doo doo (or kopria, as Paul put it.

How many of us are in deep doo doo? We have wrecked and squandered our lives chasing after worldly favors that have no ultimate value. We suffer when we lose those things we cherish, we hoard those things we have, and we fear their future loss. We find ourselves crucified between our regrets of yesterday and our fears of tomorrow. All we are left with is emptiness and despair. This is what the Teacher, Solomon, was referring to in the opening of the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

Solomon is speaking from the perspective of one who has placed all of his faith in the things of this world.

Ecclesiastes 2:8-9.  I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I had men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

What caused the fall of Solomon? He describes his acquisitions in Ecc. 2:8-9, and describes them as the delights of the heart of any man. Though his wisdom stayed with him, his ability to apply that wisdom in his own life did not, and ultimately he lost it all. Why?

Matt. 6:21.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What does God desire of those who believe in Him? It can be summed up in one simple word, obedience. We cannot be obedient to God when we are enslaved by the things of this world.

Matt. 6:24.  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The word translated "money," is the Greek word, mammoônas, Of Chaldee origin (confidence, that is, figuratively wealth, personified); mammonas, that is, avarice (deified):—mammon. It refers to a confidence in the things of this world. Where does our confidence need to be? (In God, and in God alone.) When we place our trust in created things, we are disobedient to the God who is the creator. We are demonstrating hatred toward God when we willfully disobey the gentle, soft, and true words of His Spirit as He calls us to turn back to Him.

What did the Ninevites do when they realized that they were about to become toast? They did everything they knew how to do in order to be obedient to the Holy God who was standing in judgment over them.

  1. The King of Assyria, long enemy of Israel, took off his robes and took upon himself a vestment of sackloth and sat down in the dust, setting aside his robe of dignity. This may sound a bit rediculous to our modern concept of repentance. However, this was the traditional expression of deep sorrow in their culture. They would sit in ashes or dust, representing their humble estate before God, a state that deserves nothing more than to be buried in the ground, returning to the dust from which we came.
  2. The King issued a proclamation for a fast to be observed by every man and animal in the nation. Fasting is a time for meditation. It is a call upon all men to stop what they are doing and meditate upon the circumstances that placed them in sackloth.
  3. The King called upon the people of the nation to turn from their evil and violent ways. This is true repentance.

How does God respond when people repent of their evil ways and turn to Him? Note that the people here were not even Israelites (much to Jonah’s chagrin.) These were lost people. These were people who did not respect God, who did not seek to be obedient to this God of Israel in any way. These were not a people who deserved any special favor from God. These were not people of faith, and "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6.) Yet, these people, led by their King, had a new faith that demonstrated that they believed that (1) God exists, (2) God is sovereign, (3) God is merciful, and (4) God seeks obedience. They responded by their best attempt to obey God.

It is interesting that Nineveh, a huge city of pagans responded in obedience to Jonah’s message, and Jerusalem, a huge city of believers in God responded in rebellion to Jesus’ message. Though our world is a mixture of Nineveh and Jerusalem, far too many respond by rejecting Jesus.

Why do you suppose Jonah went to the streets and not to the King. (He probably did not have access. At least he would not think he could as an enemy of Assyria)

A decree from the King became law. He had total legislative, judicial, and executive power.

Why did the beasts also fast? (So that people would not be taking time to serve animals. It was time to serve God.)