Sometimes His promise of judgment prompts people to repent, as it did when Jonah preached it to Nineveh. I am thinking man think of the accountability when God does release His power and people just get excited, but don't repent. explains that what Jonah feared most was the success of his mission and the people of Nineveh would repent. We cannot be so puffed up and arrogant as to think we could continue to hide from the face of the Lord and remain in sin. So he had run away, in the opposite direction, and God had brought him back. While Jonah waited to see what would happen to the city, God provided relief and comfort with the miracle vine, but then withdrew it. The People of Nineveh Repent Jonah 3. Nineveh did turn from its sin after Jonah gave them the warning from God. Jonah didn’t want to go to that wicked place. So did Jonah repent? Verses 5-9. "The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah." 6 The word reached 1 the king of Nineveh, and p he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, q and sat in ashes. Jonah finally delivered the message to Nineveh to repent and the whole city did. While preaching against Nineveh seems to be what Jonah would want to do, the prophet understood that the point of this preaching was not to seal the city’s condemnation, but rather to offer it the opportunity to repent. Jonah 1-4? Why did Nineveh repent when Jonah prophesied they had 40 days until judgment? Yet we should not assume that God actually altered His plan. This was in fulfillment of the prophet Nahum’s prediction that God would completely destroy the city (Nahum 1). He does not repent of his theological animus towards Nineveh, that is, he does not want God to show them any mercy. 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. Jonah 3:1-4 After his frightening underwater ordeal, Jonah decides he'd better obey the LORD and go to Nineveh, where he urges the ungodly people to repent of their evil and bloodthirsty ways.Otherwise, “After 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed" (Jonah 3:4). In another sense, however, he did not repent since he never fully bought into the goal of the mission. by the Medes. God saw their repentance and did not bring the promised destruction upon them. When Jonah changed his conduct and followed the Lord’s direction, his message caused the people of the city to turn from their evil and violence. Nineveh Repents. Nineveh Repent. It was destroyed around 612 BC which is when this event appears on the Old Testament Timeline. This is a small-scale pattern of what is happening in the world today: wickedness, violence, injustice, selfishness etc. Nineveh Repents (Jonah 3:5-10) 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. Therefore, we MUST REPENT as The people of Nineveh did who were shamefully wicked, and yet when they heard the call to repent, they DID! If they did not repent, God would not deliver. ‘Repent’ means ‘to turn around.’ God is looking for you to respond to what He clearly tells you in the Bible. It was good that their evil had come before God. God’s decision is that justice must occur. To help each child understand that Heavenly Father forgives all who truly repent. Undoubtedly, this was not Jonah’s whole message to the people of Nineveh; but clearly it was his emphasis. “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Keep in mind that God desires you to respond to what His Word declares. You would think that Jonah would be relieved since he accomplished God’s mission for him but Jonah became very angry about it. God saw their repentance and did not bring the promised destruction upon them. Previous cities like Asshur and Calah were ancient capitals of Assyria, but NINEVEH became most famous in the seventh century BC. When King Sennacherib (705-681 BC) made NINEVEH his capital, the empire expanded and became prosperous. As a result, the inhabitants of that city humbled themselves before God and repented of their sins. Jonah 3:5. But he never really liked the Ninevites, and he was really ticked at God for showing compassion on them. rises to God in the same way that Nineveh’s did. Prayerfully study: Jonah 1:1–2—Jonah is called to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to the people.. Jonah 1:3–17—Jonah flees on a ship, is cast into the sea, and is swallowed by a great fish.. Jonah 2:1–2, 10—Jonah prays to the Lord, and the fish vomits him onto dry ground. For word came to 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. The story of Jonah is one of the more intriguing and enigmatic stories in the Bible. Here’s the scary thing. Verse 5. The prophet was angry at their repentance because he would rather see them destroyed. § 3. But before that happens, he sends out his messengers to give people a chance to repent. It would seem, then, that in the original tale of chapters 3-4, the city was not conceived of as particularly wicked, so it did not have much about which to repent. A number of factors combine to determine both the date and manner of Nineveh’s destruction. Hear and obey. ... God knew they would repent. As easy as it was to “graft” the branch in, so much more it could easily be cut off Jonah 3:6. 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. Faith; 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. From a human perspective God changed His mind and did not destroy Nineveh. This city was used by Assyrian kings as their primary location to rule their territories. They repented, and God relented. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to () Nineveh the great city and () proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.Now Nineveh was [] an () exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. NINEVEH was the famous capital of ancient Assyria. There are several possible reasons for Jonah’s desire to see Nineveh destroyed. Join Our Newsletter. No such thing at the time. Since He exhaustively knows the future, He knew that they would repent. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria – Israel’s longstanding enemy in the 8 th century BC. Nineveh. God is gracious and merciful. Preparation. Ge 19:4-9 The great city Nineveh was spared because there were righteous found there & others who were once deemed fit for destruction including their king at the hand of God did repent of their ways due to the warning by the profit Jonah. God called on Jonah a “second time” to preach His message to the people of Nineveh. Believe. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! The king followed their example. 10.) Jonah repents only in the sense he goes to Nineveh and carries out the mission whereas previously he fled from the presence of God. Purpose. The Lord asked him to go to Nineveh again, and he obeyed. He didn’t think the people would listen to him or want to change, so he got on a … In 4:1, Jonah is angry that the Lord had compassion on the people of Nineveh, and the Lord questions his “right” to be angry. For when Jesus said woe to you chorazin for if the mighty works done in you have been done in Sodom they would have repented.. so also with Nineveh they did repent and didn't even need a sign. He realized that if the people of Nineveh repented, God would spare them. The sign of Jonah is a Messianic prophecy, in that it relevant only to those seeking to prove Jesus is the Son of God foretold by the Scripture. The Story of Jonah and the Fish in a Nutshell.