Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
JONAH 3
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When Jonah’s warning 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. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 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.
Application Notes
3:1-2 Jonah had run away from God but was given a second chance to participate in God's work. You may feel as though you are disqualified from serving God because of past mistakes and shortcomings. But serving God is not an earned position—not one of us qualifies for God's service. But God still asks us to carry out his work. You may yet have another opportunity.
3:1-2 Jonah was to preach what God told him—a message of doom to one of the most powerful cities in the world, whose people were Israel's feared enemy. This was not the most desirable assignment, but those who bring God's word to others should not let fear of people dictate their words. They are called to preach God's message and his truth, no matter how unpopular or impossible it may seem.
3:3 Nineveh was a huge city. The Hebrew text makes no distinction between the city proper (the walls of which were only about eight miles in circumference, accommodating a population of about 175,000 persons) and the administrative district of Nineveh, which was about 30 to 60 miles across.
3:4-9 God sends his message to everyone. When Jonah proclaimed God's word, even the king of Nineveh stepped down from his throne and humbled himself. Despite the wickedness of the Ninevite people, they understood God's message and knew what they should do. They repented immediately. If we clearly and simply proclaim God’s Word, we may be surprised at how many people will listen.
3:10 The pagan people of Nineveh believed Jonah's message and repented—even the animals were involved (3:7-8). What a miraculous effect God's words had on those evil people! Their repentance stood in stark contrast to Israel's stubbornness. The people of Israel had heard many messages from the prophets, but they had refused to repent. The people of Nineveh only needed to hear God's message once to repent of their evil ways. Jesus said that at the judgment, the people of Nineveh will stand up to condemn the Israelites for their failure to repent (Matthew 12:39-41). It is not our hearing of God's Word that pleases him but our responding obediently to it.
3:10 God responded in mercy by canceling his threatened punishment God had said that any nation on which he had pronounced judgment would be saved if its people were to repent (Jeremiah 18:7-8). God forgave Nineveh, just as he had forgiven Jonah. The purpose of God's judgment is correction, not revenge. He will always show compassion to anyone willing to seek him.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)