Slices
Prepare
What does God’s heart truly seek from his world? How does your relationship with him reflect this?
Bible passage
Jonah goes to Nineveh
3 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.
Explore
Fresh from his rescue and renewed enthusiasm for God, Jonah obeys God, going directly to Nineveh. He completes God’s task diligently (vs 3–5). Astonishingly the Ninevites believe God’s message of destruction. They jump to action, fasting and donning sackcloth to the last creature. The king urges people to change their evil ways (vs 7,9) only that they might escape God’s ‘fierce anger’.
Jonah and Nineveh are both obedient to God, but they fail to understand his heart. Jonah’s anger (4:1) defies God’s compassion towards Nineveh. Nineveh displayed initial outward signs of repentance; graciously God relented, but their hearts remained hard (Nahum 3:1–3). I know when my family ‘help’ out of duty, compared to when their hearts are enthused. The former leaves me feeling isolated and resented, the latter like ‘we are in this together’.
God seeks more than dutiful obedience. His purpose is to transform us into his own likeness, that we might share his heart of mercy and compassion for all people. God seeks an ongoing interactive dance of invitation, response; repentance, forgiveness; challenge, grace and love… which form a relationship of deep purpose. Does that overwhelm you? That God desires mature relationship with us? Praise God!
Respond
What would it look like for you to share more of your heart with God? Talk it over with him.
Deeper Bible study
‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’1
‘“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city …” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh’ (vs 2,3, NASB). At last! Nevertheless, Jonah’s message is very short (five words in Hebrew) and one wonders if, even now, he has done just the minimum. The response of the Ninevites is the evangelist’s dream: they immediately believe in God and their repentance is thorough (fasting and sackcloth) and widespread (from the greatest of them to the least). All this happens before the king hears the word and, when he does, he rises from his throne to put on sackcloth and sit in the dust (compare this with Jonah, who was slow to rise and do the right thing). As with the sailors, this is exemplary behaviour from Gentiles. Lest one has missed the exaggerated reaction to Jonah’s message, the proclamation from the king and his great ones (v 7) leaves no doubt, for even the animals are to demonstrate repentance (though how one stops a grazing animal from nibbling is another matter!). Furthermore, the Hebrew of verse 8 naturally reads, ‘Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them earnestly/urgently call to God’. That is, the animals are included in the calling to God. By means of exaggeration and repetition the text emphasises repentance.
The Ninevites are unsure that God will relent (v 9), though, as we have noted, Jonah is not in doubt.2 Do I doubt God’s forgiveness? Am I sure that, if I repent, God will forgive? Or do I feel that what I’ve done (especially given that I’m a believer, perhaps) is a bit too hard to forgive? Do I grasp how wide, long, high and deep is Christ’s love? Verse 10 tells us, of course, that God did relent. If God can forgive oppressive tyrants and cruel kings, then he can forgive me.
Meditate on the love of Christ and the depth of God’s forgiveness, recognising that no sin is too great for our great God. Thank him for the cross.
1 1 John 1:9 2 Jonah 4:2
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 5,6; Acts 3
Pray for Scripture Union
The team from local mission partner YOYO (York Schools and Youth Trust) are in several primary schools delivering their ‘It’s Your Bible’ programme, an overview of the Bible in three lessons run over three weeks. Pray that this will give children a real interest in exploring further.
