Jonah Chapter 3
Jonah Preaches Repentance in Nineveh — Jonah 3:1–2
1. The Second Call to Jonah
Jonah 3:1–2 (KJV):
“And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”
A. God’s Mercy in Recommissioning Jonah
“And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time” — This reveals the astonishing mercy and patience of God. Jonah had rebelled against the first call, fled from the presence of the LORD, and had to be chastened in the depths of the sea. God was under no obligation to use Jonah again, yet He recommissioned him. This is grace. Failure did not mean forfeiture of ministry. God restored Jonah not because Jonah deserved it, but because God is rich in mercy.
This second call mirrors the opening words of the book (Jonah 1:1–2), emphasizing a divinely given second chance. God did not replace Jonah with another prophet. He pursued Jonah, disciplined him, humbled him, and then restored him. This is the same God who restored Peter after his denial (John 21:15–17), and who still restores His servants today when they repent and submit.
B. God Does Not Change the Mission
“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city” — Though Jonah had resisted, God did not alter the original assignment. The will of God for Jonah remained unchanged. Nineveh was still a “great city,” not only in population and power but in sin and in its importance in God’s redemptive plan. God’s calling does not bend to human reluctance or rebellion; He brings His servant back into alignment with His purpose.
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, violent, proud, and pagan. Yet God’s eye was upon it. The fact that God would send a prophet to such a city shows His heart for the lost. As Ezekiel 33:11 declares, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
C. The Authority of the Message
“And preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” — Jonah was not free to choose his own message. He was commanded to proclaim only what God gave him. A prophet speaks God’s words, not his own opinions, strategies, or emotions. This is a vital principle for all who teach or preach. Ministry is not innovation; it is faithful proclamation of God’s revelation.
God did not tell Jonah everything in advance. He simply commanded him to go and wait for the message. God often leads one step at a time. He does not satisfy curiosity; He demands obedience. When God previously revealed His full intention — that Nineveh would be warned and perhaps spared — Jonah resisted. This time, God tells him only what he needs to know: go, and wait for My word.
D. Lessons for Believers and Ministers
God’s grace restores repentant servants. Like Jonah, like Peter, like David, those who fall when they repent can be recommissioned by God.
God’s mission remains unchanged even if His servant fails. He does not rewrite His plans to suit human stubbornness.
The message must be God’s message alone. True preaching is not opinion, politics, or philosophy, but “Thus saith the LORD.”
God leads step by step. He trains obedience by giving light for the next step, not the entire journey.
Jonah Preaches in Nineveh — Jonah 3:3–4
Jonah 3:3–4 (KJV):
“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
A. Jonah’s Obedience to the Command of the LORD
“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.” After resisting God’s call and experiencing His chastening in the sea and the belly of the great fish, Jonah now obeys. The prophet who once fled from the presence of the LORD now walks in submission. He demonstrates what every believer must learn — God’s will cannot be resisted without consequence, and obedience is the only reasonable response to His authority. This obedience does not erase Jonah’s past rebellion, but it shows repentance has produced real change. True repentance is not merely sorrow but submission.
B. The Greatness of Nineveh
“Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.” Nineveh was not only politically powerful but vast in size. This description likely refers to the time required to walk through and around the greater metropolitan area — including the main city and surrounding districts. Archaeologists estimate the population to be around 600,000 including its suburbs, making it one of the largest cities of the ancient world. It was great in size, great in influence, and great in wickedness — yet also great in the eyes of God, for He cared enough to send a prophet to warn them. This reveals God’s heart toward pagan nations — He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
C. Jonah’s Bold Message of Judgment
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
Jonah walks for one day into the city and begins to proclaim his message. The Hebrew text suggests he cried out continually — this was not a quiet whisper, but a clear, urgent declaration of judgment. This short message contains no comforting words, no promises of forgiveness, only a warning: forty days and judgment will fall.
This was likely only a summary of Jonah’s preaching, but it captures the essence: Nineveh stood on the brink of divine destruction unless they repented. The word “overthrown” is the same used for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:25; Lamentations 4:6; Amos 4:11). The imagery is unmistakable — complete ruin under the wrath of God.
The number forty in Scripture is often associated with testing and judgment:
Forty days and forty nights of rain in the flood (Genesis 7:12)
Moses in the mount forty days (Exodus 24:18)
Israel wandered in the wilderness forty years (Numbers 14:33–34)
Jesus fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2)
God grants Nineveh forty days — a period of grace before judgment. This shows that though God threatens judgment, He takes no delight in destruction; He always gives space for repentance.
D. The Manner of True Preaching
Jonah’s preaching was direct, scriptural, urgent, and God-centered. There was no compromise or softening of the truth. He did not flatter them, entertain them, or offer human wisdom. He delivered God’s warning with clarity and conviction. As Clarke noted, true biblical preaching is marked by earnestness — not theatrical noise or uncontrolled emotion, but a deep awareness that souls are near eternal ruin. Preaching that never warns of judgment is not faithful preaching.
The Response of the People of Nineveh — Jonah 3:5–9
Jonah 3:5–9 (KJV):
“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. 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. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?”
A. The People’s Immediate Response — Faith and Repentance
“So the people of Nineveh believed God…” — The first evidence of repentance is belief. They did not argue, excuse, or delay; they believed God’s warning through Jonah. This is the foundation of all true repentance. Faith in God’s Word produces conviction, and conviction leads to action. Just as Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” There is no repentance apart from believing what God has spoken.
Repentance is not merely a word but an action. The term itself does not appear in the text, yet the behavior of the Ninevites is repentance in practice. They changed their minds about sin, humbled themselves, and altered their behavior before God.
B. Outward Signs of Humility — Fasting and Sackcloth
“…proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”
Their belief led to visible action. They denied themselves food, set aside comfort, and donned sackcloth — rough, coarse garments made of goat’s hair — symbols of mourning, humiliation, and brokenness before God. This repentance touched every level of society. No one was too important to bow before God, which is why it says, “from the greatest… to the least.”
Even the animals were included. “Let neither man nor beast… taste any thing.” This was not superstition, but desperation. They wanted every living thing in Nineveh to demonstrate sorrow and dependence on God. Every part of life was disrupted — no business as usual — because sin had brought them to the edge of judgment.
C. The King’s Humbling — True Leadership in Repentance
“And he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”
When word came to the king, he did not resist or silence the prophet. He did not rely on military power, wealth, or diplomacy. He descended from his throne, removed his royal robe, sat in ashes, and humbled himself. This is extraordinary. Earthly kings boast in power; this king bowed in humility before the King of Heaven. True leadership begins by submitting to God.
He then issued a decree commanding all people and even animals to fast, wear sackcloth, cry out to God, and “turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.” Nineveh was known for brutality and oppression. Their repentance was not vague emotion, but a real turning from specific sin.
D. The Nature of True Repentance
It begins with believing God’s Word.
It produces visible humility — fasting, mourning, separation from normal comfort.
It cries out to God with urgency — “cry mightily unto God.”
It includes turning from sin — not excuses, not justification, but abandonment of evil.
It hopes in God’s mercy — “Who can tell if God will turn and repent…?”
This is not presumption but hope. They do not demand mercy, but they know God is gracious.
E. Jonah’s Personal Repentance Gave Him Authority to Preach
Jonah himself had just experienced the mercy of God in his own rebellion (Jonah 2:8–9). A repentant prophet preaching repentance carries more weight than a self-righteous one. His testimony strengthened his message. God often uses broken, humbled people to reach other broken people.
God’s Response to Nineveh’s Repentance — Jonah 3:10
Jonah 3:10 (KJV):
“And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
A. God Saw Their Works — True Repentance Evident
“And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way…”
God does not merely hear words — He sees actions. The people of Nineveh did not offer empty emotion or shallow apologies. They demonstrated repentance by turning from their wickedness and violence. Their outward humility (fasting and sackcloth) was matched by inward change. God saw genuine transformation, not hypocrisy.
Their works did not earn forgiveness; rather, their works proved the reality of their faith and repentance. This aligns with what James later writes: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). True repentance always produces fruit.
B. God Relented — Mercy Instead of Judgment
“…and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
This does not mean God changed His character or that He was indecisive. The King James uses the word “repented,” but the meaning is that God relented, or withheld judgment He had declared, because the conditions had changed — Nineveh repented. God’s nature is unchanging, but His actions toward people change based on their response to Him. He is consistent with His own declared principle:
Jeremiah 18:7–8:
“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.”
God’s threatened judgment on Nineveh was conditional — it carried an unspoken “unless you repent.” Jonah’s prophecy was not false; it was a warning meant to lead them to repentance.
C. God’s Mercy Does Not Erase Justice, but Delays Judgment
God spared Nineveh in Jonah’s day, but He did not ignore their sin forever. Their repentance was real, but it did not continue in later generations. About 150 years later, the prophet Nahum recorded God’s final judgment on Nineveh. The city was destroyed completely, never to rise again — exactly as God promised.
This teaches a sobering truth:
God is quick to forgive when sinners repent.
God is also faithful to judge when repentance is abandoned.
His mercy delays judgment, but it does not cancel His holiness.
D. Repentance Appeals to Mercy, Not Justice
As noted, the people of Nineveh did not earn forgiveness. Repentance does not place God in our debt. It simply brings us to the place where God, according to His mercy and character, is pleased to forgive. Psalm 51:17 says, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
E. Summary of Truths from Jonah 3:10
God sees genuine repentance — not words alone, but changed behavior.
God stays true to His promise: if sinners turn, He relents from judgment.
Jonah’s message was accurate — judgment was near, but repentance delayed it.
God’s mercy does not contradict His justice. Nineveh was later judged under Nahum.
Repentance does not force God to forgive but appeals to His grace.
