Jonah 3:1-3

Jonah goes to Nineveh to preach -- Jonah 3:1-3: How relieved Jonah must have been to have been restored to dry land. After three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, "the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." (Jonah 2:10) Again the Lord renewed His instructions to Jonah. "Once again the LORD told Jonah to go to that great city of Nineveh and preach his message of doom." (Jonah 3:1-2) Jonah had learned his lesson. When the word of the Lord came to him a second time telling him to arise and go to Nineveh he went. People should always be eager and open to doing the will of God quickly.

Jonah had repented and so in God's mind the past was forgotten. With God it was just as if nothing had happened between Jonah and Himself. In Jonah three we learn exactly what God's message for Nineveh involved. God said that Jonah was to "go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." At first Jonah ran away from God. This time, "Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD." He went in the direction of his duty instead of away from his responsibility to God. "Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth." You can just imagine the depth of compassion with which Jonah preached as he walked for three days across this city.