Jonah 3:1-3

GOD'S MESSENGER RUNNING WITH GODTHE COMMISSION RENEWED

TEXT: Jonah 3:1-3

1

And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2

Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days-' journey.

QUERIES

a.

Why was Jonah now ready to go to Nineveh?

b.

What is the meaning of a ... city of three days-' journey

PARAPHRASE

And God's word came to Jonah a second time. God commanded Jonah, Arise and go to Nineveh. I warn you as I did before, Nineveh is a great metropolis, and you are to preach to its inhabitants the message that I alone shall give you to preach. So the converted Jonah arose and journeyed to Nineveh just as the Lord had commanded him. Now Nineveh was such a large metropolis that it would take a man three days to walk all the way across it.

SUMMARY

God gives Jonah another chance to surrender to His will for the prophet's life. Jonah obeys.

COMMENT

Jonah 3:1. THE WORD OF JEHOVAH CAME UNTO JONAH THE SECOND TIME. Jonah has had a conversion experience! He has been raised to a new life. Physically he had come to the point of no returnexcept by the power of God he had returned! Spiritually he had died to himself and was raised a new spiritual man. John Noble, the American who spent over ten years in Russian prison camps relates a similar conversion experience in his book, I Found God In Soviet Russia.

Mr. Noble, when first imprisoned, was forced to go nine days without even the slightest morsel of food. Here is what he says: With my last strength, I struggled onto my knees and earnestly asked the Lord simply to close my eyes this night and release me from my mortal suffering. I said, in effect, -Dear Lord, I give up; I can-'t go on any longer. I have no way out but through Thee. Lord, close my eyes and take me to Thee, or if it be Thy will that I must go on, give me the strength to do so, and lend me Thy hand to guide me. My will is broken, Thy will be done. Amen.-' I committed my soul entirely to the hands of the Lord. Unworthy of His grace though I was, I felt prepared to die. This time, I had not prayed that my will be done but that the Lord's will be done. I was completely submissive to that will. By committing my life to Christ without reservation, I had the amazing experience of being born again of the Spirit. It was the most wonderful, miraculous sensation I have ever experienced.
This is somewhat the same experience Jonah describes himself feeling in the belly of the great fish when he had no other place to turn than God. After his experience in the sea, he probably preached like one raised from the dead. Macaulay characterized Demosthenes-' oratory as reason made red hot by passion. Jonah's was the Word of God made red hot by conversion of the orator, The prophet had died, as it were, and been brought back to life again. It always requires an experience like Jonah's to make a good preacher!

So God called Jonah again to go to Nineveh. God would not suspend His concern for the souls of that great city just because one of His prophets disobeyed. Furthermore God's mercy and love is long-suffering toward the wayward prophet. God is rich in mercythe riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering. leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) if we will but respond.

Jonah 3:2. PREACH UNTO IT THE PREACHING THAT I BID THEE. What was the preaching that God bade Jonah preach? At the first command God told the prophet to preach against that wicked city. His task was to preach against wickedness. Then we learn from Jonah 3:4 that he cried, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. All this, of course, was to the end that the people would repent. This message of repentance still needs to be preached today. Jesus referred to Jonah's preaching comparing it to His message, for His message was, Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Peter on the day of Pentecost preached, Repent and be immersed, everyone of you. Paul, to the philosophers of Athens preached, ... now he commandeth all men everywhere to repent. The reason these men preached repentance was they preached. the preaching that God bade them preach. This is still good advice for all preachers: preach only that which God commands. Preach His Word, from His Book. We live in an age in which society tends to dictate to the preacher, and social pressures and modern theological trends seek to obscure the propositional revelation of God, His Word, the Bible. Peter wrote, If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11). Men who do not declare from the pulpit, Thus saith the Lord, are not fit to stand in that sacred spot.

Jonah 3:3 SO JONAH. WENT UNTO NINEVEH. AN EXCEEDING GREAT CITY, OF THREE DAYS-' JOURNEY. This time Jonah went according to the word of the Lord. There is no running away this time. There is not even any reluctance. He has learned his lesson. he has a new heart in the matter. he is a new man for God.

Because archeologists have not yet found evidence that Nineveh is as extensive a city as three days journey would seem to indicate, some scholars have accused this book of being historically inaccurate. But must we assume that we know all there is to know about the metropolis of Nineveh and pronounce the book of Jonah irrevocably inaccurate?! There are a number of possible answers to this alleged problem; (a) the statement could refer to the circumference of the city; (b) the statement could mean that journeying leisurely, stopping to preach at likely spots, it would take three days to journey the length or breadth of the city; (c) or, more likely, it could mean that a journey across greater Nineveh, including its suburbs (of which we spoke on Jonah 1:2), would take three days. The city was great, not because it impressed God by its size or fame, but because God was concerned with the many souls in it which were lost and because it would be an almost overwhelming task, in the eyes of Jonah, to preach against it.

QUIZ

1.

How had Jonah changed? What experience had he undergone?

2.

Why did God not cast Jonah off after one disobedience?

3.

What did God bid Jonah preach? Is there a lesson for us in that?

4.

Is the note about a city of three day's journey inaccurate?