We read this in Jonah three. "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." 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. Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." The Ninevites believed  God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

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. 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. 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. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." 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."

This is an amazing reaction to Jonah's teaching. Obviously, word spread quickly through the vast city. It may well be that Jonah's recent story was also known. I can imagine that he was bleached white from the acids in the fish's stomach and probably looked like death warmed over and was impossible to ignore. Whatever the cause, fear of God's impending judgment gripped the city from the king on down. 

Sackcloth was the rough, cheap cloth used to transport grain. Putting on a sackcloth was a sign of humility and contriteness. It should be noted that the Ninevites, although much stronger than Israel, would have known of the Israelite God and the things God had done. They knew enough to believe that Jonah's prediction of their imminent destruction was a real threat. Besides, this was literally called Sin City in the day, and they also knew that whatever God did, they richly deserved it. So the king called everyone to turn from their evil ways and the violence that they were known for.

In this series, we have recognized God as a "Missionary God." Think about this. The Ninevites were evil and violent people. And their evil had reached a level that God would no longer ignore. Yet, despite their wickedness, God chose to give them a chance to repent - and they did. And in response, the text says, "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." Jonah wasn't happy with God's grace, as we will see. The Israelites wanted the Ninevites totally destroyed. But the heart of God is not our heart. He does punish unrepentant evil, but His heart is that people repent and choose to follow Him. His heart is a heart of grace and love. 

There are times with nations that God brings circumstances so dire that its people wake up and recognize their need for God. In the United States, we have had two Great Awakenings where hundreds of thousands of people came to Christ. I pray for that to happen once again. But unfortunately, it does not occur in good times but in hard times when we recognize our need for God's intervention.

In our lives, God can allow circumstances that also cause us to pay attention to Him. He loves us so much that He wants to get our attention and wants us to turn from those areas of sin that we know are not in alignment with His will for our lives. 

Repentance is a beautiful thing. When we repent, we declare that we will follow Jesus rather than our base desires. Repentance leads to God's blessing as it did with the Ninevites. It is a reminder and invitation for us to do the same today.

 

Father, thank you for your incredible patience and love. And thank you for not leaving me in my sinful ways b