The Meaning of Jonah 3: Judgment, Repentance, and Grace
Jonah’s Worst Sermon and God’s Greatest Mercy
7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
—Jeremiah 18:7-8NKJV
Déjà vu
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”
—Jonah 3:1-2 NKJV
The third chapter of Jonah begins much like the first chapter of Jonah.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
—Jonah 1:1-2 NKJV
It’s like God is saying, “Let’s try that again, Jonah.” Though God’s words are very similar to those in chapter 1, the Jonah of chapter 3 is quite different from the Jonah of chapter 1. Some think it odd that followers of God seem to continually study the Bible. Why read it multiple times if the story does not change? Though the content of the Bible does not change, the reader does. The biblical text has not changed throughout my lifetime, but I have and continue to change. God’s words to me remain the same, but based on my life experiences, I respond to God’s words differently.
I find it very comforting that God gives Jonah a second chance, that God repeats His call, because there are other stories in the Bible where a second chance is not available. (see Adam and Eve in Genesis 3; Moses and Aaron in Numbers 20:12; the man of God in 1 Kings 13:26) How fortunate it is for us who are given a second chance to do what God calls us to. God has a plan for our lives and for our lives to have an impact on the lives of others, and yet He calls us, and we have the freedom to say “no” to the creator of the universe.
Jonah goes to Nineveh
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
—Jonah 3:3 NKJV
“Jonah arose,” this is also identical to what we read in Jonah 1:3, but in chapter one, Jonah arises to flee, and here we have Jonah arising and going to Nineveh according to the word of God. Jonah had learned his lesson and decided to obey the word of God. After all, what good is it to know the word of God if we are not interested in following it?
Another way of thinking about this is that the Journey to Nineveh could not possibly go worse than his attempted voyage to Tarshish. In that journey Jonah found himself at the gates of Sheol (grave, hell, pit). Suddenly the trip to Nineveh doesn’t seem all that bad.
Growing up, I always imagined Nineveh as a coastal town. I had a mental picture of the great fish spitting Jonah out on the beach, a short walk from Nineveh. Imagine my shock to discover that Nineveh is a landlocked city!
Depending upon Jonah’s starting place, the trip to Nineveh would have been approximately five hundred land miles. According to the usual manner of transport (camel or donkey caravan), it would have taken approximately one month to traverse this distance. Going by foot would have taken even longer.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 256.
I never considered that Jonah would have spent one month traveling to Nineveh. That takes preparation, planning, time, money, and there are dangers involved with such long journeys. I imagine Jonah sitting next to people in the caravan, or walking next to someone, and having to explain his smell, or maybe the appearance of his hair, or why his skin looked the way it did. This is all imaginary, of course; I have no idea how Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish might have altered his appearance if at all.
Nineveh, an exceedingly great city
There is debate among bible scholars on how best to interpret the second half of verse 3, “Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.” The New American Commentary translates it as “a very important city.”
The phrase “a very important city” is literally “a city great to God.” Most versions have rendered the word meaning “to God” (lēʾlōhîm) as an adverb such as “exceeding” or “very.” L. C. Allen sees this phrase as a striking, biblical way of expressing a superlative by bringing it into relation with God. It is simply saying that Nineveh was “God-sized.” Although the word ʾelōhîm may serve in this way elsewhere in Scripture, Sasson claims that in such cases it is always paired with a noun, such as “prince of God” in Gen 23:6 or “mountains of God” in Ps 36:6 [Heb., v. 7]. He favors treating the phrase “as a circumlocution whereby ‘the large city’ is said to ‘belong’ to God.” It thus expresses “God’s dominion over the staunchest of Israel’s foes.” While a literal rendering “great to God” may be unnecessary, clearly God cared deeply about the Ninevites, whom he had created in his image. Therefore he sent this prophet with a message that would ultimately lead to their turning.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 256–257.
It is also worth noting that the Bible uses the adjective “great” of only four cities: Babylon (Daniel 4:30), Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:8), Gibeon (Joshua 10:2), and Nineveh. But the challenge with grasping what the biblical text means by “exceedingly great city” is not limited to what those words mean; it is made more challenging by the assertion that it was “a three-day journey in extent.” (Jonah 3:3b)
In the first century b.c., Diodorus Siculus correlated all the information received from the fourth-century Ctesias that Nineveh’s total circumference was approximately fifty-five miles. Given this, a three-day journey would be a reasonable trek around the city. On the other hand, the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681) wrote that he enlarged the circumference of the city of Nineveh from 9,300 to 21,815 cubits, or from about three miles to seven miles.
But Wiseman has shown that this phrase can relate not only to Nineveh proper but to the entire administrative district of Nineveh. This metropolitan district included also the cities of Assur, Calah (Nimrud), and even Dur-Sharruken (Khorsabad). This interpretation is supported by Gen 10:11–12, where “that is the great city” seems to refer to the whole district covered by Nineveh, Rehoboth, Ir, Calah, and Resen.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 257.
I am usually not a fan of the New Living Translation, but there are moments where it is very helpful, and I like how it translates this verse.
“This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.”
—Jonah 3:3 NLT
Jonah’s Message
And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
—Jonah 3:4 NKJV
That is a very short sermon, and there’s no hope, no appeal, just a message of judgment. Either Jonah is a terrible preacher, or he has no interest in the people coming to God. Have you ever heard a forced apology? Whether from a child who was told to apologize, or a politician or celebrity that were caught doing something they should not have been doing? You can tell they’re not really sorry, but they have to say something along those lines. This is how Jonah’s message comes across to me at first glance. It is almost as if he were saying, “God said that I had to come here and tell you that you will be destroyed, so… in forty days it’s bye-bye Nineveh.” It seems to me like Jonah put some effort into making this the worst sermon ever.
I find this very disturbing.
Fretheim states: “Jonah had just experienced the unmerited grace and goodness of God in his own life. Now he turns right around and makes it as difficult as possible for the Ninevites to experience God’s deliverance … a graceless message delivered by one living in the shadow of an experience of grace.”
—Fretheim, T. The Message of Jonah: A Theological Commentary. (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1977.), 108 for a deeper dive, see also B. Halpern and R. E. Friedman, “Composition and Paronomasia in the Book of Jonah,” HAR 4 (1980): 79–92; E. M. Good, Irony in the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985), 48–49.
Nineveh was an exceedingly wicked and violent city, and this did not escape God’s notice. In that age as well as in every age, God recognizes and condemns what is unholy and unjust. One must also recognize the issue of God’s warning to those who are outside his will and his use of believers as messengers
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 259–260.
Maybe you’re reading this and wondering how did Jonah communicate with the Ninevites?
Many object to the historical reliability of this story because of the alleged unlikelihood that Jonah would have been able to communicate with the Ninevites. Bewer says that “this is another sign of the folktale character of the story.” However, if an Assyrian official could speak to the populace of Jerusalem in Hebrew in 701 b.c. (2 Kgs 18:26–28), there is no reason to doubt that a Hebrew prophet could speak to the populace of Nineveh in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the day, fifty years earlier.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 258.
Diving deeper
40?
Is there something special about the number 40? I don’t want to get sidetracked going too deep into numbers in the Bible but there seems to be sufficient evidence suggesting that the number 40 is related to an encounter with God. (See Genesis 7:4; Exodus 16:35; 24:18; 34:28; Deuteronomy 8:2; 1 Kings. 19:8; Matthew. 4:2; Acts 1:3.)
Overthrow?
When Jonah warns Nineveh that in 40 days it will be overthrown the words used for “overthrown” (hāp̄aḵ) is strongly linked with the overthrow of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah described in Genesis 19:21, 25, 29. By using this particular word, the story-teller reminds the hearers of an earlier cataclysmic event.
A less obvious link can also be found with the use of the same word (hāp̄aḵ) in the context of a change of heart or reversal or change. For examples of this use see Deuteronomy 23:5 where it says that The LORD your God turned (hāp̄aḵ) the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you. For other examples o this use see 1 Samuel 10:6 and Psalm 105:25.
As the Jewish expositor Rashi comments, ‘The word “overthrown” has two senses, good and bad. If they do not repent they will be “destroyed”. But if they repent they shall indeed be “overthrown”, for they will have changed from evil to good.’ (Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, ed. Forms of Prayer for Jewish Worship III Prayers for the High Holydays Days of Awe. Eighth edition 5745. London: Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1985. p. 1005)
The response of the Ninevites
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
—Jonah 3:5 NKJV
The people of Nineveh actually believed God!? That wicked city, the enemies of Israel actually believed God? Did they really believe God, or did they just say that to avoid destruction? Not only did they believe, but they also proclaimed a fast and humbled themselves (put on sackcloth) from the greatest to the least of them. This was not a partial conversion, limited to just one segment of the population. Everyone repented, and their behavior testified to their faith. They believed God and changed their behavior accordingly. Jonah did not tell them to fast, nor did he provide them with a path towards God. Jonah did not tell them what kind of prayers to perform or what sacrifices to offer. The Ninevites seem to be responding to the Holy Spirit's prompting in a culturally significant way.
The entire population of Nineveh believed God and humbled themselves. These wicked pagans responded to God more positively than Jonah, the prophet of Israel.
It is worth noting that the Hebrew word for “believed” in Jonah 3:5 is the same word used in Genesis 15:6, describing how Abraham believed in the LORD, and the LORD accounted it to him for righteousness. The same word is also used to describe the Israelites' response when God delivered them from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Exodus 14:31 says that Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt, and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.
The important point is that the Ninevites believed. Their actions are only a demonstration of their genuine faith. The Ninevites were spared because they believed, by faith, not by their actions. Their actions only testified to their faith. I believe that everyone who is saved was saved by grace through faith and that there is no other way for anyone to be saved. And everyone who is saved is only saved because Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins and rose again. (For more on salvation, see my post “Is Jesus the Only Way to Salvation?”)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
—Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
But how will the government respond?
The king of Nineveh
6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
—Jonah 3:6-9 NKJV
The king of Nineveh also humbled himself and decreed that everyone else do likewise, including the animals. The decree from the king was the equivalent of a royal seal of approval on what was already occurring spontaneously throughout the city.
Fasting and uncomfortable dress represented self-denial. By eschewing normal comforts and making themselves physically miserable, they sought to show the genuineness of their prayers for mercy. (Stuart, D. Hosea-Jonah. WBC. Waco: Word, 1987. p.493.) This action was an attempt to impress forcibly upon the Lord the sincerity of Nineveh’s repentance. It was an attempt to move the heart of God and lead him to relent. In other words, they were using every option available, including superstition. Perhaps they also felt that combining their cries of contrition with the pleading of the animals for water and food would rise as one mighty prayer for mercy to this God who threatened their destruction.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 266.
Bonus: Even the Animals?
We should not dismiss the significant roles animals play in the drama of salvation in the biblical text. Notice the prominent role of animals when the prophet Joel describes conditions in a time of drought:
18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
19 O Lord, to You I cry out;
For fire has devoured the open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You,
For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the open pastures.
But animals are not only mentioned in the context of judgment. The psalmist provides a vision of the goodness of creation in which all are mutually dependent on one another and on God.
The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God.
—Psalm 104:21 NKJV
The writer of Ecclesiastes mentions the solidarity of human beings and animals:
19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
—Ecclesiastes 3:19-22 NKJVIn an agrarian society where human beings and animals are interdependent, it is natural that the beasts should be included in the repentance of the city.
—Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 166–167.
A well-known story that mentions animals is the story of Noah’s ark, where all species of animals shared with humanity in both the calamity of the flood and the eventual deliverance. The story tells how, in the ark, they were miraculously preserved together and together shared a new beginning. While significant differences between animals and humans are indicated in Genesis 1:24–31, these verses speak of the animals sharing the same day of creation with humankind. Although humans differ from animals, we see a closeness between them in these stories. It is this mutual interdependence between human beings and animals that underlies the inclusion of animals at Nineveh. The repentance included all, even the animals.
Turn from his evil way?
The King of Nineveh decreed that people’s lives should match their prayers. How did the people of Nineveh know what to repent from? The people of Nineveh were pagans; they worshipped idols and many ancient gods, and those gods did not provide the people with a moral compass. How would they know what to repent from?
If an atheist is on a plane and the plane faces extreme turbulence and the atheist begins to reconsider his beliefs regarding God, does the atheist know what sins to repent from?
This reminds me of what Paul writes in Romans 1
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
—Romans 1:18-32 NKJV
I realize that was a big chunk of text, but I wanted you to have the full context. My big takeaway from Paul’s words to the Romans is that God’s wrath is revealed against those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So often, I have people ask me about those who perhaps never had a chance to hear the gospel, and whether God will punish them in conscious torment for all eternity for not accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. My answer to that question is largely shaped by the story of Jonah and Romans 1. The story of Jonah reveals how far God is willing to go to save a wicked city, and Romans 1:18-32 reminds me that God’s wrath is against rebellion, not ignorance. (Regarding sins of ignorance, see Luke 12:47-48; Acts 17:30; 1 John 1:7-9; Leviticus 4:22-27; 5:15-18; Numbers 15:27-28. For more on divine judgment against a city, see Saved by Grace, my blog on Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. For more context, read also Speaking of Judgment, my blog post on Genesis 18:16-33, which discusses God’s conversation with Abraham about God’s judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.)
The Ninevites seem to know exactly what they were doing wrong. They knew that they deserved judgment. They did not argue with God or with Jonah (God’s prophet), but rather humbled themselves and turned from their evil ways and from the violence that was in their hands. They did not know if their behavior would help, but they hoped that God would turn away from His fierce anger. This demonstrates that the Ninevites knew enough to know they were guilty and deserving of destruction, but they did not know about God’s love and mercy.
Based on the actions of the Ninevites and the decree of their King, I believe there are many people living in sin and rebellion against God who are not happy. They know they are sinning, they know that what they are doing is wrong, and they should stop. They know they deserve to be punished for their wickedness. Perhaps the main reason they do not stop is that they feel trapped. Maybe sin, pain, suffering, and abuse are all they know. They don’t know about God’s love for them. They don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like. They need help. They need a catalyst. If only someone could come and help them, they would be willing to change. People may look violent and scary on the outside, but we don’t know the internal struggles they are going through. We must be careful in judging others, because those we might consider the worst sinners might be more willing to fully surrender to Jesus than many who regularly attend church. (I explore this further in my post Good News to the Outcasts)
God does not easily give up on anyone.
Maybe Nineveh’s response to the word of Yahweh would be the eye-opener God wanted for his own people. They might then begin to see that even that great city repented, while they themselves remained deaf to God’s word and stubbornly unrepentant.
—Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 159.
The Ninevites knew they were sinners, and they were willing to repent. It can be more dangerous for those who do not think they need to repent. Consider Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 12:41 when the Scribes and Pharisees asked Him for a sign.
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
—Matthew 12:41 NKJV
The Scribes and Pharisees were very knowledgeable about God, but that did not mean that they knew God. They could debate theology, and they knew the scriptures, but they rejected Jesus. Knowledge about God will not save you unless you have a personal relationship with God. The Ninevites humbled themselves before God. Jonah tried to run away from God. Which story can you best relate to? Being lost and willing to humble yourself and repent of your wicked ways? Or someone who knows God but runs away from God’s calling in your life?
Maybe you have been in both places at different points in your life. We have something to learn from both Jonah and the Ninevites.
God saw
Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
—Jonah 3:10 NKJV
The story of Jonah begins with God's awareness of Nineveh's wickedness (Jonah 1:1; see my post, Exploring Jonah’s Rebellion and God’s Mercy). Now we have God seeing the works of the Ninevites as evidence that they had repented and turned from their evil ways and God relented from the disaster He was going to bring upon them.
Did God change His mind?
Verses like this one can pose some theological challenges. Without going too far into this discussion, here is a helpful quote.
The very thought of God “changing his mind” causes difficulty for some believers. In perfect consistency with his justice, righteousness, and mercy, he spared Nineveh. There is absolutely no contradiction here. God’s character and his promises do not change, as Jas 1:17 says (cf. Num 23:19). But many other verses show that God does change his plan of action according to his purposes. In Exod 32:12 Moses prayed that Israel might not be destroyed despite their sinful behavior in making and worshiping the golden calf. He asked God, “Turn from your fierce anger, relent and do not punish your people” (cf. Amos 7:3, 6; Jer 18:7–11; 26:2–3). Again and again the Old Testament relays the truth that God is responsive to his creation.
—Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 269.
Takeaway
The book of Jonah provides us with indisputable evidence that God desires not the destruction of the sinner but the redemption and reconciliation of all his creation.
What happened to the Ninevites is not that different from what happened with Jonah. Both were in rebellion against God, and both were spared. In that sense, our own stories are not very different from Jonah’s and Nineveh’s.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
—Romans 3:23-24 NKJV
The truth is that though we may be currently in Jesus’ “fold,” it does not mean that He doesn’t have other sheep who are currently outside the fold. Jesus is actively seeking the lost sheep.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
—John 10:16 NKJV
