#JonahChallenge – Day Three Chapter Three

When God instructs us, let’s obey. I know it’s easier said than done but it’s definitely possible. God who has chosen us for the task will definitely equip you and go ahead of you.
This is what I believe he did for Jonah. Jonah didn’t have to say much, it seemed like God had gone ahead of him to soften the hearts of the people so they could be receptive to the message.
They immediately repented and asked for forgiveness. When God saw that they had turned from their evil ways, He was no longer angry with them. Jonah’s act of obedience had given some people a new lease of life. You don’t know who you can help or bring to Christ by simply obeying God’s instructions and sharing the gospel. The people of Nineveh obeyed and were saved from destruction. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
The last verse once again shows the beautiful attributes our God possesses. He is forgiving, merciful, gracious and loving! He desires that none should perish but all come to repentance (2 Peter 3: 9). All of this stemmed from His love for Nineveh. How beautiful. – Ebun (@JollyEbz) x

 

‘Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city’ – same mission statement, same order in Jonah 3:2 as in Jonah 1:2. However the action Jonah took was different. In 1:3, the bible says ‘Jonah rose up to flee…from the presence of the LORD.’ However in 3:3, we see that ‘Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD’.

This brings to mind something Nelson Mandela said in his book ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ – he said ‘There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.’ We see this in action in Jonah 3:2, 3! Where before Jonah heard the Word, received his mission and fled as far as he possibly could in the other direction in chapter 1, now we see Jonah taking the Word without rebuke or challenge, and just getting on with it in humble obedience! It shows how much Jonah had developed, how much he’d grown, how much he’d come to understand that you can run but you can’t hide from God, how a calling from God is an awesome privilege to be embraced and not dismissed! We see that over the course of a couple of chapters, Jonah has developed humility, his obedience has been nurtured. Sitting in the belly of the whale was not a punishment, but it was what many of us need – a place of solace and silence, to just STOP, and take stock of life, away from the noises of the world and the people around us, in order to GROW and be made ready for our mission in life!

When you take hold of your mission in life, and embrace it, everything falls into place. You begin to blossom, be set ablaze with the glory of God. Jonah, now walking in tandem with God, could now command the attention of Kings! (3, verse 6 and 7)

Jonah 3 also shows us on a grander scale that we all need a Word. Sometimes we plug along in life, oblivious to a message which we need at a particular time. The Ninevites were unaware that they were living contrary to the way of God, that their ways were bringing imminent doom their way. They needed a Word. A set Word, for a set time – Jermaine 

There is so much to learn from this chapter. Firstly we can’t ignore the fact that the word of The Lord came to Jonah a second time. From this, I realised that when God sets us out for a purpose, nothing will deter Him from ensuring that we do what is required of us. He lets us have our little tantrum then repeats his instruction. It’s like He gives us the chance to be human, having doubts and fears, before asking us it get down to business. Our God really is much more understanding of human nature than we often care to remember: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9 NIV)

Second point is that Jonah obeyed the word of The Lord. So many of us go through pressing, trying times and when The Lord delivers us, instead of cultivating a heart of gratitude, we turn away in anger for the mere fact that we were allowed to suffer. This Jonah, the same guy that was in the belly of a fish, recognised that he had no right to hold anger towards God, seeing as he was the one who got himself into that situation. A lot of our suffering is self inflicted as we try to run from God. Once Jonah accepted his purpose it seemed quite easy for him to follow through. The key realisation that happens in this book is that Jonah realised that he is a man under authority. From reading on in Matthew we can see that it pleases God when we humbly accept this fact:

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. (Matthew 8:8-10 NIV)

Jonah’s commitment to his task is evident in the fact that he goes a days journey into a city where his message should be hated. He doesn’t preach from the edge of the city so that he can turn and run if it gets hard. No, he really gets stuck in. 

I think this chapter is very important for the evangelist. As Christians we were all commissioned by Christ to go and spread the gospel message (Matthew 28:19-20) therefore we all have something to learn. We often think that we are inadequate to convert people because we have been through periods where we doubt and challenge God, phases where we deny Him and are disobedient but the truth is that we are all competent to do God’s work – “and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (verse 5). This same Jonah from chapter 1, was able to save the souls of a whole city, despite his actions before he started preaching. When we realise this, that we are personally and individually chosen, we can be encouraged that God knows who he has chosen and better still, has confidence in who he has chosen.

Lastly, for all of those who are going the wrong way, backsliding or haven’t yet accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, don’t give up. It is never too late. If God can have compassion on a city He had marked for destruction, then he can definitely have compassion on people who are labelled as off the rails. So all in all, keep sharing the gospel, keep praying for the ‘lost souls’ and remember that God set you apart for a purpose so don’t shy away. God bless – @ThatUgandanGirl

Jonah 3:3 – the same 3 days he was in the whale he could have seen the whole of Nineveh! Well that’s funny. Disobedience = 3days in a big fish & obedience = 3days seeing a whole city

3:5&6 – It seems as if everyone including the king realised the importance of this message. Also the fact that Jonah was so slow to deliver the message yet this whole city were so quick to accept it. Imagine if he never went to Nineveh, a load of willing people would have just been destroyed none the wiser.

3:9 – This again mentions God’s grace & mercy just like in Jonah 2.

3.10 – Again like in Jonah 2, God took back what he did. However it’s only after the action of the people involved did what they did. For example in Jonah 2 God after Jonah prayed, God ordered the big fish to spit him out. And in Jonah 3, after the people turned from their evil way and stopped the violence God changed his decision. – @Simply_Shahnee

This chapter of Jonah continues in the theme of the sovereignty of God to do His perfect will, but it also shows us that salvation was no different in the days of Jonah than it is today. It is by grace, through faith that the Ninevites were saved.

We do not have to have full understanding in order to serve God; we simply must be willing. God has a plan for each and everyone of us, so instead of trying to figure out the way he is working just have faith so can use you more- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”- Proverbs 3:5. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In response Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

God is proof of our repentance of sin. God never set out to form a legalistic society that would “not sin;” instead He wants people to do His work. “So whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” -1 Corinthians 10:31. I’ve told some people all the time to quit worrying about what might be sin and focus instead on how what you are doing glorifies God. If all we do glorifies God then we are not in sin.

Even the Ninevites recognized that a return to God would bring blessing upon them and deliver them from wrath. We never have committed too much sin, or any sin so heinous that God will reject us. If we repent in sackcloth and ashes, in mourning over our sin, and repent of sin, God will deliver us. –  @Toniiys_

– God is merciful. He gave Jonah a second chance to do the task which he had originally failed to complete.

– Verse 6 says “When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes…”. This shows that the King was truly humbled, and understood that God’s Word was far more powerful than his superior earthly position.

– We see that prayer, fasting and repentance moved God. Verse 7 shows that the whole city was ordered by the king to do a dry fast (not even drinking water).

– Verse 8 gives us the definition of repentance. By reading it in two different versions, my eyes were opened more:

“…They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.” (NLT)
“…let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.” (NKJV)

The verse above in the two different versions show that although they were called to COLLECTIVELY repent as a city (“their”), that repentance is a PERSONAL thing (“his”); everyone had to “pull their own weight”, so to speak.
– Their prayer, fasting and repentance moved God to relent (<< This is not a typo… ‘relent’, not repent) Bless – Stephen

“Once again…” Our God is a God of many chances not just second chances but many chances! He wants the best for us, like it says in the bible that He will not withhold anything good from happening to us. He never gives up on us! We shouldn’t give up on him either no matter how hard it gets so we need PERSISTENCE! There are times when we need to ask The Lord for him to touch us ONCE AGAIN! To show up and show himself in our lives ONCE AGAIN! Sometimes we just need another touch.

Jonah obeyed God the second time, just because God gives us many chances we shouldn’t take advantage of it. It took Him three days to walk through Nineveh. Jonah was in the fishes belly for three days. Jesus was in the grave for three days. The three days in these situations is significant! Why? Because the three days that Jonah was inside the fish he was going through a process of transformation.’May we be transformed through the renewal of the mind’ During his three days of walking through Nineveh people’s minds were transformed. At the end God’s glory was seen. When Jesus rose from the grave God’s glory was also seen.

The sack cloths were a symbol of humbling themselves before God. Even the King wore a sack cloth which shows that everyone is equal so no one is too prestigious to be humble. We should always be humble even when we ask for forgiveness from God or anyone for that matter.

The people of Nineveh prayed earnestly AND gave up their wicked behaviours. You can’t just pray and not follow it up with the appropriate actions. They couldn’t do one or the other, they had to do BOTH! Remember: ‘Faith without works is dead’

He changed his mind which shows that His mercy is endless! How great is God! – Sandra

Why should we be doing evil in the first place then when God said destruction is coming we then want to turn away from our evil ways because we know the consequences of our actions. We shouldn’t leave it too late to turn away from our sinful natures.
God is never please by our wrongs but he is pleased when we turn away and face him instead of allowing our fleshly ways to get the better of us.
Verse 10 – again this shows how much grace and mercy God has given onto us and sometimes we take it for granted. – @beccatemitope