seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jonah 3:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 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. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 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.
See.... See.... God relented. Now they really had to do a sit in.... dressed in sack cloth and sitting in ashes.... because the antidote to death had not been brought by Jesus yet. They had to show good works by cleaning up their act..... from "the greatest to the least" they put down their drinks, drugs, greed and gluttony.... and they decided to do what they had been told to do. This is from enduringword.com.
So the people of Nineveh: The word “repentance” isn’t in this passage; but repentance isn’t really a word, it is something you do – and these people did repentance. One can have repentance without the word itself being spoken, and one can say the word “repentance” and never truly repent.
The people of Nineveh believed God: Repentance begins with believing God. As we believe Him and His Word, we have the power to transform our lives as He wills. You can do many other things associated with repentance, but if they do not begin with believing on and trusting God, they are all useless works of the flesh.
The people of Nineveh… proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth: Repentance means doing something. The people of Nineveh fasted, mourned as if for the dead, and they did it from the highest to the lowest (from the greatest to the least of them).
If repentance is anything, it is not business as usual. When repentance comes, something has to change and something has to be different. In their case, the people of Nineveh took off their normal clothes and put on sackcloth – a thick coarse cloth, normally made from goat’s hair. Wearing it displayed the rejection of earthly comforts and pleasures.
Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth: They even repented on behalf of their animals, dressing them as if the animals were in mourning for the dead.
But let man and beast… cry mightily to God: Repentance means crying mightily to God. It means coming to God with passion and seriousness about your sin and your need for His mercy and forgiveness.
Many modern expressions of repentance, making excuses and justifying reasons for the sin, are really not repentance at all. Often they are only attempts to justify and excuse sin. Nevertheless, you sinned or you didn’t; if you did, there is no excuse, and if you haven’t, there is no need to repent. Repentance and excuses simply don’t belong together.
Yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands: Repentance means turning from your evil way and from the violence that is in your hands. Repentance means to change your mind and turn from your previous sinful actions.
Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger: Repentance has hope in the mercy and love of God. It hopes that God will relent and that the repentant people will not perish.
This is from bibletrack.org.
It takes awhile to get there, but Ninevah was a very large city as cities go back then. The city itself took three days to walk - either from one side to the other or around it, and it had an estimated population of 120,000. He experiences a great response to his preaching of doom and gloom...on its way to Ninevah in forty days if they don't repent. Notice the response of the residents of Ninevah in verse 5, "So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them." As a matter of fact, it was the King of Ninevah that proclaimed the feast.
The prophets to Israel should have had so much success. The folks in Ninevah repent...BIG TIME! They all respond, from the King of Ninevah all the way down to the little people. God, as a result, delays his judgment on them by a half-century or so. Notice Jonah 3:10, "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." How much more success can an evangelist expect?
I'm glad the commentaries are honed in on the repentance of Ninevah. I've heard the preachers and scholars argue if "believing" is enough to start the ball rolling.... or if "works" [changing your ways] is still required. I leave the demise of the death bed confession to those who are smarter than an old woman with an online Bible and some online commentaries. I'm glad that this chapter is more about the people of Ninevah instead of the reluctant prophet. Back in the days of Jonah, Jesus hadn't been here yet. Back in the days of Jonah.... Ninevah was turning into a Sodom. The city was huge..... for the time.... three days is a long walk for people who are use to walking. I googled it.... the average speed of a human is about 5 miles an hour. That seems pretty fast to me.... but I'm old.... anyway.... at 5 miles per hour.... that's three days or about 24 hours walking [more or less]..... that's huge..... like New York City, huge.
All those people in that huge city..... stopped and listened.... or listened and stopped....
I've posted that I'm the oldest of five kids. My sisters and my brother never did listen to me..... but when my mom spoke.... they would stop dead in their tracks. When mom said "stop".... we all knew if we didn't immediately stop.... the switch was next. I knew her better than the other kids.... I figured she was just itching to send one of us to the switch bush when she said "stop". Whenever the kids all listened..... the punishment would be put on hold.
Yes.... those humans in Ninevah had to put on sack cloth and sit in ashes..... that's their way of saying "sorry... it won't happen again". The point I see here starts with them recognizing that God would do it. Even when the descendants of Jacob [Israel] wouldn't listen..... the people of Ninevah believed it right away.... and that started the ball rolling.... to saying "sorry" and sitting down in the ashes.
Maybe this is really why I've been told that I should not expect to know the exact hour that God will return. Maybe it's because God keeps relenting and letting those humans off.
