Forty Days

Today’s Passage: Jonah 3

The word of the LORD comes to Jonah a second time: get up, go to Nineveh. This time Jonah goes. He walks one day into a great city and says one short sentence. The city hears it, and God relents.

As you read, hold this: They heard the reluctant preacher. God relented.

Jonah 3:1–3 (BSB)

¹ Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: ² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.” ³ This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. It was the same God, the same city, and the same command: Get up and go. The message is the one God gives him, not the one Jonah would have chosen.

This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh. A person’s feet can obey before the heart is glad. The book will not pretend Jonah is glad. It will only say he went.

Jonah 3:4 (BSB)

⁴ On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

That is the whole sermon. In English it is only a few words. He does not tell a story, and he does not try to make it sound kind. He says that in forty more days Nineveh will be overturned. He does not stay to make it nicer, and he does not add his own hope. He says the word God gave him, and the city hears it.

Jonah 3:5–6 (BSB)

⁵ And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. ⁶ When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

The Ninevites believed God. They did not put their trust in Jonah. They believed God. From the greatest of them to the least, they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth. When the word reached the king, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. The reluctant preacher did not plan this. God’s word did it.

Jonah 3:7–9 (BSB)

⁷ Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. ⁸ Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

The king does not try to bargain with God. He calls the city to stop eating, to call out, and to turn from evil and from violence. “Who knows?” he says. “God may turn and relent.” That is not a demand. It is hope aimed at the right Person.

Jonah 3:10 (BSB)

¹⁰ When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

When God saw their actions, that they had turned (שׁוּב) shuv, pronounced SHOOV. Strong's H7725, to turn, return, turn back. Turn means turn. They turned from their evil ways, and God saw it. The preacher did not want this ending, but the word still did its work. from their evil ways, He relented from the disaster He had threatened. They turned, God saw that turn, and God relented.

That is the day’s truth. Jonah spoke a short word he did not want to speak. The city turned. God relented. The word works even when the preacher does not want it to.

Do not turn Nineveh into a picture of some city you already have opinions about today. This is their story. A violent people heard God and turned. God did not owe them that. He gave it. We can praise Him for a mercy He did not owe.

Forty days was the warning. The city heard, and God relented. Jonah was only the one who said the words.

Personal Application

1. Where have you decided a true word will not work, because you do not want it to?

2. Who have you been unwilling to speak a true word to, because you hoped they would not turn?

Today’s decision: Speak one true sentence from Scripture to one person you have been reluctant to speak it to. Or, if you cannot see them today, pray for them by name that they would hear and turn.

Pray to Close

The central truth: They heard the reluctant preacher. God relented.

Praise: praise Him that His word does what He sends it to do.

Give thanks: thank Him that His word does not return empty, and that He relents when people turn.

Confess: tell Him where you have wanted the word to fail.

Ask: ask Him to do His work even through a reluctant mouth.