Text: Jonah 3:3-10
“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” —Romans 2:4
A church was seeking a new pastor and had two different candidates each preach a trial sermon after assigning them the same topic and same text, in order to determine who would be the new pastor. The topic was “Hell.” The man who was not hired asked why and the chairman of the search team said, “You preached on Hell as if you were glad that people were going there, the other Pastor preached on Hell with a tear in his eye.”
Jonah wasn’t shedding tears over Nineveh. Last week, we saw how the God of “second chances” graced Jonah. The prodigal prophet’s journey from the pride of self-righteousness was a slow one, but it was God’s kindness that led him to repentance. Jonah would much rather worship a god of his own making—one who smites the bad guys (the wicked Ninevites) and blesses the good guys (the Hebrew people). Jonah wanted a nationalist god who simply protected his countrymen and punished the pagans, but when the real God—not Jonah’s counterfeit—keeps showing up, it frustrates the misguided prophet. We see this pattern throughout the story of Jonah.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” wrote A.W. Tozer. Jonah had to be brought to the end of his self-made god, the god of self-comfort and ethnic prejudices, which he had constructed in his own mind. He had to surrender his life fully to the one true God, having learned the hard way that “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35), and that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)—including pagans and gentiles.
God had brought His reluctant prophet to repentance, so Jonah goes to Nineveh and declares God’s Word to them. Yet we still see a subtle tone of Jonah’s callousness at the ill fate of the Ninevites as he simply says: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” We don’t see much compassion in his sermon. No hint of tears. There was no mention of repentance, of hope, or redemption in turning back to God, just an apparent declaration of doom on these infidels. But, once again, we see pagans demonstrating more sensitivity to what God is up to than the career clergy.
The people of Nineveh “believed God” and it had little to do with the skillfulness of Jonah’s street preaching (we still see his spiritual insensitivity in the next chapter), and a whole lot more to do with amazing grace. We see a marvelous display of the kindness of God leading them to repentance, as the king issues a proclamation of a national fast and commands the people to call on God and turn from their evil ways.
The king says, “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” The phrase “who knows” is an expression of hope. They had more room in their theological box for the possibility of what God could do than Jonah did in his little narrowly crafted theological box. God saw their repentance and relented of the disaster He intended to do to them.
CONSIDER: When have you been guilty of seeing people beyond the reach of hope? In what ways have you made a god after your own image/liking/comfort? Have you been insensitive to the plight of lost souls or calloused to the fate of infidels? Where do you need to recover your “who knows” theology, and be reawakened to the God of wonder, Who is so much bigger than the finite deity we have constructed in our own minds? Whatever your need is in this hour, what might happen if you were once again captivated and marveled by “HIM who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20)?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, forgive us for making you small in our minds, finite in our theology, and anything less than omnipotent in your ability to save the “unsavable” and draw evildoers to repentance. Holy Spirit, touch our calloused hearts and make them tender with compassion and softened with your mercy so that we can be unadulterated ambassadors of the Gospel. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection and/or Group Discussion
- In your view, which culture, nation, or special interest group is undeserving of God’s mercy?
- When have you experienced a surprising, undeserved measure of God’s mercy in your life?
- How did the people respond to Jonah’s message? (Jonah 3:5) What did the king do? (vv.6-9) What action did God take? (v.10)
- Why do you think that fasting might be a useful part of repentance?
- What is one way you can extend God’s love and mercy toward others, particularly those who don’t deserve it?
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