TEXT: Jonah 3:5-9 (CSB) – “Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least. 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. Then he issued a decree in Nineveh: By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from his wrongdoing. Who knows? God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.
Wow! What a swift Capitulation! They quickly surrender! If only people would do this today when they are offered forgiveness by God!
Sometimes people do this today ... perhaps they too have had their hearts already prepared by other circumstances and they are just waiting for the message, why are we so afraid to tell them the GOOD NEWS! Ironically these cold-blooded, hardhearted people quickly believe God! Perhaps they knew they deserved death being clearly so wicked ... but that is always the first step, honesty about our sins! They also knew that this offer would soon expire ... in their case 40 days from Jonah's preaching!
Someday Christ's offer for salvation is going to end too! We just don't know exactly when ... it could be tomorrow or the next century, but why put off today asking Him in since we don't know how long the offer is. The following story makes this point -
On a cold winter evening a man suffered a heart attack and after being admitted to the hospital, asked the nurse to call his daughter. He explained, "You see, I live alone and she is the only family I have." The nurse went to phone the daughter. The daughter was quite upset and shouted, "You must not let him die! You see, Dad and I had a terrible argument almost a year ago. I haven't seen him since. All these months I've wanted to go to him for forgiveness. The last thing I said to him was 'I hate you."' The daughter cried and then said, "I'm coming now. I'll be there in thirty minutes."
The patient went into cardiac arrest, and code 99 was alerted. The nurse prayed, "O God, his daughter is coming. Don't let it end this way." The efforts of the medical team to revive the patient were fruitless. The nurse observed one of the doctors talking to the daughter outside the room. She could see the pathetic hurt in her face. The nurse took the daughter aside and said, "I'm sorry." The daughter responded, "I never hated him, you know. I loved him, and now I want to go see him." The nurse took her to the room, and the daughter went to the bed and buried her face in the sheets as she said good-bye to her deceased father.
The nurse, as she tried not to look at this sad good-bye, noticed a scrap of paper on the bed table. She picked it up and read: "My dearest Janie, I forgive you. I pray you will also forgive me. I know that you love me. I love you, too Daddy."
For the Ninevites, there was the need of sweeping changes! Everything had to change! First, their passions would be disciplined, a fast was called for ... and sackcloth and ashes ... for EVERYONE! Since they all did this, the least to the greatest it showed that they were really all equal in need!
This is true today ... a sinner is a sinner is a sinner is a sinner! True repentance is required by all of us equally! This was a demonstration of their honest humility before Almighty God ... one must humble himself to come to Christ, "just as I am, without one plea!"
Even the King must show sincere sorrow for his sins ... and he does! These would require SWEEPING CHANGES from a people known for their cruelty and lack of grace or mercy to others!
Notice the king's proclamation: "LET EVERYONE CALL URGENTLY UPON GOD!" This was no light consideration and an important part of the process! First, they had to accept the fact that they were sinners, and then humble themselves publicly to admit their need, and then call upon God for mercy! The king wasn't fooling around ... "URGENTLY CALL," he said to the people! Notice too in verse 8b the king of Assyria's plea to his fellowman to change: "GIVE UP THEIR EVIL WAYS AND THEIR VIOLENCE" ... sweeping change is an understatement for these folks!
"Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish!" This is the hope of the believer! Indeed, they had Jonah as a sign that God does give a second chance even when we run away from God initially!
This statement of the king was probably based on the knowledge of Jonah's experience, and in fact, this was the SIGN OF JONAH TO the NINEVITES that Jesus was referring to back in Jonah's time ... A SECOND CHANCE indeed would be given to the sincere seeker!
Repentance is not basically a religious word. It comes from a culture where people were essentially nomadic and lived in a world with no maps or street signs. It's easy to get lost walking through the desert. You become aware that the countryside is strange. You finally say to yourself, I'm going in the wrong direction. That's the first act of repentance.
The second act of repentance is to go in an alternate direction. It implies that you not only do this but you admit it to your companions. We all do this whether or not we realize it. Their turning was based on the hope of life, this would be taken by faith assuming God would do with them as he did with Jonah ... another chance!
Have you taken time to truly Repent? God guarantees that if we do, He will accept us and gives us that second chance.
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