Jonah 3 Devotional

A Word Given Twice

“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.”Jonah 3:10 (BSB)

The chapter opens with a sentence that is easy to skim and full of grace: the word of the LORD comes to Jonah a second time (3:1). God does not discard the prophet who ran. He sends him again. This time Jonah goes, and his message is short. In forty days Nineveh will be overturned (3:4).

Astonishingly, the people of Nineveh believe God. High and low alike, they fast and put on sackcloth, and the king himself rises from his throne to sit in ashes (3:5-6). He orders everyone to turn from evil and violence, not knowing whether God will relent (3:8-9). And when God sees them turn, he does relent from the disaster he had threatened (3:10). Jesus later said the people of Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching, and that someone greater than Jonah had now come (Matthew 12:41). If God gave a second word to a runaway prophet and mercy to a violent city, there is no one beyond the reach of his call to return, including you.

To think about: Who have you quietly decided is beyond God's mercy, and how does Nineveh challenge that?