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Jonah Preaches to Nineveh
September 5, 2015

Last week we read the second chapter of the Book of Jonah and saw that Jonah prayed to God when he found himself in the belly of the great fish. This week we follow the story of Jonah as he preaches to Nineveh.

Jonah 3:1-5
And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Jonah finally delivered the message to Nineveh and in the middle of a huge city, Jonah proclaimed a message that he probably dreaded to give. Jonah originally fled from this responsibility out of fear and probably was most concerned with the reaction of the citizens to his message, and feared they might exact revenge on the messenger.

Jonah 3:6-9
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. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Instead of hating the messenger, the people of Nineveh believed God and fasted as an outward sign of repentance. Jonah must have realized that his own fears almost prevented the message of God from being given to the people of Nineveh. Whenever we find ourselves with the need to do God's work, we cannot allow our fears to prevent us from what we are given to do.

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.

Because Jonah completed the task given to him by God and proclaimed the need for repentance to the people of Nineveh, they repented, and God relented from his anger and spared them from his wrath.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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