Filled With God’s Love - Jonah 3-4

“Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the Word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” Jonah 3:1-4

God’s call in 3-steps: 1) Hear God’s Word, 2) Take God’s Word, 3) Present God’s Word.

The total word count of Jonah’s message was eight words: “Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Few words but great results! God’s Spirit convicted the Ninevites to believe.

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’” Jonah 3:6-9

People of all age groups turned to the Lord with fasting and repentance. Even the king got involved. He got off his throne, removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Sackcloth and ashes are a symbol of debasement, mourning, and repentance. Sackcloth was a coarse material usually made of black goat’s hair. It was uncomfortable to wear. The ashes signified desolation and ruin.

When someone died, the wearing of sackcloth expressed sorrow for the loss of that person. In 2 Samuel 3:31, David wore sackcloth while mourning the death of Abner. In Esther 4:1, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes in reaction to King Xerxes’ declaration to exterminate the Jews. In Revelation 11:3, two witnesses wear sackcloth for 3 ½ years while they prophesy.

Ninevah’s king put on sackcloth to express repentance of sin and humility before God. He also sat in ashes, as if to say, “If you don’t help me God, I am ruined.” The king made a decree that everyone should turn from evil and violence. He hoped that God would not destroy them.

“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” Jonah 3:10

Does God see what we do out of respect for Him? He does. He did not destroy Ninevah.

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!’ Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” Jonah 4:1-4

Jonah should have been happy. God had used his life like no other prophet in the history of Israel. A pagan city repented of sin and believed in God!

Jonah said that he fled to Tarshish because he knew God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness and relents from harming people. He was outraged at God to the point of wanting to die. It wasn’t that God was deficient in love, it was that God had too much love. Perhaps, his thoughts were like this, “God, it is okay for You to love your enemies, but why put me in the middle? You were sensitive to those murderers, rapists and people traffickers, but you hurt me. You put me through a storm, had me swallowed by a fish, and then, had me walk through a city for three days that was about 48 miles in circumference, proclaiming eight words. You didn’t need me! You could have done it without me.”

“So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’” Jonah 4:5-8

Here, Jonah is ready to die again. This time because a plant that God provided for him died. The plant shaded him from the sun. But wait, he wanted to die due to a plant dying? The death of the plant ignited seething bitter feelings in him. Those feelings were like flammable fuel. They only needed the slightest spark to explode.

“Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’ But the Lord said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?’” Jonah 4:9-11

God asked Jonah. “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” Jonah says, “Even to death.” Three times Jonah expressed a death wish against himself. Anger got the best of him.

In Luke 22:57-60, Simon Peter son of Jonah denied that he knew Jesus Christ three times. Fear got the best of him.

In Luke 22:31-34, Jesus provided a prophecy for Simon Peter. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus gave Peter a prophecy. “Jesus said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know Me.’” In Luke 22:60-62

What is the significance of the rooster crowing after Simon Peter son of Jonah denied the Lord three times? Luke 22:60-62 says, “Immediately, while he was still speaking [having denied the Lord for the third time], the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Roosters crow when a new day dawns. Jesus transformed Peter’s bitter experience into a “new day.” After the rooster crowed, Peter wept tears of repentance. The Lord had prayed for him. Soon, on the day of Pentecost, Christ would fill Peter with the Holy Spirit. Peter would be converted from trust in himself to trust in God. As Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”

Jonah needed the Lord to help him forgive the Ninevites. He could not forgive them in his own strength. Previously, the Ninevites had imprisoned and cruelly treated his people.

Corrie Ten Boom spoke of the importance helping Nazi concentration camp survivors to forgive their torturers. She herself was asked by one of her torturers to forgive him. She confessed that she could not do it in her own strength but that the Lord helped her to do it after she prayed. He had become a Christian.

The movie Ben Hur makes a good case for reliance on Christ for help to forgive one’s enemies. Judah Ben Hur wanted to destroy his enemy, but his enemy’s death did not help him, Christ did.

In Philippians 3:13-16, while in a prison cell, Paul wrote, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

The Lord said to Jonah, “Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left.” Jonah needed to change. God was not going to change for Jonah’s sake even though He dearly loved Jonah. Remember, God forgave and rescued Jonah from drowning after Jonah rebelled against Him.

Romans 5:6-8 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Matthew 5:44-48, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

“Our Father in heaven, please help us to forgive our debtors even as You forgive us. Christ Jesus, please demonstrate Your love through us. Holy Spirit, please fill us with love for God and love for our neighbor. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”