I’d like to begin today by asking you some very
basic questions. In all honesty, are you
as close as you could be to the Lord right now?
Are you satisfied with where you are?
Are you satisfied with where our church is spiritually? I ask you these questions because I think a
desire of all of God’s people should be for Him to move in power in our lives
and in our churches. I think every child
of God should long for revival in their lives and in their church and community. I know I do.
In Jonah
3:1-10, the city of Nineveh experiences genuine revival as God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed and humbly received. The miraculous power of God’s Word is
unleashed as God’s servant proclaims it and
sinners receive it in faith and
repentance, resulting in an outpouring of God’s compassion. Now let me be clear: I don’t think this
passage is necessarily a “recipe for revival.”
We cannot force God’s hand in any way.
I do, however, believe that we can raise the sails and pull up any
anchors that may be down so that we are ready when the winds of revival may
blow. So my prayer today is that God
would ignite a great desire for revival in our hearts and move us to express
that desire in appropriate ways. Let’s
consider from this passage this morning how God brings about genuine revival.
What we have seen so far is Jonah running from God
in chapter 1 and then turning to God in chapter 2. We now see Jonah begin to run with God in
this chapter: [3:1] Then the word of
the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
[3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.
[4] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called
out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
[5] And
the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. [6] The word
reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he issued a
proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his
nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not
feed or drink water, [8] but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth,
and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from
the violence that is in his hands. [9] Who knows? God may turn and relent
and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” [10] When God
saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the
disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10
ESV)
I.
God Brings about Revival Through the Faithful
Proclamation of His Word (3:1-4)
The first thing that should strike us is how much
the first few verses of Jonah 3 sound
like the first few verses of Jonah 1:1-3. This is intentional
on the part of the author: he is contrasting the old Jonah with the new Jonah
and showing God to be a God of second chances.
Rather than running, Jonah is now obeying God. We certainly don’t need to gloss over the fact
that this was a very courageous move on the part of Jonah. Not only is he the only prophet ever sent to
preach to a foreign land in the Old Testament, he is sent to the Assyrian
capital of all places! The Assyrians
were a most cruel and ruthless people.
According to our passage, Nineveh was a vast city,
requiring a three-day journey to cross (3).
I’m not sure if that means three days simply walking or three days
preaching, but the point is that it is a very large city. An interesting observation is that this Hebrew
phrase literally says that the city was “great
to God,” meaning that the city not just very large, but was also was very
important to God. Yahweh cares about these wicked and ruthless
people.
One thing that should strike you in this passage
is the power of God’s Word when proclaimed.
As Jonah “began” to go into
Nineveh, only “going a day’s journey”
and only speaking a very brief message
(only 5 words in the Hebrew), the entirety of the city responds! In other words,
Jonah’s job is finished on day one of a three-day job! There’s also an interesting
wordplay on the Hebrew word for “overthrown”
here. It can mean both “overthrown” or
“to turn around.” It is a word of judgment, but notice how
it ironically came to pass in Nineveh’s being turned around by
God’s Word!
Brothers and sisters, we should never
underestimate the power of God’s Word. God’s Word is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). It never returns void (Isaiah 55:10-11). The
universe came into existence by the power of God’s Word (Hebrews 11:3) and is also upheld by the “word of His power” (Hebrews
1:3). God’s Word brings His people
into existence: [16] For I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16, see also Romans
10:17) God’s Word not only brings
His people into existence, it also builds them up: [32] And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those
who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)
We need to ponder a convicting question here. If God’s Word is so powerful, then why are we
so reluctant to share it? If the gospel
is the power of God to salvation for all who believe, then why are we not
sharing the gospel with everyone we can?
Our reluctance reveals a lack of faith in either God’s Word or in
ourselves in proclaiming it. I hope that
Jonah’s example shows us that if God can work through a man like this and in
a people like this, He can certainly use us! If God can speak through donkeys, rocks, and
even unwilling servants, He can speak through you too! God make us a people with an unshakeable
confidence in the power your Word!
II.
God Brings about Revival Through the Humble
Reception of His Word (3:5-8)
The people of Nineveh responded to God’s word of
judgment in faith and repentance. This is the response that Scripture
consistently calls for: to respond to God in faith and repentance. And when God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed
and people humbly receive it in faith and repentance, revival takes place. Notice first the immediateness of the response of both the people and the king
(5-6). Verse 5 says, “the people of Nineveh believed God.” This is the same terminology used for when
Abraham believed Yahweh in Genesis 15:6.
The
text also seems to imply that the king didn’t even hear Jonah preach, but
rather word simply “reached the king”
(6). Believing God, taking Him at His
Word, is the essence of faith. And true
faith, because it genuinely does take God at His Word, always bears the fruit
of repentance and obedience. This is why
we also see that the king and the people also responded in repentance. Repentance is a
turning away from sin and self and to God, and it proves the genuineness of our
faith or lack thereof. The people (in
response to the king’s decree) turned
away from their “evil way” and
the “violence” that was in their
hands and turned to God through
prayer, fasting, & mourning (they put on sackcloth). This was a genuine display of humility: the proud Assyrians humbled themselves
before their Creator and their king exchanged his royal throne and robes for
sackcloth and a seat in the ashes.
Notice also the totality of the response of the people and their king (5-8). From “the
greatest of them to the least of them,” the city turns to God. The king passes a decree that everyone must take place in this demonstration
of repentance. Not only do the people fast
and put on sackcloth; they make their animals do so as well! This is drastic, desperate repentance on the
part of these people. Many scholars
question the genuineness of the repentance that takes place in this chapter,
but the text seems to go to great lengths to state that is was genuine. Jesus viewed their repentance as genuine as
well (Matthew 12:38-41; 16:4; Luke
11:29-32).
This passage is meant to call those who read it to
genuine faith and repentance as well.
The way that the people of Nineveh are responding is exactly how God had
told His people to respond to His warnings that they had ignored. As a matter of fact, this passage about the people of Nineveh’s repentance has been the
afternoon reading every year when Jews celebrate the Day of Atonement since
A.D. 200.[1] It is read as a call to true repentance.
Whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian
today, this is the way God expects you to respond to His Word: in humble faith
and repentance. How desperate are you
for revival in your life? Are you
willing to fast and pray the way these pagans did? Too many people talk about wanting God to
move but are unwilling to get desperate before God or change anything in their
own life. They want to serve God on
their own terms and then wonder why the power of God at work in their
lives. It is because they have not yet
learned the secret of humble, desperate faith and repentance. We cannot force God’s hand, but we can
demonstrate our desperation for Him by fasting, prayer, repentance, time in
Word, etc.
III.
God Brings About Revival by the Sovereign Pleasure
of His Will (3:9-10)
An interesting parallel
between Jonah 1 & 3 is how both the ship’s captain and
the king of Nineveh make similar statements about the sovereign prerogative of God (1:6;
3:8). This is a crucial point. God told Moses in Exodus 33:19 that part of what it meant for Him to be God was
possessing the right to show grace and mercy to whomever He willed. This is
why I said that this passage should not be viewed as a “recipe for revival.” Revival is the sovereign prerogative of God.
God would be absolutely just and right to go ahead and level Nineveh. However,
He doesn’t, and what’s more is that He has spoken in His word and promised to
exercise His sovereign right to show mercy to any people who respond to Him in
faith and repentance:
[18:1] The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Arise, and go down to the
potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” [3] So I went
down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. [4] And
the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he
reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
[5] Then
the word of the LORD came to me: [6] “O house of Israel, can I not do with
you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. [7] If at any
time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break
down and destroy it, [8] and if that nation, concerning which I have
spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to
do to it. [9] And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a
kingdom that I will build and plant it, [10] and if it does evil in my
sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had
intended to do to it. [11] Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster
against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil
way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ (Jeremiah 18:1-11)
God’s extends His mercy to anyone who will repent
and believe. Even a word of prophecy is not simply a proclamation of what will come, but is
also the warning of a merciful God as to what will come if those addressed do
not respond to God in faith and repentance.
That is why we can say that Jonah’s prophecy didn’t fail here. God is simply being true to His nature,
having no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32) and not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance (2 Peter
3:9).
I alluded to this earlier, but a preacher once
stated that revival was like sailing. We
cannot make the wind blow our boat, but we can set the sails and pull up the
anchor, etc. Since revival is the
sovereign prerogative of God, all we can do is set the sails. That is what we are saying today: we must be
faithful to proclaim God’s Word and must constantly make sure that we are
responding to Him in humble faith and repentance. From there we simply fast and pray and trust
God to send the wind into those sails.
As members of the human race, we too live under a
word of judgment (Romans 3:23). God
has sent someone greater than Jonah, not only speak a better word than Jonah,
but also to bear our judgment upon Himself on the cross. Will you respond to Him today in faith and
repentance? His “sign” is also greater than Jonah’s: He was not simply preserved in
the belly of a fish for three days, He was brought back from the dead after
three days in the grave! Will you
respond to Jesus today the way the Ninevites did to Jonah?
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