Jonah 3:1-5 – Jonah’s Preaching
Jonah took God at His word, and he took God’s Word, and he proclaimed it. There was no trying to avoid what he might have considered the difficult parts. No obscuring of the word ‘overthrown’, no watering it down to ‘you might experience a little challenge’. No preaching it in empty parking lots in the middle of the night. He went into the city and declared the message God gave him to declare on the first day he was there. And what a message it was. The Hebrew word for ‘overturn’ is the word that is used to describe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:25, Lamentations 4:6, Amos 4:11). But it can also mean to turn around (1 Kings 22:34 ‘to turn around a chariot’) or transform (Jeremiah 13:23 ‘to transform one’s appearance). So, it’s a word that can be used in two different ways, which is important given what God does.
The reality of imminent divine judgement within 40 days hit the Ninevites hard. And the number ’40’ is no arbitrary figure; in the Bible, it is often associated with periods of special religious significance; for example, and these are only a few, Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights receiving the Law (Exodus 24:18, 34:1-28), he sent spies into the promised land for 40 days (Numbers 13:25, 14:34), the prophet Ezekiel lay on his side for 40 days to symbolize Judah’s sin (Ezekiel 4:6), Elijah went for 40 days without food and water (1 Kings 19:8), Jesus was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2), Jesus appeared for 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God following his resurrection (Acts 1:3).
It wasn’t long into the 40 days of judgment preaching in Nineveh before something began to happen. There was an immediate response. It was as though the words had barely left the lips of Jonah before the beautiful response of confession and repentance began, for they believed not just what was being said, but began to believe in the God whose words they were.
Question
- What impact did the preaching of God’s Word have?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.