Jonah 3:6-10 – The People Fear God and Repent – Part 1
The king showed in a very real way that he had come under conviction by getting off his throne, taking off his royal robe, putting on sackcloth and sitting down in ashes. But he did more than present personal repentance; he instituted a reformation of the society and didn’t do it alone; the nobles endorsed his edict.
A number of scholars say that this edict proves that the book of Jonah didn’t happen in the 8th Century BC but must have been written much later. Their reasoning, the issuing of an edict like this, was what the Persians did, not the Assyrians (remember the saying of the law of the Medes and the Persians). Secondly, no historical evidence exists that the king of Nineveh issued such a decree. Both arguments sound credible; however, just because the Assyrians weren’t as famous as the Persians for giving non-negotiable rules doesn’t mean that they never did so. And to the point of a lack of historical evidence, how many nations keep on record events that show one of their prominent cities bending the knee, as it were, to a foreign God. News of what had happened in Nineveh would have been quashed throughout Assyria for fear of what others might have thought it could have led to. There is also the fact that, according to scholars, this is one of the most poorly documented periods in Assyrian history.
Questions
- What did the king do, and who joined him in it?
- How can we answer those who argue a late authorship date for Jonah?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would repent of sin in our own lives.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.