Jonah 3:1-10
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah was told by God to go and preach to the great city of Nineveh...The Ninevites were adversaries and enemies of Israel, and Jonah did not want to go...Jonah tried to run from God's will...But here Jonah winds up in Nineveh...For the second time the word of God came to Jonah...God wants Jonah to preach to the Ninevites...It was futile for Jonah to run from God...
God is in control of life, nature, animals, and mankind...When Jonah preached, the city of Nineveh actually listened...Nineveh is a large city and Jonah begins by taking a day's journey throughout the city, to preach the word of God...The people and the animals did not eat anything, and the people repented...God loves the Ninevites, even though they are enemies of Israel...God gives us, like He did with the Ninevites, second chances...
When Jonah or we think about it, how do you run from God...He is everywhere...God gives man life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25)...How can one run from who created us and gives us life...He is our Father...God is not far from each of us (Acts 17:27)...He is always near...There are two people you cannot run from, yourself and God...These two things are always there...Jonah took off in the opposite direction of Nineveh, but God brought him back to Nineveh in a great fish...Actually when we run away from God and His will, we usually just walk away...We turn our head, and think and say I want to do this...I want and need something else...God doesn't understand...Sometimes, it is not even a walk, we drift...We get on a path in life and just drift and forget about remembering and seeking Him...Life gets busy...We can keep ourselves so busy, that He is not a part of our lives...We don't have time for Him...But when we think about it, if we do not have time for Him, what do we have time for?...
Normally when we run from God, we think we have a better idea for the things in our lives...We want to be in control...We know better...We think we actually know more than God, because God knows everything and has the experiences of eternity...Man gets a few years of experience under his belt, and know we know more than God...God created us...He gives us life and breath...He loves us...He knows what is best for us...He wants us to stop running from Him, He wants us to stop walking away from Him, and He wants us to stop turning away from Him...God wants us to reach our potential, and we cannot do this without Him...Jonah took the opposite direction at first from God...He wants us to follow His will and His path...He wants us to stop running and come to Him by the path of His Son...