Jonah 3:6-10

Jonah 3:6 (KJV)

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

 

Not only the common people had begun to repent and cry out but the message had now reached the King of Assyria.  It is believed that it was Pul-belochus who was king at this time.  2 Kings 15:19 (KJV)   And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.  He, like the others, had removed his royal robes and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes which was a sign of repentance.  Sackcloth was a rough garment and was not easy to wear because it caused pain to the skin owing to its abrasive nature.   When the king laid down his robes it was a sign of intentional contrition as he did the act himself.  Once the king did it, it was probably not too long before his subjects in the court had also followed suit.

 

Jonah 3:7 (KJV)

And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

 

Within the fast the king proclaimed that the livestock were not to be fed nor were they to drink water during this time.  Including the livestock in this fast was a peculiar thing but it was something that was not uncommon in that culture.  Not only was this fast proclaimed throughout the city of Nineveh, but it spread beyond the city limits into the rural farming areas since that would have been a place where there was much livestock.

 

Jonah 3:8 (KJV)

But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

 

Every beast and every man was to be covered with the abrasive sackcloth as an outward sign of inward repentance.  The king proclaimed that they were to turn from their evil ways.  Remember, Assyria was one of the cruelest empires which ever rose up.  Whatever evil people were doing they were now to renounce it and turn away from it and whatever violence they planned which would have included their military would have to be stanched immediately.  So if they were planning any military campaigns against anyone, they were to forget them.  While they were doing these acts of contrition, they were to cry mightily unto God for their forgiveness and to seek His ways to live from this point on.  Letting them turn means they were to reform and amend their ways.

 

Jonah 3:9 (KJV)

Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

 

The king then states that even with all their efforts to repent and mend their ways, it is still no guarantee that God will accept their attempts to place their kingdom on the straight and narrow.  God may still choose to destroy the empire since it would be in His sovereign will to do so if He decrees it.  This means that if God chose to overthrow the empire, many would be plunged into a Christ-less eternity.  As sovereign of this universe God reserves the right to deal with countries the way He sees fit but He never acts randomly or without reason for His actions.  In this case, Assyria was a very pagan and evil kingdom so God could have destroyed it since their sins no doubt had reached to Heaven and were probably ready to be judged but God was having mercy on them now.  The book of Nahum describes the final destruction of Assyria.  Nineveh eventually fell in 612 B.C. to a Medo-Babylonian coalition but Nahum’s prophecy would cover 663-612 B.C.  The Assyrians would be used by God to take the northern ten tribes into captivity in 721 B.C., just 39 years after Jonah preached to them.

 

Jonah 3:10 (KJV)

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

 

God saw the works of repentance and contrition that the Assyrians had done and because there was sincerity in their actions, God had now repented of any destruction of the Assyrians that he would have done had they not shown any true repentance.  Repentance and contrition is not only a mindset but it also manifests itself openly in a renewal of a person’s works and attitudes.  Their works no longer represent evil but they represent good, showing a true change.  Eventually Assyria would return to their old ways.  Proverbs 26:11 (KJV)   As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.  Their return to their old ways would eventually lead to their final downfall.

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