Jonah 3

With the CU’s week of events happening now, it felt very timely to look at Jonah 3 on Sunday and see our God in action as the great evangelist.

In 3:1-2 God again sends Jonah to Nineveh, but this time (v3) Jonah carries out the mission. He preaches a message of coming judgement (v4) – a necessary and loving warning of judgement that really is coming on all people, and yet a warning that we can often be tempted to edit-out of our message.

And incredibly, in an amazing example of repentance, the people of Nineveh believe God (v5) and comprehensively turn away from their sin, in the hope that God might yet relent from the disaster he was to bring on them in his fierce anger (v9).

And so, through Jonah’s faithful warning, Nineveh repented and God relented. What an encouragement to us – now with the full revelation of the gospel in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus – to repent where we need to and to lovingly warn people of judgement, confident of God’s willingness to relent from disaster.