LESSON: Jonah 1:1-3; 3:1-9

PLACES: Joppa; Nineveh

TIME: about 780 B.C.

GOLDEN TEXT: “The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5)

The title given to chapter one of Jonah is stated as such “The Commission of the Prophet.” It was the God of Israel, I AM THAT I AM who commanded Jonah, the prophet to travel to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it. Jonah had divine authority for this message because the word of the Lord came to him. It was authoritative because of its origin. The city of Nineveh was located on the east side of the Tigris River about 550 miles northeast of Samaria. That distance required a journey of more than a month, if Jonah traveled the normal distance of 15-20 miles a day. The great city was second in size only to Babylon. It was in modern-day Iraq opposite the modern town of Mosul. (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Nineveh was built by Nimrod (Genesis 10:11). After Jonah’s day, it became the capital of the Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.), the successor of Sargon II (722-705 b.c.) who destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The reason God sent Jonah to preach “against” Nineveh (i.e., to pronounce its doom under God’s judgment) is that its wickedness had come up before Him, that is, the people were relentless and persistent in their sins. The Assyrian king acknowledged that his people’s ways were “evil” and characterized by “violence” (Jonah 3:8). And they were “carefree”, thinking themselves invincible. The Prophet Nahum wrote about several of their crimes (Nahum 3:1, 4, 16). Nineveh was well known in the ancient Near East for the brutal atrocities it inflicted on its war captives. This city was also known for its idolatry; it had temples dedicated to the gods Nabu, Asshur, and Adad; the Ninevites also worshiped Ishtar, a goddess of love and war. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 1:1-2)
Though Jonah apparently understood and appreciated God’s wrath against Assyria, he was not nearly so compassionate as God was. Motivated by patriotic duty that clouded religious obligation, and knowing God’s forgiving mercy, (Jonah shirked his responsibility. It is strange that a prophet of God would not follow God’s command to preach condemnation. Instead of traveling northeast he fled by sea in the opposite direction. He boarded a ship at Joppa (modern Jaffa), on Israel’s coast about 35 miles from Samaria and about the same distance from Jerusalem. The ship was bound for Tarshish, probably Tartessus in southern Spain, about 2,500 miles west of Joppa. Since Tarshish was a Phoenician colony, the ship’s sailors may have been Phoenicians. Phoenicians were known for their seagoing vessels and skill on the seas. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 1:3)
After turning Jonah from willful disobedience the Lord again commanded the prophet to fulfill his appointed task. Three times Nineveh is described as a great city. As noted in the Introduction the city was surrounded by an inner wall and an outer wall. The huge inner wall (50 feet wide and 100 feet high) was about eight miles in circumference while the outer wall encompassed fields and smaller towns His instructions were simply to travel those 550 miles to Nineveh and preach the message the Lord would provide at the appropriate time (Jonah 3:4). Interestingly in His recommissioning the prophet, God did not repeat the reason for the proclamation. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 3:1-2)
The prophet’s response here differs from his response in chapter 1. Here he obeyed the... Lord and made his way northeast to Nineveh. Earlier in Jonah 1:3 he disobeyed the Lord and went west. Jonah again mentioned the great size of the city, commenting that it took three days to go all through it, that is, through Nineveh and its suburbs. (Jonah 3:3) Going a day’s journey does not mean that Jonah traveled into the city for a whole day before preaching. Instead it means on the first day he entered the city he began preaching. The message God gave the prophet was the threat of complete destruction of Nineveh within 40... days. Perhaps this was a period of grace, giving the people an opportunity to repent before the judgment fell. Jonah continued this proclamation for three days before going “east of the city” (see Jonah 4:5) (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 3:4)
The words of Jonah spread rapidly through every quarter of greater Nineveh. The Ninevites accepted Jonah’s message and believed God. As the prophet preached doom, the people—ironically—changed. Earlier Jonah had repented, and now these Gentiles repented. As outward symbols of inward contrition and humiliation they fasted and put on sackcloth (coarse cloth; see Genesis 37:34; 1 Kings 21:27; Nehemiah 9:1; Daniel 9:3; Joel 1:8). People in every social strata, from the greatest to the least, hoped that God might turn from His anger and spare them. (Jonah 3:5)
Another question about the Ninevites is whether their conversion was genuine. Was their religious response superficial as in the case of Ahab? (1 Kings 21:27-29. If the Ninevites’ conversion was genuine, it may be difficult to explain why the Assyrians continued their violence and why they soon destroyed Israel (ca. 37 years later, in 722 b.c., the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom). Perhaps the next generation reverted to the Assyrians’ typical violence. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) Though the people were outwardly contrite (fasting and wearing sackcloth) there may have been no enduring spiritual change. At any rate, the preaching of Jonah occasioned extensive and intensive, if not durative, religious effects.
Word of the religious humiliation of the people reached the king of Nineveh (probably Ashur-dan III). Though Nineveh did not become capital of the Assyrian Empire until some time in the reign of Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.), some of her kings did reside there. Such news of pending, almost immediate doom caused the king to respond in the way his people did. Wearing sackcloth, a coarse garment, and sitting in dust (Isaiah 47:1) showed he was contrite and believed the prophet’s message. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 3:6)
The king’s remorse led him and his nobles to issue a royal decree. The decree instructed the people to fast (this decree may have been the reason for the fast referred to in, to wear sackcloth, to call urgently on God, and to relinquish their wickedness (evil ways. Even the animals were not allowed to eat, and were draped with sackcloth. This practice was not strange in the Near East; it was another sign of the people’s remorse. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (Jonah 3:7-8)
Who knows? (2 Samuel 12:22; Joel 2:14) hints at the possibility of God’s withdrawing His threat. By their contrition the king hoped that Jonah’s God would relent of His judgment and turn from His... anger, thereby sparing the city. (we will not perish, in Jonah 1:6) This fear of judgment from God is startling because the Assyrians were a cruel, violent nation (Nahum 3:1, 3-4) fearing no one (2 Kings 18:33-35) (Bible Knowledge Commentary)