Commentary - Jonah 3:5-9

Bird's-eye view

This passage records one of the most astonishing and widespread revivals in the history of the world. After Jonah's begrudging, minimalist sermon, the entire pagan metropolis of Nineveh, the capital of the cruel Assyrian empire, repents. This is not a surface-level emotional response; it is a deep, corporate turning from sin that starts with the common people and works its way up to the king himself. The response is characterized by three key actions: they believed God, they fasted, and they put on sackcloth. The king's decree makes this repentance official policy, extending the signs of mourning and humility even to the animals. The whole affair is a stunning display of God's sovereign power to grant repentance to whomever He wills, even to the most unlikely of Gentiles. It serves as a stark rebuke to Jonah's own hard-hearted nationalism and, as Jesus later points out, it stands as a permanent testimony against any generation, like Israel's in the first century, that hears a far greater message from a far greater prophet and yet refuses to repent.

The central theme here is the nature of true repentance. It begins with belief in God's word of judgment. It manifests itself in tangible, outward expressions of sorrow and self-abasement (fasting, sackcloth, ashes). And it culminates in a genuine turning from specific sins, in this case, their "evil way" and the "violence" that was in their hands. The Ninevites' response is also marked by a humble uncertainty. They do not presume upon God's grace but cast themselves upon His mercy, saying, "Who knows, God may turn and relent." This is the posture of all true penitents. This event is a glorious preview of the gospel going to the nations, a powerful demonstration that God's mercy is not constrained by ethnic or covenantal boundaries, and a potent reminder that no person or culture is beyond the reach of a sovereign God's saving grace.

Outline

Context In Jonah

This passage is the shocking climax toward which the entire book has been building. Chapter 1 shows us Jonah's rebellion against God's command to preach to Nineveh, a rebellion rooted in his nationalistic hatred for Assyria and his correct suspicion that God was gracious. Chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer from the belly of the great fish, a psalm of deliverance that shows he has been humbled, but as chapter 4 will reveal, his heart problem has not been fully resolved. At the beginning of chapter 3, God graciously recommissions His chastened prophet with the very same command. This time, Jonah obeys. He goes to Nineveh and preaches what is likely the shortest sermon on record: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The passage we are considering (3:5-9) is the immediate, explosive result of that sermon. It is the positive response that Jonah feared, and it sets up the final chapter, where God must rebuke his pouting prophet for being angry at the very mercy that saved not only Nineveh, but Jonah himself.

Key Issues

The Revival Jonah Dreaded

It is crucial to remember that the revival recorded here is the very thing Jonah was trying to prevent by fleeing to Tarshish. He states his motive plainly in the next chapter: "for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster" (Jonah 4:2). Jonah knew his God. He knew that God's default setting is mercy and that He delights to forgive sinners who turn to Him. Jonah, the hard-hearted nationalist, did not want his sworn enemies, the brutal Assyrians, to receive this mercy. He would have preferred to see them all damned. So when God sends him with a message of judgment, Jonah knows it is not an irrevocable decree but a covenantal warning, an opportunity to repent.

The subsequent explosion of repentance is therefore a profound display of God's sovereign grace working in defiance of the preacher's own desires. God can draw straight with a crooked stick. He can use a bitter, resentful prophet to bring about one of the greatest turnings to God in all of Scripture. This is not a testament to Jonah's evangelistic skill; his sermon was five words in Hebrew. It is a testament to the raw power of the Word of God when the Spirit of God determines to apply it to the hearts of men. This is what revival is. It is not something men work up; it is something God sends down.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 And the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

The response is immediate and total. The first thing they did was the most important thing: they believed in God. This is not just intellectual assent. The Hebrew indicates a true belief, a reliance upon, a trust in the word that Jonah brought. They heard the threat, and they believed that the God who sent the threat was real and that He meant what He said. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, even when that word is preached by a reluctant prophet. This belief immediately translates into action. They don't form a committee or wait for the authorities. The repentance is organic, a grassroots movement. They call a fast and put on sackcloth, the traditional ancient Near Eastern signs of mourning, grief, and debasement. And it is universal, from the greatest to the least. Every social class, every station, is united in this desperate act of repentance.

6 Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.

The revival that began with the people now reaches the highest corridors of power. The news gets to the king. His response is exemplary. He does not just issue a decree; he leads by example. He performs five distinct actions that demonstrate the depth of his repentance. First, he arose from his throne, stepping down from his position of authority. Second, he laid aside his mantle, the symbol of his royal dignity and power. Third, he covered himself with sackcloth, identifying himself with the lowest of his repentant subjects. Fourth, he sat on the ashes, an even more profound symbol of humiliation and worthlessness. He is modeling for his entire kingdom what it looks like to be brought low before a holy God. This is what true leadership in a time of crisis looks like. He humbles himself under the mighty hand of God.

7 And he cried out and said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.

Having modeled repentance personally, the king now makes it the official policy of the state. This is a formal decree, issued with the authority of the king and his council. The fast is to be absolute, no food and no water. And in a striking move, the fast is extended to the livestock. The animals are not morally culpable, of course, but their inclusion serves two purposes. First, it demonstrates the totality of the city's repentance. Everything under man's dominion is made to participate in this act of humiliation. Second, the lowing of hungry cattle and the bleating of thirsty sheep would serve as a constant, audible reminder to the people of the severity of their situation and the urgency of their plea. The whole created order within the city walls is made to groan under the weight of their sin.

8 But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God with their strength that each may turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands.

The outward signs continue. Not only are the animals to fast, but they are also to be draped in sackcloth. This is extraordinary. But the king knows that outward signs are worthless without inward reality. The decree moves from ritual to the heart of the matter. The people are commanded to call on God with their strength, or mightily. This is not to be a half-hearted, formal prayer. It is to be a desperate, fervent cry for mercy. And then comes the essential element of all true repentance: reformation. They must turn from his evil way. This is a general call to forsake their sinful lifestyle. But it is also specific. They are to turn from the violence which is in his hands. The Assyrians were infamous for their brutality and cruelty in warfare. The king identifies this specific, corporate sin and calls for them to abandon it. Repentance is not just feeling sorry; it is stopping the sin.

9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

This final clause reveals the theological posture of the king. It is a posture of humble hope, not arrogant presumption. He does not say, "If we do all this, God is obligated to forgive us." He does not try to put God in his debt. He says, "Who knows?" It is an admission of their complete unworthiness. They have no claim on God's mercy. They have done nothing to deserve it. Their only hope is that God, in His sovereign freedom, might choose to be merciful. They are casting themselves entirely on the character of God, the very character that Jonah knew so well. They hope that He might turn and relent. This is the language of covenant. They are appealing to the possibility of grace. This is the heart of a true penitent: acknowledging the utter justice of the condemnation while pleading for a mercy that is utterly undeserved.

Application

The story of Nineveh's repentance is a bucket of cold water in the face of our cynical and sophisticated age. We are tempted to believe that some people, some cultures, are simply too far gone, too steeped in their wickedness to ever turn to God. Nineveh was the ISIS of its day, a culture that gloried in violence and brutality. And yet, at the preaching of a five-word sermon, they repented from top to bottom. This should rebuke our faithlessness and energize our evangelism. No one is a lost cause, because God is sovereign in salvation.

This passage also gives us a clear template for what true repentance looks like, both individually and corporately. It starts with believing God's word about our sin and His coming judgment. It involves genuine sorrow and humiliation, not just a flippant "sorry." And it must, absolutely must, result in a turning away from the specific sins that beset us. We cannot just say we are against sin in the abstract; we must identify the violence in our own hands, the idols in our own hearts, and forsake them. For us, this repentance is not a shot in the dark, a "who knows?" We have a greater than Jonah here. We have the resurrected Christ, who is the sign of Jonah. We know that God is not just a God who might relent. In Jesus Christ, He has demonstrated definitively that He is a God who does forgive all who turn from their sin and trust in His Son. The Ninevites repented at a word of pure law and judgment. How much more should we, who have heard the glorious gospel of grace, run to this merciful God for the forgiveness that is freely offered in Christ?