On March 30, 1863, US President Abraham Lincoln called the whole country to a day of repentance, confession, and fasting. He told Americans: “We have forgotten God”. He reasoned that the civil war ravaging the country might be a judgment from God for the sins of the nation, intended to bring national reformation. And in this, Lincoln had much in common with the ruler of Nineveh...
A city repents
Read Jonah 3 v 6-9
- - Why does Nineveh's king urge national repentance, a huge turning back to God (v 9)
- - How serious is the king about this (v 7-8)?
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TIME OUT
The Ninevites provide us with a great example of genuine repentance.
- - What does it involve?
The outward signs (v 7-8a) of the inward reality (v 8b) may look different in various times and cultures. But we must beward of the idea that repenting means just saying a quick sorry.
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God relents
Read verse 10
- - How does God respond to this city's heart-felt repentance?
- - What do we learn here about what God is like?
- - How have we already seen these qualities of the LORD played out in the lives of the sailors, and of Jonah himself?
We've seen Jonah disobeying and running from Nineveh. We've seen him obeying and going to Nineveh.
- - What has God used both Jonah's obedience and his disobedience to do? What does this tell us about God?
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TIME OUT
Deuteronomy 18 v 20-22 says that a prophet who predicts the future falsely is a false prophet, worthy of death. And what Jonah said would happen (v 4) hasn’t happened! Should he now be facing death? Read Jeremiah 18 v 7-8 to see why he is, in fact, a true prophet of the compassionate God.
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PRAY
Think again about what you’ve seen in Jonah about who God is. Thank Him for His character. Pray that who He is to His world would shape who you are in His world.
In these verses, a whole city repents. It can happen! Pray boldly now for your city, town or village. Ask that God would use His people to call each resident to repentance, and that they would miraculously respond.
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This devotional is taken from Explore—a daily Bible-reading devotional from The Good Book Company which enables you to engage with Scripture and which will encourage, equip and inspire you to live for Christ. Explore features contributions from pastors such as Dr Timothy Keller, Mike McKinley and Tim Chester.
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