Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Wednesday November 3, 2010Jonah: Jonah 3:1-3a-The Lord Commands Jonah A Second Time To Go Immediately To Nineveh To Proclaim A Message And The Prophet ObeysLesson # 36

3. Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:1.

4. This evening we will study the fourth scene in the book of Jonah that appears in Jonah 3:1-3a, which records the Lord commanding Jonah a second time to go immediately to Nineveh in order to proclaim a message from Him to the Ninevites and this time the prophet obeys.

5. Jonah 3:1, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.’

6. 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.

7. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’

8. 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

9. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.

10. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, ‘In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.

11. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.

12. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.’

13. 10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.” (NASU)

14. Let’s look at verse 1.Jonah 3:1, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying.’”

15. Jonah 1:1-3a contains the fourth scene in the book of Jonah and transitions to a new scene that presents a new subject, namely the Lord recomissions Jonah to go to Nineveh.

16. This scene is transitional since in the previous scene we have Jonah either at sea, on board the ship or inside the stomach of the great fish but in the fourth scene, the prophet is back on dry land.

17. This scene, which is brief, is almost identical to the wording that appears in the opening scene, 1:1-3 with only the phrase בן אמתי “son of Amittai” in 1:1 being replaced with שׁנית “a second time” in 3:1.

18. In this pericope, we do not see the Lord rebuking Jonah since the storm did that.

19. Rather, we have simple reiteration of the command by the Lord, which speaks of His grace policy towards Jonah in that though he was worthy of death for disobeying the Lord, the Lord gives him a second chance, which teaches us that God is a God of the second chance.

20. There is no mention of Jonah’s rebelliousness or disobedience in this scene since it has been forgiven by the Lord.

21. To forgive means to give someone a release from the wrong that he has done to you and means to give up any right of retaliation.

22. The prophet was a criminal in the eyes of a holy God whose standards are perfection.

23. Thus, Jonah is being treated according to God’s grace policy and has been pardoned.

24. Now, this fourth scene does not say whether Jonah went back to Jerusalem or his hometown, Gath-Hepher and wait for the Lord to recomission him.

25. The text simply says that the Lord communicated a message to Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh immediately and proclaim a message that the Lord will give him when he arrives in that great city.

26. At this point in the narrative Jonah has confessed his sin of disobeying the Lord and has repented.

27. This is indicated by the statements in Jonah 3:3-4, which record Jonah obeying the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh and pronounce judgment against it.

28. However, Jonah has not repented concerning his hateful attitude towards the Ninevites as indicated by the statements he makes to the Lord as recorded in Jonah 4:2-3.

29. The expression “the word of the Lord came to Jonah” emphasizes with the reader that Jonah received divine authority to proclaim a message of judgment against the city of Nineveh.

30. The content of this message is related in verse 4, which echoes God telling Jonah to announce judgment against it in Jonah 1:2.

31. The exact manner in which Jonah received this message is not given.

32. God chose to speak to His prophets in various ways whether through dreams or direct communication or through a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:9-13) or through a whirlwind (Job 38) or earthquake.

33. “A second time” indicates that the Lord is recomissioning the prophet to go to Nineveh.

34. It also speaks of God’s grace and mercy, which flows from His attribute of love since it indicates that the prophet is getting a second chance.

35. “Arise, go” is the second person masculine singular qal active imperative form of the verb qum (קוּם) (koom), “arise” and the second person masculine singular qal active imperative form of the verb halak (הָלַך) (haw-lak), “go.”

36. These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys and mean “go immediately” emphasizing the urgency of this command to go to Nineveh.

37. Nineveh was one of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire and was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in northeastern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, in the area of the city of Mosul).

38. After Jonah’s day it was made the capital of Assyria by Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.), the successor of Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) who destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

39. The city of Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C. by the Medes and the Persians.

40. Its great size is mentioned in Jonah 3:3 which states, “Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk.”

41. Ancient Greek and Roman writers state that it was in the shape of a trapezium and was the largest city in the world in that day, which is confirmed by modern archaeological excavations.

42. The New American Commentary writes, “According to the usual manner of transport (camel or donkey caravan), it would have taken approximately one month to traverse this distance. Going by foot would have taken even longer.” (The New American Commentary: Amos, Obadiah, Jonah; page 256)

44. Jonah 3:1, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 ‘Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.’”

45. “The great city” is composed of the articular feminine singular form of the noun îr (עִיר) (aw-yar), “the city” and the articular feminine singular form of the adjective gadhol (גָּדֹול) (ga-dol), “great.”

46. As was the case in Jonah 1:2, the adjective gadhol in 3:2 emphasizes the size of the city of Nineveh highlighting its importance so that just as is the size of the city, so is the magnitude of its wickedness (The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah, page 4).

47. “Proclaim to it” is composed of the second person masculine singular qal active imperative form of the verb qārāʾ (קָרָא) (kaw-raw), “cry” and the preposition ʾěl (אַל) (ale), “to” and the third person feminine singular pronomial suffix hî(ʾ) (הִיא) (hoo), “it.”

48. The verb qārāʾ means “to announce” and unlike in 1:2 when the word was used with the preposition ’al (עַל), “against,” this time it is used here with the preposition ʾěl (אַל) (ale), “to,” which is a marker of persons benefited by an event.

49. The former has a negative sense indicating God’s hostility against the Ninevites.

50. The latter suggests that this message will be “for the benefit of” the Ninevites since it will lead to their believing in God and repenting of their wicked conduct.