Jonah 3:6
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
When the warning reached the king of Nineveh he rose from his throne, laid aside his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.
His act showed belief in the warning with deep humiliation, sorrow for sin and repentance, joining high and lowly in fasting, sackcloth and crying to God while the Spirit brought the message home to multitudes who trembled and repented.
God accepted that repentance, turned from fierce anger, averted the threatened overthrow and gave the city lengthened probation and another trial to prove its repentance genuine.
That humbling lasted only for a season, for the city set aside the light, returned to idolatry, conquest and greater wickedness until its sins reached heaven and it was destroyed.
The king's humbling is the pattern of conversion and spiritual regeneration still needed, to put no confidence in men but look to the One mighty to save, accept mercy through obedience and be fitted for His work, and its reprieve parallels the disappointment of 1844 to teach patient labor for sinners rather than sorrow over unfulfilled expectation.
The sackcloth and ashes do not prescribe a style of dress that will save in a later crisis.
The King Humbles Himself
When the word came to the king of Nineveh he arose from his throne and laid his royal robe from him and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. His leaving the throne and laying aside the robe and taking sackcloth and ashes was humility and deep humiliation before God.
That humbling expressed belief in the warning and sorrow for sin and repentance, and in it the king joined his people, high and lowly, in fasting and sackcloth and crying to God. King and nobles with the people turned to seek mercy, and their turning from evil moved God to turn from His fierce anger.
The message spread through the city and the Spirit of God brought it home to hearts, so multitudes were convicted and trembled over their sins and repented in deep humility. This came through Jonah's cry, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown, ringing through the streets. At that time Nineveh was the mightiest nation on earth, a marvel of wealth and magnificence yet a godless city.
Mercy Gained Then Lost
When the king joined high and low in fasting, sackcloth and crying to God, their turning from evil was accepted, fierce anger was turned away, mercy was shown, and the threatened overthrow was averted. The city was spared and granted a lengthened probation, another trial and longer time in which to bring forth the fruits of humiliation. That reprieve waited for repentance to prove itself in life, giving a wicked city opportunity to repent and live.
The warning still tested the city according to the divine will, proving that announced judgment need not fall when the warned turn from their evil ways. The prophet's standing was not injured when Nineveh repented, because the warning had served its purpose. The city was given forty years to show its repentance genuine and to turn from sin.
That humility lasted only for a season, a temporary turning to God to seek forgiveness. By Hezekiah's time the message had been set aside and the divine purposes defied, as Assyria returned to image worship, idol worship and conquest. Having received light and then ignored it, the people became more wicked, until sins reached heaven and the city was destroyed, so its fate stands as a warning that continued wickedness brings destruction.
Pattern For Later Generations
The humbling of Nineveh is the pattern of conversion and spiritual regeneration needed by every member of the church. When men and women humble self as Nineveh humbled herself, putting no confidence in men but looking to the One who is mighty to save all who come to Him, God fills them with His Spirit and fits them for His work. The king left his throne, removed his robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes, and that turning to God under Jonah's preaching is held up as an example of accepting mercy and becoming sanctified through obedience to God's law. The Ninevites' clothing themselves in sackcloth expressed sorrow for sin and humility, an example of the penitence and humiliation that lead to nobleness of character.
Though Nineveh was a marvel of wealth and magnificence, the king believed Jonah's three-day cry of Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown, and humbled himself and his people before the Lord in fasting and sackcloth. A merciful God accepted their repentance, turned away His fierce anger, lengthened the days of their probation, and waited for the fruits of their humiliation. The king's leaving his throne to put on sackcloth and sit in ashes, together with the people's fasting and sackcloth, led God to accept their repentance and extend Nineveh's probation, showing that the warning served its purpose even though the threatened destruction did not occur. The lengthened probation of Nineveh is a parallel to the 1844 disappointment, proving that a message may be of God and accomplish His purpose even when the announced destruction does not occur at the time expected. The right response is not selfish sorrow over humiliation but rejoicing that the world is granted a reprieve and patient labor to bring sinners to repentance and salvation.
At that time the mightiest nation on earth, Jonah's warning of destruction rang through the streets of the godless city, the proclamation caused the nation to repent in great humiliation, and because of that repentance its doom was averted. Through this the law of God was revered and the God of Israel was honored and exalted throughout the heathen world. The Jews kept this experience ever in remembrance, yet a greater than Jonah stood among them. The Ninevites' repentance is held up as a contrast to Eli's failure to repent and correct his sons when warned. The king's humbling himself in sackcloth and ashes at Jonah's preaching was part of a city-wide repentance that led God to spare Nineveh and give its people opportunity to repent and live. That repentance shall rise up in judgment to condemn this generation, because when men whom God has spared as He spared Nineveh continue to legalize and carry on the liquor traffic and the wicked works that brought rebuke, chastening and devastation upon their cities, instead of heartfelt repentance, acknowledgment of mercy, and entire abolition of liquor saloons, the next stroke of God will be to destroy life.
The king put on sackcloth and sat in ashes as the city sought to be spared from the threat of destruction. The verse does not support the claim that a prescribed style of clothing would save people in a later crisis, and that claim is rejected as untrue.