Jonah 3:7
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
The decree was a formal proclamation of the king and his nobles published through Nineveh, ordering a total citywide fast in which neither people nor livestock, herd nor flock, were to taste food or drink water.
It came in answer to Jonah's warning through the streets that the city would be overthrown in forty days, and the whole city from highest to lowest believed, feared, fasted in sackcloth and ashes, and cried to God for mercy.
God accepted that earnest humiliation and turning from evil ways and violence, turned away His fierce anger, spared the city at that time, and lengthened its probation for forty years to prove its repentance genuine.
The warning was God's true message and test that fulfilled its purpose though the overthrow did not come at the stated time, showing how in mercy He grants the world longer time to hear, repent, and be saved.
Nineveh's humility lasted only for a season before it returned to idolatry and deeper wickedness until destruction came, yet its repentance stands as proof that wicked cities can repent when warned and given opportunity before judgment.
The Decree and Repentance
Jonah 3:7 records a formal decree issued jointly by the king of Nineveh and his nobles, proclaimed and published throughout the city, ordering a citywide fast in which neither people nor animals, herd nor flock, were to taste anything, feed, or drink water. The decree made the response to threatened judgment public, and it deliberately extended the fast even to livestock. The king turned the people's fasting humiliation into binding law for the whole city, including the beasts.
The decree came in response to Jonah's warning cried through the streets that Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days. That warning spread through the city, its inhabitants heard that the city faced destruction, and many were moved to repent in humility. Jonah delivered God's message of coming destruction in godless Nineveh, then the mightiest nation on earth.
Nineveh's response was a collective humble appeal to God, from the king and nobles down to the humblest servant and people of every rank. They believed the warning wholeheartedly and earnestly, feared because of their sins, fasted, put on sackcloth and ashes, and cried to God for mercy and forgiveness. King and people together humbled themselves before God in fasting after hearing of destruction.
The outward humiliation was joined to inward turning, shown in actions and not in signs alone. The decree called everyone to cry to God, to turn from evil ways and violence, and to turn from evil in conduct. That turning was accepting mercy and becoming sanctified through obedience to God's laws, undertaken in hope that God would spare the city.
Mercy, Probation and Judgment
God accepted Nineveh's true and earnest humiliation and repentance, showed compassion to the repentant city, turned away His fierce anger, granted mercy, and averted the threatened destruction at that time. The fasting and sackcloth ordered by royal decree, joined to turning from evil ways and shown in actions, was received as genuine repentance from king to humblest servant. Instead of destroying the city He lengthened its days of probation and granted more time. That added time is given as forty years of probation to show whether its repentance was genuine and to turn from sin.
The warning that the city would be overthrown in forty days was the genuine message God intended, a true divine test that accomplished His purpose even though the predicted overthrow did not occur at the stated time. The lengthened probation proves the warning was still of God and illustrates how God in mercy grants the world longer time to prepare, to hear the warning of judgment more widely, and to be tested with greater light and brought to repentance and salvation. The episode serves as a parallel to the disappointment of 1844, when an announced event did not occur as expected yet the message was from God and fulfilled its purpose.
Nineveh's humility lasted only for a season and its repentance did not last. The people later returned to idol worship and image worship and world conquest, becoming more deeply wicked after receiving the light. Their sins afterward reached to heaven, and their destruction came after the mercy that had averted it for a time. The threatened destruction was real and not empty, proving that God means what He says about sin and judgment.
Warning and Example Today
Nineveh's repentance at Jonah's preaching stands as proof that wicked cities can repent when warned and given opportunity before destruction comes. The threatened judgment did not fall because the inhabitants were granted that opportunity to turn, and Jonah felt his reputation as a prophet was injured when the overthrow did not occur.
God's sparing of inhabitants whose lives were wonderfully preserved under calamity is the pattern for cities today, for that sparing is opportunity given to repent, to acknowledge mercy with heartfelt sorrow, to abolish the liquor saloons and put away the wicked works that brought rebuke, chastening and devastation, and to prepare to meet death with Christ's armor on. If men whom God has spared keep legalizing and carrying on the liquor traffic and continue the works that brought judgment, cities that continue in wickedness even after being spared will face judgment and the next stroke of the Infinite will destroy life. The repenting men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, and Nineveh's response is an example of repentance that could have brought Israel another trial.
Through Nineveh's humiliation the law of God was revered and the God of Israel was honored and exalted throughout the heathen world, an experience kept ever in remembrance, yet Jesus Christ is greater than Jonah. When people humble themselves as Nineveh did, God fills them with His Spirit and fits them for His work, and accepting mercy leads to becoming sanctified through obedience to God's laws. Nineveh repented when warned, unlike Eli who failed to act rightly when warned about his sons, while Jonah felt his reputation as a prophet was injured because the threatened judgment did not come.
The verse does not fix the end of probation for March 20th with flight from the cities by March 10th, nor does it require to save themselves that people now put on a poor uniform of plain drilled cloth with plain dress, no coat for women, plain apron, no hat, hair combed down plain, shawl for covering, and for men no fine shirts, cuffs and collars, unshaven faces and uncut hair. The excitement and amusements of the present resemble conditions that existed before Nineveh was overthrown.