Jonah 3:8
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
The king ordered every person from highest to lowest, even the animals, to be covered with sackcloth and to join in fasting and earnest public crying to God for mercy and forgiveness.
That outward humbling had to go deeper into each person turning from his evil course and from the violent deeds that marked the city, in obedience to God's law by which they were sanctified.
God saw their changed actions, turned away His fierce anger, spared the city from threatened destruction, and lengthened its probation for about forty years to wait for its fruits.
Their repentance lasted only for a season before they returned to idol worship and violence and were finally devastated, proving that God means what He says about sin and judgment.
The same turning is required now with all the heart and might, crying mightily to God with no confidence in men, abandoning evil and violent works such as the liquor traffic, so that His fierce anger may be turned away.
Nineveh's Cry to God
The decree came from the king in response to Jonah's warning, binding the whole city from king and nobles to common people, together with the animals, all to be covered with sackcloth. The covering of people and even beasts with sackcloth, joined with fasting, expressed deep humility before God. Yet true repentance was more than fasting or outward mourning; the essential response was abandoning wrongdoing.
The city was to cry mightily to God, an earnest and public appeal in which everyone humbled himself and sought mercy and forgiveness. The warning reached hearts, so that many trembled because of their sins and repented in deep humiliation. Each person was to turn from his evil way and from the violence in his hands, stopping the evil and violent deeds they were committing. Violence was a leading characteristic of Nineveh's inhabitants.
That turning was obedience to God's law, by which they were sanctified. The nation, at that time the mightiest on earth, was humbled in great humiliation, turned from evil, revered His law, and brought honor to Israel's God and exalted Him throughout the heathen world.
Mercy Granted Then Lost
A merciful God accepted Nineveh's humiliation, saw that the people had changed their actions, turned away His fierce anger, spared the city, and averted its threatened destruction. From king and nobles to common people the city had cried to Him, and that public, earnest appeal joined to turning from evil and violence was met with mercy. Genuine repentance was thus demonstrated by abandoning sin, and even a wicked people may be spared when they repent.
He lengthened their probation, granting about forty years of testing while He waited for the fruits of their humiliation. That further trial was given because their sincere turning from evil ways and violence moved Him to accept their acknowledgment of Him. The warning accomplished God's designed purpose even though the announced overthrow did not occur on time.
Their repentance lasted only for a season. They soon returned to idol and image worship and to world conquest, deepening their iniquity despite the light they had received. By Hezekiah's time they had set Jonah's message aside in defiance of God's purposes.
Continuing in wickedness, the city came under God's rebuke and chastening and was devastated. After turning again to idolatry its sins reached to heaven, and its destruction then came. This proves that God means what He says about sin and judgment, as also shown by Eden lost through the forbidden fruit, the flood leaving only Noah and his sons, and Sodom destroyed by fire from heaven. Christ referred to this humiliation and turning from evil and declared that One greater than Jonah was present in Himself.
Call to Repent Today
Nineveh's forty-day warning illustrates the disappointment of 1844, for the time message was still from God and accomplished the purpose He designed even though the announced overthrow did not occur on time. As the king believed the warning and led people and even beasts into fasting and sackcloth, mighty crying to God, and turning every one from evil conduct and violence, so the humiliation moved a merciful God to accept repentance, turn away fierce anger, lengthen probation, and wait for the fruits of humiliation. In the same pattern mercy granted the world longer time to prepare for His coming, for the warning of judgment to be heard more widely, and for people to be tested with greater light, revealing Christ entering the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to finish the atonement and bring sinners to repentance and salvation. The duty therefore is to trust God's wisdom and mercy, rejoice in the reprieve, and labor patiently to bring sinners to repentance and salvation rather than grieve with discouragement and selfish sorrow over unfulfilled expectation and the humiliation of disappointed proclaimers.
God's people now must repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, turning from evil as Nineveh did so that His fierce anger may be turned away from them. Such humbling means putting no confidence in men but looking to the One who is mighty to save all who come to Him. When men and women humble themselves in this way, God fills them with His Spirit and fits them for His work. For those who believe present truth this calls for conversion, with a work of spiritual regeneration done for every member of the church.
God's compassion still gives the wicked opportunity to turn back, and if people in wicked cities today repented as Nineveh did, turning from evil ways and violence with a plea to God, they too could receive warnings calling them to change. Eli stands as the contrast, for he received warning and opportunity to act but did not repent as the Ninevites did by turning from wrongdoing, and his submissive words could not make up for neglecting his duty to restrain his sons. The repentance that spared Nineveh will condemn the present generation in judgment. It means calling earnestly to God with mourning, acknowledging His mercy with heartfelt repentance, and turning every person from evil conduct and violent deeds.
That turning requires entirely abolishing the liquor saloons and no longer legalizing and carrying on the liquor traffic and the wicked works that brought cities under rebuke and chastening and caused devastation. God spared Nineveh and has likewise spared modern cities and wonderfully preserved human lives, giving opportunity to repent and to prepare to meet death with Christ's armor on. Continuing in those works after being spared invites the next stroke of the Infinite to destroy life.