Sugar Land Bible Church

Guest (Male): An obscure Hebrew prophet, just one man, likely smelling like fish vomit, walks into the heart of the most brutal Assyrian city at that time, Nineveh. As we learned in prior lessons, it was the capital region to an empire infamous for its cruelty: impaling its enemies, flaying its captives, stacking hundreds if not thousands of enemy's severed heads in the city gates as a warning to its enemies.

This was not a nice city; it was a pagan city and a byword for violence. Jonah’s message was both stark and short, if you recall. He said, “Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” These were five words in Hebrew and eight words in the English translation. There were no negotiations and no conditional clause, just a countdown to destruction.

What followed Jonah’s declaration was one of the most shocking mass responses in all of scripture. A wicked king, as we read, steps off his throne, a violent city puts down their arms as it were, and then replaces it with sackcloth and prayer. What is the result? We see God respond. Believe it or not, many people, I would say believers included, struggle with these two questions. Can people like that really repent? And will God actually show mercy if they do repent?

I'm sure you noticed by now that from a cultural level, we live in a world where evil is entrenched. It’s ingrained in the fabric of our society, so ingrained we sort of scoff at it first and then we carry on. Some sins feel so hardened and so wicked that we deem the sinner beyond hope and beyond our reach. We quietly assume repentance is unlikely or revival is impossible. On a more personal level, individuals here in our congregation, perhaps visitors or perhaps long-time attendees, we secretly wonder if our own sins have put them beyond God’s compassion.

If we don't have an accurate biblical perspective on repentance and mercy, we either despair over hardened sinners or we trivialize sin and we cheapen grace. From a historical standpoint, Jonah chapter 3 verses 6 through 10 shows how God’s warning delivered an unbelieving and wicked people and their king from destruction through an unwilling and rebellious Hebrew prophet. Beyond that, Jonah brought them to the point of humility. It was Jonah’s message. Jonah’s brief warning finally reaches the highest level of Nineveh, the king, and he responds in public humiliation, calling his entire city to seek God and to turn from their violence.

From a theological standpoint, this account also reveals the heart of God. It’s like the camera pans from Nineveh’s streets straight up to heaven, straight up to the throne room of God. We get a picture of how the Lord himself responds when those who have every reason to expect judgment turn from their violence. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he led an entire city in repentance and unto salvation. If you look back in Jonah 3 verse 5, they repented, and we talked about this in prior sermons: repentance unto salvation.

It is very important that we clarify this. Nineveh experienced a change of mind, one that not only led to temporal salvation but eternal salvation. If we go back to 3:5 for a second, it says, “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.” We talked about this as well: the Hebrew construction in this sentence is nearly identical to that of Abraham’s testimony when he believed in Genesis 15 and verse 6.

This was the same kind of repentance found in the context of Matthew 12 and verse 41. The scribes and the Pharisees said in verse 38, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” In other words, they didn't believe who Jesus was, their long-awaited Messiah. Jesus responds in verse 41. He said, “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation”- the generation that Jesus was looking at- “at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

This repentance led the city of Nineveh to salvation in its fullest sense. As we see and read, it led them to fasting, wearing sackcloth, and so on. It even goes beyond that and says God saw their deeds and relented from his calamity. This is an incredible account. In this sermon, hopefully, we will see how the Lord’s mercy meets genuine repentance with compassion instead of deserved judgment.

Of course, this begs the question: how? How does the Lord’s mercy meet genuine repentance with compassion? It happens in three ways. The Lord’s relenting mercy meets genuine repentance when sinners humble themselves before his warning in verses 6 and 7; when sinners look earnestly to him and turn from their evil ways in verses 8 through 9; and when he sees their turning away from their sin and withholds the calamity he had declared in verse 10.

Let’s begin our first section: chapter 3 verses 6 through 7. The Lord’s mercy meets genuine repentance when sinners humble themselves before his warning. Let’s go back to verse 6. Notice what it says. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, notice four things: he arose from his throne, he laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. The king’s response is striking. He relinquished, abandoned, and surrendered the visible symbols of his authority.

We can't miss the order of these things. Jonah preached to the people first. Go back to verse 5 and you will see that the people called a fast and put on sackcloth. It’s not until verse 6 that we see the word reach the king. Very interestingly, the Hebrew translation for ‘word’ is ‘the thing’. In the words of Joe Biden, “you know the thing.” It means a previous matter. The king heard about what was going on with his people and what they were doing and what Jonah said to the people.

When the matter reached the king, he was fully briefed. He apparently took matters so seriously that he removed himself from his seat of power and joined in with his people in these humble acts of repentance. Scholar AR Fausset says this: “The language implies that it was after the appointment of a fast by general acclamation of the people that the whole of what had occurred reached the king, and instead of being jealous at the initiative having been taken by the people, he at once humbled himself after his people’s example.”

Why would a brutal king do this? I can’t say for sure, but I can say for certain that this king is giving expression to his belief. He believed in Jonah’s message, and then he took action. The king laid aside his robe, setting aside royal glory. This is the costly upper garment that distinguishes him from the common man. He lays it aside and replaces it with sackcloth. We talked about what sackcloth was in prior lessons; it’s a symbol of mourning.

He covered himself with sackcloth. He is humbly joining his people and adopting the clothing of grief and penitence. Lastly, it says he sat in the ashes. This is a posture of humiliation and mourning. Don't miss what’s happening in this scene. This is deliberately dramatic. Jonah, the author, has recorded something incredibly fascinating. I like what the scholar Nixon said: “There is a beautiful symmetry in the way the actions of the king are set out. The action begins with him rising from his throne and ends with him sitting in the ashes. Between these two resting places he has taken off his royal robe and covered or hidden himself in sackcloth.”

Not even David’s repentance after he had heard the words of Nathan the prophet is so lucidly portrayed. The pagan king of Nineveh knew that fasting and the usual outward signs of repentance alone were insufficient. If you notice verse 7, the king issues a proclamation. He and his top leadership put out a decree in Nineveh: “Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.”

This is not a private spirituality. This is a totally new dimension the king is adding to what is already astonishing in these acts of repentance in that he leverages his authority to lead the whole city into visible, public, and corporate humiliation before the God of Israel who has threatened them. This is Jonah’s God. The most powerful man in the most brutal city of the world hears one sentence from Jonah’s God of Israel, and he steps down as a result.

Can you think of someone in our lifetime similar to this king’s authority and notorious stature who believed in God and then made a decree to his city to humble themselves in repentance, fasting, and mourning lest they anger the Almighty God any more than he already was? I can’t think of one. Amazingly, scripture presents a consistent pattern where genuine turning from wickedness prompts God’s divine mercy.

I’m thinking of 2 Chronicles 33 and verses 12 through 13. This presents the pattern of God’s mercy. You remember King Manasseh, who was captured and bound by the Assyrian forces? He entreated the Lord and humbled himself before God. Keep in mind, Manasseh was the longest-reigning monarch in either Israel’s or Judah’s history. Despite his extended tenure, he earned the recognition of Judah’s most spiritually destructive king. He was religiously corrupt and devoted to Canaanite idolatry like second to none.

He installed idols in the Lord’s temple and directed worship away from the God of Israel. Do you think Manasseh deserved God’s punishment and judgment? However, when Manasseh prayed and sought the Lord, God was moved. It says in verses 10 through 13: “When Manasseh was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to him, God was moved by his entreaty and he heard Manasseh's supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

What a story. Similarly, in Judges and in Amos, Israel put away their foreign gods and served the Lord, and scripture said God could bear their misery no longer. When the prophet Amos entreated against God’s plan of judgment against Israel, the Lord changed his mind. I’m also reminded of James 4 and verse 6, where it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” In other words, humility before God’s warning is the posture in which mercy is received. God’s relenting mercy meets those who step off their thrones and into the dust.

How does that fit in with us? When God’s word confronts us through his word, through his people, through the preaching of the word, or even our own conscience, do we scramble to protect our image or do we get off our throne and agree with God about our sin? A biblical mindset does not treat God’s warnings as insults to our dignity; it treats them like the check engine light on your car, merciful alarms meant to move us to humble ourselves.

Then we see the king of Nineveh respond. He gives not only an outward response but specific instructions about how the people and even the animals are to respond, revealing genuine repentance in practice. Notice verses 8 and 9. Here the Lord’s relenting mercy meets genuine repentance when sinners look earnestly to him. It says in verse 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.”

What made Nineveh’s repentance genuine? Jonah says, “I’m glad you asked.” I want us to notice the three key elements there. There is a visible sorrow: both man and animals are covered with sackcloth. There was an earnest prayer. And there was a moral turning. Let’s begin with visible sorrow. Man and animals—my goodness, what is going on there? This is actually culturally significant. There is documented Assyrian cultural precedent of this practice. Evidence of animals participating in mourning and humiliation is attested to in the Assyrian records.

In fact, the decrees recorded in the early 8th century calling for a general state of mourning and prayer say this: “You and all the people, your land and your meadows.” Everything in the land was included. Smith and Page, I like what they say in their commentary on Jonah. They said the inclusion of even the animals in this royally-mandated fast is the act of a desperate monarch and desperate people. Fasting and being uncomfortably dressed represented self-denial by eschewing normal comforts and making themselves physically miserable.

They sought to show the genuineness of their prayers. This action was an attempt to impress forcibly upon the Lord the sincerity of Nineveh's repentance. It was an attempt to move the heart of God and lead him to relent. If I could give you an example of this, it would be something like how modern funerals conduct their service. They have the black hearses, the black horses, and they dress up in black attire and accessories for the funeral procession.

In fact, Herodotus, the Greek historian, notes that Persian mourning customs include cutting horses’ manes just as people shave their heads, indicating that animal participation in mourning rituals was a recognized practice in the broader ancient Near Eastern culture. The word ‘beast’ in the text doesn't necessarily mean cattle. It could mean livestock, as in horses. If the Assyrians were as wicked as they recorded themselves to be, it would not be far-fetched to believe that they included their animals in the heavy lifting of these massacres.

By the way, the Book of Job describes horses as fearless animals of war. That's how Job describes horses and how God created them. Even the animals were covered in sackcloth. How about earnest prayer? The king of Nineveh said, “Let man call on God earnestly.” When was the last time you prayed so earnestly that you used every ounce of strength and energy to get close to the ear of God so that he could hear your petitions?

This was not a casual, “Hey Lord, how you doing? Here's my dilemma.” This is out of deep and utter desperation because a kid’s life is on the line, a marriage is on the line, or your own life is on the line. If I don't get to God’s ear, something really bad will happen. Have you ever prayed like that? The last element of genuine repentance is moral turning. Please don't miss the king’s command in verse 8: “that each may turn from his wicked way which is in his hands.”

He went from plural, “let man and beast,” to singular. He is talking to each and every single citizen of Nineveh. Notice, too, the first call was external; now it’s internal in nature. It’s a spiritual thing. I have to remind us: if we go back to verse 5, these were saved people. Like Abraham, their righteousness was credited to their account because of their belief. These were saved individuals, baby believers, yet still saved. These were individuals scrambling to get to God and trying to figure out how to please him.

To prove that, notice the king voices a trembling hope. He says, “Who knows? God may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger so that we will not perish.” He’s not just desperate for his own life, but for the souls of his city as well. If you recall Jonah’s message, there was no guarantee of safety or relenting. This indicates that the king’s understanding of Jonah’s message and his predicament was very advanced. He somehow knew that turning from their sin and appealing to God’s mercy might postpone his judgment.

I also want to pause here and look at this even more closely. Jonah is placing his finger on a bigger issue with far greater implications: the idea of national recognition of religion. This is not the idea that a nation is free to worship whoever they want, but an idea rooted in a nation not just recognizing but humbly submitting to the God who created the institutions of government and of nation.

Obviously, there are some people who disagree with this mixture of church and state, integrating civil and governmental institutions with religion. But notice that according to Jonah 3:8 and 9, we see the complete opposite. We see a wicked nation turning to God. To say this is huge is an understatement. I hope you see that. That’s why I love Andy’s patriotic sermons regarding the history of our country; it shows us that the founders of America believed that a nation, along with its servant representatives, should be under the control and the influence of their Creator.

At the least, they believed a nation should articulate an understanding of who this God is, how he has created them, and how he has given his son on behalf of a sinful world so that we remain under the safe coverage of the Creator God. I’m reminded of Psalm 33 verse 12 that says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” In verse 18, the Psalmist goes on to say, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope for his lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death.” That sounds like the Ninevites.

Don't we see this phenomenon with Israel? Of course, we do. The divine command for Israel was to simply obey: love your neighbor as yourself, and instill that into your progeny. Isn't that interesting? Like nations, don't we see the exact mandate given to families and the institution of the family? In Deuteronomy 6:6 through 7, this was their mandate: “These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and while you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Everywhere and at all times, you are instilling God’s truth in your children. We just had a graduation celebration this past Friday for the class of 2026. These thoughts were in my mind as I surveyed the field of graduates. At the end of the day, why do we train and disciple our children? We do it so they become godly men and women and don't grow up to be Ninevites. It’s very straightforward. In short: obey God and prosper.

If you notice Jonah verses 8 and 9 again, that’s what the king is doing with his nation. He is setting the example for his nation, prostrating himself in humility and seeking the Lord. Fortunately for the Ninevite king and his citizens, this aligns with biblical repentance. Joel 2:12 through 14 says, “Return to me with all your heart and with fasting, weeping and mourning. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate.”

There’s our combination of God’s attributes we learned in prior lessons. This is found in Jonah 4:2, by the way. Notice it includes both the heart and the outward expression. Isaiah 55 and verse 7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have compassion on him.” In the New Testament, John the Baptist demands fruits in keeping with repentance in Luke 3:8. Paul as well preaches that people should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance in Acts 26:20.

Again, this is sanctification language. The Ninevites were saved. Theologically speaking, genuine repentance involves both a Godward cry and a sinward turn. We cannot earn mercy by reform, but mercy does not leave our hands clinging to violence or to sin. What does this mean for us? Are there areas in your life where you've been content with vague feelings without a sincere turning from specific evil?

Church-age believers are fundamentally called to reject the notion that grace permits continued sin since those united with Christ in his death have been severed from sin’s dominion. Paul put it this way: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Never may it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” This spiritual transformation involves discarding the old self with its corruption by deceitful desires and being renewed mentally, then adopting this new identity created in God’s image through righteousness and truth.

In Paul’s letters, specific sins like immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, anger, malice, slander, and abusive speech are explicitly identified for removal from the believer’s life. Colossians 3:5 through 10 says to consider these things dead to you. Moving on, the king said, “Who knows?” He left the outcome in God's hands. Suddenly the scene shifts like a movie. The text pulls back the curtain into the throne room of heaven and shows just how the Lord’s relenting mercy meets genuine repentance.

Notice in Jonah 3:10. Here we see God’s relenting mercy meet genuine repentance as he sees their turning and withholds the calamity he had threatened. From the divine perspective: “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.” There are a few things here to observe. It says God saw their deeds. This is not to contradict his earlier statement about looking at the heart, but to affirm that their turning is real and not cosmetic.

According to the Bible, there are two kinds of repentance that humans experience. One is the sorrow of the world. This is a feeling induced by the fear of getting caught. This is a superficial sorrow that can come and go, leading to temporary reformation. It’s cosmetic. On the other hand, there’s godly sorrow. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 7:9. Listen to this: “I now rejoice,” he says, “not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance, for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.”

He goes on in verse 10: “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold, what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow has produced in you.” In other words, this was a change of mind that resulted in a change of action in accord with God’s will. As for the Ninevites, it says God saw their deeds.

God saw that they turned from their wicked ways. This is fascinating. Did you see what God just did there? He repeated the same phrase the king had used. God repeated the words from a repentant, wicked pagan king. Then God relented concerning his calamity. By the way, the Hebrew word relented means to repent or to change a course of action. The word is rooted in a Hebrew idea of having compassion.

God actually changed his course of action in relation to the Ninevites, and that is consistent with his character of compassion. Notice he did not do it. He did not go through with his judgment. The threatened overthrow does not happen. Praise the Lord. It's not because he was bluffing or he was joshing, just kidding. This is the condition implied in the prophetic warnings. The Ninevites' continued wickedness was changed.

I remember my family was visiting Fabi's family in New Jersey. I had the kiddos with me, Ashlyn, Brielle, and Jonah. Jonah was about four or five at the time. All I remember was we were at our destination and we had to park a ways away because every street was lined with parked cars. We got out of our car and took a left to begin walking on the sidewalk. Jonah, not paying attention, continued to walk straight in between two parked cars, heading right into the street.

It had to be the Holy Spirit because when I looked behind me, he was just about to step onto the street. In the corner of my eye, I saw a black SUV speeding by, missing Jonah by inches. It passed him so fast that his hair went whoosh because of the wind. At that moment, I became so terrified that he would get hit; I closed my eyes and I screamed his name, “Jonah!”

Praise God he heard me. He turned around and acknowledged me. Out of pure adrenaline, I started yelling at him, “Don't you ever do that again! You could have died!” He was like, “Why are you screaming, Daddy?” I finally calmed down and I told him, “If you ever go out into the street like that, you could get hurt or you could die. I have to discipline you.” I made him aware of the situation which just happened.

I share all that to say this: the threat of sin is real and the danger of sin is life-threatening. The wages of sin is death. Ideally, a child confronted by a near-accident acknowledges his wrong in heading into the streets without looking, and that changes his behavior. As a result, the parent’s heart is now glad to withhold a discipline because the purpose of the warning—turning from danger—has been achieved.

In Jonah 3:10, this is no different. God is infinitely more holy, yet he reveals himself as one who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but whose desire is that they turn and live. When Nineveh turned, God was no longer confined by his warning. He was free, consistent with his gracious and compassionate character, to relent and to change his course of action.

You know this is all over the Bible. In Jeremiah 18:7 through 8, God explicitly states if he announces judgment on a nation that turns from evil, he will relent concerning the calamity. In Ezekiel 33:11, God declares that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their evil. We also see this in the New Testament. 1 Timothy 1:15 through 16 shows Paul himself as a foremost sinner who received mercy and then puts himself out there as a pattern for those who would believe.

Jonah 3:10 does not present God as a fickle, erratic, or unpredictable God. Rather, he’s revealed as a God of consistent character: absolutely just and absolutely right in threatening judgment, but at the same time, God absolutely delights to show mercy when sinners turn from their wicked ways. What does this mean for us? Do you believe that if there is a genuine turning from evil, God is the kind of God who will gladly relent from sending calamity?

I’m guilty of this, by the way. I look at a group out there and think they are out of my reach, so I’ll do nothing. Are there people or groups you have written off as too far gone? Forget that the God of Jonah 3 delights to show mercy to even the most wicked and violent people. A proper biblical understanding of God’s relenting mercy guards us from presumption. He really does threaten judgment. It also guards us from despair because he really does relent when people turn.

Jonah 3:6 through 10 has taken us from a violent throne room to ashes, from 40 days and then destruction to divine relenting. Now we need to picture what it would look like if God’s people today believed this about his heart toward repentant sinners. We’ve seen that the Lord’s mercy meets genuine repentance with compassion instead of deserved judgment. It meets those who humble themselves before his warning, those who look earnestly to him and turn from their evil ways, and God turns and withholds the calamity he’s threatened.

These passages do not in any way minimize sin or God’s holiness; instead, it magnifies his mercy and compassion and God’s readiness to change his course when sinners turn from their wicked ways. Moreover, these passages showcase the universal love and plan of redemption which extends to all the nations. May we as God’s people take his warning about sin in our lives seriously. May we lavish in his mercy. We should never underestimate what he can do when a person or a city steps down from their throne and turns to him.

The Ninevites in Jonah’s day faced a looming judgment of destruction because of their wickedness. In the same way, if you find yourself perhaps unsure of your relationship with God or if you've rejected him, the Bible teaches that there is a looming judgment over your head. The Book of John chapter 3 and verse 36b says this: “But he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” That is a scary place to be.

There is only one condition that would change God’s course of action, and that’s to believe. In fact, if we read the whole verse of John 3:36, it says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Is it believe plus change your ways to have eternal life? No. Is it clean up your act to get you saved? Nope, not that either.

The Bible says believe and believe only. Believe on the message, and that message is the gospel: that Christ lived a perfect life and died a cruel death in your place. He took your judgment and your wrath so that you can be reconciled to God and God can now lavish his love on you. This caused the crowd in Acts, when Peter preached his sermon, to ask, “What must we do?” Peter said, “Believe.”

Belief is another word for faith or trust. When you put your faith and trust in Christ Jesus for what he has done for your life, you have just changed your eternal destiny from death to life. That is the most important decision you will ever make. We encourage you to do that. Let’s pray. Father God, thank you for the Book of Jonah and thank you that your relenting mercy is on full display here even for the most wicked people.

It's relevant for right now for people in your congregation and for people outside our congregation who might not believe your mercy and forgiveness is still available. I pray that we can take advantage of that and look to you, believe, and then turn from our wicked ways. We thank you again for this church. We bless you, we honor you, and we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.