Jonah, The Preaching Prophet

I. THE PREACHING OF JONAH (Jonah 3:1-4)

A. The Call of Jonah (Jonah 3:1-2)

1. The nature of the call (Jonah 3:1)
a. The word of the LORD came unto Jonah
b. The second time
2. The content of the call (Jonah 3:2)
a. Arise
b. Go unto Nineveh, that great city
c. Preach unto it the preaching I bid thee

B. The Response of Jonah (Jonah 3:3-4)

1. Jonah’s obedience (Jonah 3:3)
a. He arose.
b. He went unto Nineveh.
c. He did so, according to the word of the LORD.
2. Jonah’s task (Jonah 3:3)
a. Nineveh was an exceeding great city.
b. It took three days’ journey.
3. Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4)
a. Yet forty days
b. Nineveh shall be overthrown

II. THE RESPONSE OF NINEVEH (Jonah 3:5-9)

A. The Repentance Among the Commoners (Jonah 3:5)

1. Their faith—“the people of Nineveh believed God”
2. Their remorse
a. They proclaimed a fast.
b. They put on sackcloth.
3. Their unity—“from the greatest of them even to the least of them”

B. The Repentance of the King (Jonah 3:6)

1. Word came unto the king.
2. He rose from his throne.
3. He laid his robe from him.
4. He covered him with sackcloth.
5. He sat in ashes.

C. The Legislation of Repentance (Jonah 3:7-8)

1. The command to fast (Jonah 3:7)
a. The participants
1.) Man
2.) Beast, herd and flock
b. The extent
1.) They were not to taste any thing.
2.) They were not to feed or drink water.
2. The command to mourn—“let man and beast be covered with sackcloth” (Jonah 3:8)
3. The command to pray—“cry mightily unto God” (Jonah 3:8)
4. The command to turn (Jonah 3:8)
a. Let them turn every one from his evil way.
b. Let them turn every one from the violence that is in their hands.

D. The Chance of Nineveh (Jonah 3:9)

III. THE RESPONSE OF GOD (Jonah 3:10)

A. The Awareness of God

1. God saw their works.
2. God saw that they turned from their evil way.

B. The Repentance of God

1. God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them.
2. He did it not.