Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish." Who knows?This phrase reflects a sense of uncertainty and hope. In Hebrew, the expression "mi yodea" suggests a humble acknowledgment of human limitations in understanding God's will. It conveys the idea that while humans cannot predict divine actions, there is room for hope and repentance. This rhetorical question invites reflection on the nature of God's mercy and the possibility of divine intervention in response to human repentance. God may turn and relent
The Hebrew word for "turn" is "shuv," which means to return or repent. This is significant because it implies a change in direction or purpose. The word "relent" is translated from "nacham," which can mean to be sorry, to console oneself, or to change one's mind. In the context of the Old Testament, these terms often describe God's response to human actions, emphasizing His willingness to forgive and alter His course of action when people genuinely repent. This phrase underscores the compassionate and responsive nature of God, who is not bound by a predetermined course but is open to altering His plans in light of human repentance. He may turn from His fierce anger
The phrase "fierce anger" in Hebrew is "charon aph," which literally means "burning of the nose," a vivid metaphor for intense anger. This anthropomorphic expression highlights the severity of God's wrath against sin. However, the possibility that God "may turn" from this anger illustrates His readiness to forgive and withhold judgment when people turn from their wicked ways. It reflects the biblical theme that God's justice is tempered by His mercy, and His desire is not to punish but to restore. so that we will not perish
The word "perish" in Hebrew is "avad," which means to be lost, destroyed, or to vanish. This term conveys the ultimate consequence of sin, which is destruction and separation from God. The use of "we" indicates a communal aspect of repentance and salvation, emphasizing that the actions of individuals can impact the fate of the entire community. This phrase serves as a reminder of the stakes involved in repentance and the hope that through turning to God, destruction can be averted, and life preserved. Persons / Places / Events 1. JonahA prophet of God who was initially reluctant to deliver God's message to Nineveh but eventually obeyed after being swallowed by a great fish. 2. NinevehThe capital city of Assyria, known for its wickedness. It was a large and influential city during Jonah's time. 3. The King of NinevehThe ruler who, upon hearing Jonah's message, led the city in repentance, hoping for God's mercy. 4. GodThe sovereign Creator who sent Jonah to Nineveh with a message of impending judgment, yet is compassionate and willing to relent from sending calamity. 5. The People of NinevehThe inhabitants of the city who responded to Jonah's warning with fasting, sackcloth, and repentance. Teaching Points The Power of RepentanceTrue repentance involves a change of heart and action. The Ninevites demonstrated this by fasting and wearing sackcloth, showing their sincerity in seeking God's mercy. God's CompassionGod is willing to relent from sending judgment when people turn from their wicked ways. His desire is not to punish but to restore and forgive. Hope in UncertaintyThe phrase "Who knows?" reflects a humble acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. Even when outcomes are uncertain, there is hope in God's character and mercy. Leadership in RepentanceThe king of Nineveh led his people in repentance, showing the importance of leadership in guiding others toward righteousness. Urgency of ObedienceJonah's eventual obedience to God's call led to the salvation of an entire city. Our obedience can have far-reaching impacts beyond what we can see. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the response of the Ninevites to Jonah's message challenge our understanding of repentance and its importance in our lives? 2. In what ways can we demonstrate genuine repentance in our daily actions and decisions? 3. How does the character of God, as seen in Jonah 3:9, encourage us to approach Him in times of personal or communal crisis? 4. What role does leadership play in guiding others toward repentance and seeking God's mercy, as seen in the actions of the king of Nineveh? 5. How can we apply the urgency of Jonah's message to Nineveh in our own context, sharing God's truth with those around us? Connections to Other Scriptures Joel 2:13This verse speaks of God's gracious and compassionate nature, slow to anger and abounding in love, which aligns with the hope expressed by the Ninevites that God might relent from sending disaster. Exodus 32:14This passage describes God relenting from the disaster He had planned for His people, similar to the hope expressed by the Ninevites. 2 Chronicles 7:14This verse emphasizes the power of repentance and turning from wicked ways, promising that God will hear from heaven and heal the land, reflecting the actions of the Ninevites. People JonahPlaces Joppa, NinevehTopics Anger, Burning, Changing, Compassion, Destruction, Fierce, Heat, Knoweth, Overtake, Perish, Purpose, Relent, Repent, Repented, Turn, Turning, Whether, Withdraw, Wrath, YetDictionary of Bible Themes Jonah 3:1-9 7712 convincing Jonah 3:1-10 1055 God, grace and mercy
5426 news
7757 preaching, effects
8479 self-examination, examples Jonah 3:3-10 5345 influence Jonah 3:4-10 6027 sin, remedy for Jonah 3:5-9 6742 sackcloth and ashes
8431 fasting, reasons Jonah 3:5-10 6629 conversion, examples
6740 returning to God Jonah 3:6-9 5794 asceticism
6227 regret Jonah 3:6-10 1120 God, repentance of Jonah 3:9-10 5036 mind, of God Library Threefold Repentance
'And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2. Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall he overthrown. 5. So the people of Ninoveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWho Can Tell?
With this by way of preface, I shall now somewhat turn aside from the narrative, to address myself to those who are trembling on account of sin and who are in the same position as the men of Nineveh, and like them anxiously desiring mercy. I shall notice briefly this morning three things. First, the miserable plight in which the men of Nineveh found themselves; secondly, the scanty reasons which they had for hope; and then, thirdly, I shall observe that we have stronger reasons to compel us to pray, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 Of the Public Fast.
A public fast is when, by the authority of the magistrate (Jonah iii. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Ezra viii. 21), either the whole church within his dominion, or some special congregation, whom it concerneth, assemble themselves together, to perform the fore-mentioned duties of humiliation; either for the removing of some public calamity threatened or already inflicted upon them, as the sword, invasion, famine, pestilence, or other fearful sickness (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; Joel ii. 15; 2 Chron. xx.; Jonah iii. …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Whether it is Lawful for Religious to Wear Coarser Clothes than Others?
Objection 1: It would seem unlawful for religious to wear coarser clothes than others. For according to the Apostle (1 Thess. 5:22) we ought to "refrain from all appearance of evil." Now coarseness of clothes has an appearance of evil; for our Lord said (Mat. 7:15): "Beware of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep": and a gloss on Apoc. 6:8, "Behold a pale horse," says: "The devil finding that he cannot succeed, neither by outward afflictions nor by manifest heresies, sends in advance …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Things Known or Declared Prophetically Can be False?
Objection 1: It would seem that things known or declared prophetically can be false. For prophecy is about future contingencies, as stated above (A[3] ). Now future contingencies may possibly not happen; else they would happen of necessity. Therefore the matter of prophecy can be false. Objection 2: Further, Isaias prophesied to Ezechias saying (Is. 38:1): "Take order with thy house, for thou shalt surely die, and shalt not live," and yet fifteen years were added to his life (4 Kings 20:6). Again …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether all are Bound to Keep the Fasts of the Church?
Objection 1: It would seem that all are bound to keep the fasts of the Church. For the commandments of the Church are binding even as the commandments of God, according to Lk. 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth Me." Now all are bound to keep the commandments of God. Therefore in like manner all are bound to keep the fasts appointed by the Church. Objection 2: Further, children especially are seemingly not exempt from fasting, on account of their age: for it is written (Joel 2:15): "Sanctify a fast," …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Concerning the Sacrament of Penance
In this third part I shall speak of the sacrament of penance. By the tracts and disputations which I have published on this subject I have given offence to very many, and have amply expressed my own opinions. I must now briefly repeat these statements, in order to unveil the tyranny which attacks us on this point as unsparingly as in the sacrament of the bread. In these two sacraments gain and lucre find a place, and therefore the avarice of the shepherds has raged to an incredible extent against …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence.
Sections. 1. Summary of the doctrine of Divine Providence. 1. It embraces the future and the past. 2. It works by means, without means, and against means. 3. Mankind, and particularly the Church, the object of special care. 4. The mode of administration usually secret, but always just. This last point more fully considered. 2. The profane denial that the world is governed by the secret counsel of God, refuted by passages of Scripture. Salutary counsel. 3. This doctrine, as to the secret counsel of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 7 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: And thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:16-18. 1. It has been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning of the world, …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions The Doctrines of Salvation A. Repentance. B. Faith. C. Regeneration. D. Justification. E. Adoption. F. Sanctification. G. Prayer.
THE DOCTRINES OF SALVATION. A. REPENTANCE. I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE. II. THE NATURE OF REPENTANCE. 1. AS TOUCHING THE INTELLECT. 2. AFFECTING THE EMOTIONS. 3. WILL. a) Confess Sin. b) Forsake Sin. c) Turn to God. III. HOW REPENTANCE IS PRODUCED. 1. DIVINE SIDE. 2. HUMAN SIDE. 3. QUESTION OF MEANS. IV. RESULTS OF REPENTANCE. 1. GODWARD. 2. MANWARD. A. REPENTANCE. I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE. The prominence given to the doctrine of Repentance in the Scriptures can hardly be overestimated. …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible Of a Private Fast.
That we may rightly perform a private fast, four things are to be observed:--First, The author; Secondly, The time and occasion; Thirdly, The manner; Fourthly, The ends of private fasting. 1. Of the Author. The first that ordained fasting was God himself in paradise; and it was the first law that God made, in commanding Adam to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit. God would not pronounce nor write his law without fasting (Lev. xxiii), and in his law commands all his people to fast. So does our …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Jonah
The book of Jonah is, in some ways, the greatest in the Old Testament: there is no other which so bravely claims the whole world for the love of God, or presents its noble lessons with so winning or subtle an art. Jonah, a Hebrew prophet, is divinely commanded to preach to Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian empire of his day. To escape the unwelcome task of preaching to a heathen people, he takes ship for the distant west, only to be overtaken by a storm, and thrown into the sea, when, by …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Jonah 3:9 NIVJonah 3:9 NLTJonah 3:9 ESVJonah 3:9 NASBJonah 3:9 KJV
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