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He Relents in Repentance (Jonah 3)

Scott Kercheville
11/16/14 - Sun PM

• God Graciously Warns of Punishment (Jonah 3:1-4)
  • God showed grace in pushing Jonah again to warn Nineveh of punishment. God didn’t have to do this!
  • God showed grace in confirming Jonah’s message with a sign (cf. Luke 11:29-30).
  • We can struggle thinking Jesus’ warnings about Hell are truly an act of grace because it sounds mean, but Jesus did not have to warn us or give us such a powerful sign of his salvation (cf. Matt. 12:39-40)
  • Praise God for Jesus who warns us of coming judgment and for Jesus who signifies in his resurrection that his message and salvation are real.
• God Mercifully Relents from Punishment (Jonah 3:5-10)
  • Two shockers that should have been instructive to Israel and Judah: a pagan nation repented and God mercifully relented (cf. Jeremiah 18:7-11)
  • Learning from Nineveh’s repentance…
    • They believed God when he said punishment was coming (3:5)
    • They repented with urgency.
    • They repented with humble sorrow (3:5-8)
    • They turned from their evil ways (3:8, 10)
• Conclusion
  • Matthew 12:41, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”
  • Since God has been gracious enough to warn us of eternal destruction, let us not be stubborn religious people but soft-hearted and humble enough to receive correction.