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Holy Week resources and reflections

God’s love for Nineveh (May 21, 2017)

UNIFORM LESSON FOR May 21, 2017
Scripture passage and lesson focus: Jonah 3

When it comes to making important decisions, most people do not gladly or readily change their mind once a course of action has been decided. There are times when an engagement is ended or the process of accepting a new job is halted or a decision to accept a risky medical procedure is reversed – but those are relatively rare events.

Many people of faith would be surprised to discover that Scripture says there were times when God’s mind changed. Commentator William P. Brown writes that this is “not an uncommon assertion in the Old Testament.” In Exodus 32:14, for example, after Moses had implored God not to punish the Israelites for worshipping a golden calf, we read, “And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.”

In our study passage, the author of Jonah concludes chapter 3 by saying, “God changed his mind about the calamity that he said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.” What did the people of Nineveh do to induce God to show love for them rather than judgment?

Jonah 3:1-4 — Jonah warns Nineveh
After his three-day ordeal in the belly of a giant fish and his sudden return to dry land, Noah starts where he had begun. Again God ordered Jonah to go to Nineveh, “that great city,” as most translations state. Translated literally, the Hebrew says Nineveh was “a great city to God,” which means that God cared about Nineveh and its inhabitants. Rather than heading off in the opposite direction, this time Jonah responds obediently and travels to Nineveh as God commanded.

Archeological excavations at the site of ancient Nineveh suggest that the author of Jonah has exaggerated it size and its importance. It probably would not have taken three days to walk through a city whose circumference was approximately seven and three-quarters miles. Jonah only walked one day, perhaps one third of the way through the city, before he delivered his message: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

His sermon was very short – only five words in the Hebrew version. It was also ambiguous, since the Hebrew word translated as ”overthrown” can also mean “be changed, transformed.” What would be Nineveh’s fate?

Jonah 3:5-8 — Nineveh repents
The response to Jonah’s message was swift and beyond the expectations of even the most successful revival preacher. The author reports that the Ninevites believed in God. It is meaningful that the word for God here is not Jahweh. Like the sailors on the boat, the Ninevites acknowledge the deity whose judgment Jonah announced. They also announced a community-wide fast and they all covered their ordinary clothing with sackcloth. These traditional signs of repentance and mourning must have surprised even Jonah.

When the king of Nineveh heard what was happening, he joined in the act of communal remorse by leaving his royal throne and removing his kingly robe. Then he put on sackcloth and sat on an ash heap.

As if his personal penitence were not enough, the king issued an executive order. He commanded a total abstinence from food and drink not only for all the human beings, but also for all the animals of Nineveh. The animals, like the human beings, had to be covered with sackcloth. All the residents of Nineveh were commanded to beseech God for mercy. Furthermore, the whole city was commanded to cease from their doing evil and violence. Jonah’s sermon could not have received a more positive response.

Jonah 3:9-10 — God spares Nineveh
The king expresses his guarded hope that was probably shared by the Ninevites when he concludes his statement by saying, “Who knows? God may relent and change his mind … so that we do not perish.” The king certainly believed the words of Jonah, but he also held out hope that Jonah’s pronouncement would be wrong. Would God’s mind be changed?

When God noticed that the residents of Nineveh expressed sorrow for their wrongdoing and stopped their wicked behavior, God did change God’s mind. Their condemnation was averted. God’s love for Nineveh spared the residents of this great city.

For discussion: Is it significant that the king was the last person to hear Jonah’s message? Commenting on Jonah’s message of doom to the Assyrians, a commentator wrote, “The character of Jonah is that of a nationalistic bigot who thinks only certain people merit salvation from God.” Do you agree? Why do you think the animals of Nineveh were included in the communal act of penitence?

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