Jonah 3:1-10: God’s grace in Nineveh

Jonah 3 is usually known as the chapter where Jonah was obedient, but in truth this chapter is not about Jonah but about God. God and His grace, not man and his obedience are the centre of the chapter and the heart of the Gospel. Jonah is often employed as a sword to induce guilt over our disobedience and lack of faithfulness to missions, and this certainly is one of the applications. However, the primary use of this chapter is, in my opinion, to portray the God of grace to sinners. And having seen this grace afresh we will find that this sight of God’s grace will be a better incentive to obedience than the stinging sight of our own sin.

God’s grace is evident in 4 ways:

• to Jonah when God puts him back in His employ;
• in the revival in Nineveh;
• in the genuine repentance in Nineveh; and
• in His relenting of judgement upon Nineveh.