Have you ever found yourself wondering if God hears? This is a question that reaches to the core of who we are. Does God hear? Nineveh, a wicked city, gets God’s attention, and He hears. They cried out to God, and He showed them His incredible, life-changing mercy. What did the Ninevites do to get God’s attention? As we look at Jonah 3:1-10, I see four things they did which we still need to do today. These actions—believing, humbling, crying, and repenting—are things we need to continue doing all our lives.
Transcript
Have you ever found yourself wondering if God hears? This is a question that reaches to the core of who we are. Does God hear? Does God know? Years ago, before I was a teenager, we had a family friend who was suffering from a brain tumor. This was one of the first things I remember praying about for an extended time. There were moments he rallied, and things were looking good. Then the next week, it would be the opposite. This battle continued for many months, but steadily his health declined and eventually he died. This is one of my first memories that caused me to ask, does God know? Is he listening? I had prayed so many times for him. Did God even hear me? Did God even care. I am guessing you don’t have to think for very long till you remember a similar story from your life. Events like this turn us inward and we ask big questions.
I am guessing you have also experienced the opposite. Have you ever casually asked God for help with a “small request” and bam it happens! It feels like you didn’t even officially pray for it and there it was just like you wished for. This, of course, makes us wonder if we prayed wrong for months and months if the 3 second prayer was answered just like that. What do we have to do to replicate the answer to the 3 sec prayer so our other prayers get answered.
It’s a privilege to be with you today as we continue our fascinating look into the book of Jonah. Thanks for being there. Some books of the Bible just grab hold of us and refuse to let go, accounts that ring true down through the centuries. Each generation being impacted by the profound message, the book of Jonah is such a book. Imagine the countless sermons which have been preached from its pages, and if the Lord tarries many more will come. We are but a small blip in the span of time, yet here we are digging into this part of scripture and hearing God’s Spirit speak to us through these living words. The Bible is so incredible and praise God we have access to its life changing message.
Today, let’s go to the city of Nineveh and see what was going on inside its walls. Remember this is a great city, it is very big and very wicked. The Ninevites were Assyrians. These were the same Assyrians who had conquered the northern tribes of Israel. Remember the awesome story of Sennacherib? He lost 185,000 of his army in one night, he was an Assyrian. Here in chapter 3, believe it or not, Jonah finally makes it to Nineveh and begins preaching. Surprisingly this terrible wicked city experiences the incredible, life-changing mercy of God. They cried out to God and He responds. Somehow these wicked people get God’s attention, and He hears them, He listens. I want you to know God responded to the Ninevites, so that we approach God the same way.
What did the Ninevites do to get God’s attention? As we look at chapter 3, I see four things they did which we still need to do today. Don’t think of these things as a once and done action. These are actions that are continuing, present progressive action words. Each of them ends in “ing” showing us how to come before God. Hear me correctly, these four things show us how to approach God. I am not saying if we do these things God will answer our prayer every time like we want him to. However, if we come before God like the Ninevites we will accept God’s answer to our prayers. If you can follow along as I read Jonah 3.
Jonah 3:1-10
3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Notice God described Nineveh as a “great city”. This wasn’t an exaggeration from Jonah. This was God’s word. Nineveh was significant and vast. Their reputation for cruelty endures to this day. This kingdom was marked by evil and violence. It was to this city that God first called Jonah to go and preach. We remember Jonah’s initial rebellion, his attempt to flee from God’s command. But in chapter 3, we see a different Jonah, he actually listens. “He arose, he got UP”. No longer going down, he is finally going up! And he obeyed! Good job, Jonah.
Nineveh was not a port city, so if the fish vomited him up on the Mediterranean shore, he still had a long journey to go. Do you think he was tempted to change his mind as he made the trip? I am not sure what he was feeling, but we know he didn’t change his mind. He made the trip to Nineveh and began to preach.
Imagine Jonah, emerging from the belly of the great fish after three days in stomach acid, what must he have looked like? What effect would that have on his skin. Perhaps his complexion contributed to the power of his preaching. Or perhaps, as God often does, maybe He validated Jonah’s preaching with other supernatural events, like an eclipse or extreme weather. Whatever the circumstance, Jonah is preaching to Nineveh.
I had to wonder how he started. Did he go to the shopping mall, or where everyone was buying and selling? Maybe he went to the temples where they worshiped. And then how did the message spread? The city I live in is around 100,000 people. All the ways I know of to get a message to everyone involve technology that I don’t think existed in Nineveh. Somehow the message goes viral and the whole city responds.
In verse 4 we have Jonah’s sermon. It isn’t long and complicated, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” Short and to the point. Was Jonah intentionally keeping it short and vague so the Ninevites would not respond? While some accuse Jonah of this, one would think he said more than this. However this was the main gist and this is all we have recorded.
And what was the result? The Bible tells us that they believed God. Jonah is the one preaching and they believe God, not Jonah. This is where we begin to see into the heart of Nineveh. Their response offers us a blueprint for how we, too, can approach God and experience His mercy.
The First Action: Believing God
This shows us the first important action, it was needed then and it is needed now. It is believing. This is an amazing statement, especially considering who these people were. It doesn’t seem like they had lots of teaching about God, yet here is Jonah giving this message of doom and they believe.
But what does it mean to truly believe? Our culture has separated belief from lifestyle. We tend to think of believing as something that takes place only in our heads, a mere intellectual agreement with a set of facts. But here we are challenged in this shallow understanding. It is much more than that. Belief, in the biblical sense, is not a passive mental exercise done in your brain. It’s an active, continuing commitment. We must not think of it only in past tense. It’s not just, “I believed God, way back when.” It’s needs to be “I am believing God”. This present progressive form is crucial. It signifies an ongoing, active trust, a daily yielding to His reality and His truth.
Think about how drastic this must have been for Nineveh. This was a massive city. Jonah’s message, combined perhaps with his appearance or supernatural signs, grabbed their attention. They were primed for a truth that would shake them to their core. Their belief wasn’t just intellectual. It permeated their entire society, from the least to greatest. God was on the move. This kind of widespread, genuine belief, leading to national repentance, was and is rare, even among God’s own people.
Are we, today, truly believing God in this active, ongoing way? Or have we relegated belief to a historical event, something we did once, but not something we live out daily? Let us learn from Nineveh that true belief is the foundation upon which all other actions of faith are built and be a people that are believing God knowing that His Word will come true.
The Second Action: Humbling Ourselves
Following their believing, the Ninevites demonstrated the second crucial action: humbling. Their humbling is shown in two powerful ways: the wearing of sackcloth and ashes, and the king’s symbolic act of getting off his throne.
Sackcloth and ashes were outward signs that displayed an inner condition. There was no secret power in the cloth or the ash itself. The power lay in what these actions represented: it was a public, tangible demonstration of an inner sorrow. A recognition of their unworthiness before a holy God. I understand the sackcloth would have been like burlap, a rough course material. If this was rubbing against your skin it would have been a constant reminder to cry out to God. They were doomed and this was their last hope, so they didn’t want to forget or take it lightly. Imagine if everywhere you looked you saw people like you, in sackcloth and ashes, all doing it because you feared the coming destruction. It must have been very powerful.
Like believing, humbling is not a one-time event; it’s a continuing action. It’s not just that we humbled ourselves, two or three times and each of them was a long time ago. No, as servants of God, we continually humble ourselves.
The king of Nineveh provides us with an amazing example of being humble. When the message reached him, he immediately “got up ‘off’ his throne” and removed his royal robes. This was an incredible act of humility. This was the King! The most powerful man in Nineveh and He humbled himself. His action shouts a clear message for all who come to God. You can’t come to God on your terms. We must get off the throne.
Think about it. It’s very possible to look completely righteous on the outside, to be active in church, to say all the right things, and yet, in your heart, you’re still sitting on the throne of your own life. We think or say, “Look at me, look at all my accomplishments”. Or perhaps we think to ourselves, “I can handle this addiction. No one knows, and besides there are other things that are much worse.” In both cases, we are on the throne, asserting our control, on our own terms. When we approach God we come to Him on His terms, because He alone is supreme. The king also changed his clothes and he, like everyone else, put on sackcloth and ashes.
Humility is a daily posture, a continuous recognition that God is God, and we under Him. It means relinquishing control, admitting our need, and submitting to His sovereign will. The humble king then issues an incredible decree for the whole city. And this leads us to our third action. First, they were believing, second, they were humbling, and now the king tells them to cry mightily.
Crying Mightily
The decree to cry mightily came along with not eating or drinking and wearing sack cloth and ashes. We discussed the sack cloth and ashes, now let’s think about the fasting and crying.
The king’s command was not only for people, it also affected the animals. All should not eat or drink. This extreme measure was designed to make everyone, from the least to the greatest, pray more and pray with urgentcy. Can you imagine the racket from the animals? I mean just dealing with hungry people would have been hard. Think about how you feel when you miss even one meal, let alone several. Tired, irritable, and short-tempered. Now add to this the noise of all the hungry animals. Explaining the fast to your children is one thing, but how do you explain the lack of food to the animals? It doesn’t say but I had to wonder how long this fast lasted?
Fasting is a powerful spiritual reality. Just as baptism is a physical action that shouts in the spirit realm, fasting is similar. It’s very physical, yet it carries a huge impact in the spiritual world. Is there some secret power from skipping food, or whatever you choose to fast from? No, but when we chose to deny ourselves so we can pray fervently and hold our request before God, God notices. In Isaiah 58, we see the Israelites skipping meals, but God wasn’t listening because their hearts were not right. Verse 3 says, “On the day of fasting you do as you please.” Fasting isn’t about manipulating God. It’s about shifting our focus and aligning our spirit with His. The lack of what we are fasting from reminds us to pray and cry out to God with our request. In Matt 6 Jesus gives further instruction on how to fast. I like how Jesus says, “when you fast.” He doesn’t say “if” it is like He expects His followers to fast. Then he gives clear instructions to do it for God’s attention, not mans. Fasting isn’t a magical power but doing it to intensify your prayers and help you stay focused on your request is good.
And what about the “crying mightily unto God.” When was the last time you truly did this? Was it years ago when you first started walking with God? I hope not. The Apostle James speaks of the “fervent effectual prayer”. This is crying mightily. Think of Peter, sinking into the waves and crying out, “Lord, save me!” This is a mighty, urgent prayer. Prayers born of desperation, a recognition that only God can deliver. Notice this is more about the person praying than the circumstance we are going through. So often I find my prayers becoming routine, apathetic, and halfhearted. We can and must cry mightily about small things and big things. It’s a desperate plea from the depths of our souls, a prayer that acknowledges our utter dependence on God.
The Ninevites crying mightily is a challenge to us, is your prayer time fresh, living, and intense. Are we crying out to God for He is our only option, and we NEED Him? This was the third action crying to God, and their cries were intensified by fasting.
The Fourth Action: Turning Away from Evil (Repentance)
Finally, we come to the last action word, and it’s one we dare not miss: Turning away. This is the very idea of repentance: to give up, to turn, a complete about face. They turned away from evil and violence.
Remember who we are talking about, the Ninevites. They had certainly “done their fair share” of both evil and violence. History bears witness to the terrible things they did to their enemies. Evil and violence were normal, this is who they were. So, for them to “turn away from it” was radical, it was a huge shift. This was far more than just a mental change in their thinking. It totally affected their lifestyle.
This truth resonates deeply with us now, Christianity has always been more than knowledge, Christianity must be lived. It’s not enough to intellectually agree to Christian doctrines or to simply know about God. True Christianity demands a transformation of our lives, a turning away from sin and towards righteousness. It’s a radical shift in our conduct, our priorities, and our very way of living.
The Ninevites’ repentance was not presumptuous or arrogant. They said, “Who knows God may relent”. This was not a given, and they certainly weren’t demanding God’s mercy. Instead, it was their only hope. They understood that if they got what they truly deserved, utter destruction awaited them. And so, in their humility, they passionately asked God for mercy. Humble people, truly repentant hearts, do not make demands of God.
This sincere turning from their wicked ways, found favor with God. Praise the Lord, we have a God who listens. He heard their cry. As the prophet Ezekiel declares, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Eze 33:11). This is what God wants! He wanted this all along. The Ninevites had turned from their wicked ways, and in response, God turned from the destruction He had planned. This is His desire for all people everywhere.
And so, chapter 3 ends with a beautiful, glorious scene of God’s mercy. This chapter, and indeed the whole book of Jonah, testify to God’s character. He is merciful! We saw it with the sailors in chapter 1, we saw it with Jonah himself in chapter 2, and now we see it with the entire city of Nineveh. He is not out to destroy, His heart longs for repentance and life.
Conclusion
These four actions – Believing, Humbling, Calling Mightily, and Turning – still get God’s attention and show us how to approach Him. The emphasis is on the present progressive form of these words. These actions are good to do daily.
The question for each of us today, then, is this. Are you Believing, Humbling, Crying, and Turning? Are these continuing actions in your life, or are they things you perhaps did last year, or five years ago? The Ninevites provide a powerful example for us. The message Jonah gave to Nineveh is relevant for us, destruction is coming. Whether it’s the consequences of our personal sin, the trials of this broken world, or the ultimate judgment when Christ returns, we need His mercy. And we must prepare now, while we have the chance.
Let’s be like the Ninevites – believe, embrace a living, active faith, humbling ourselves before God, crying out to Him with genuine desperation; and to turning away from every form of evil and violence in our lives. For in doing so, we come to God on His terms and depend on Him for mercy and life.
