"God Relented"

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10 ESV)

Jonah was sent to warn Ninevah of its impending doom. God had grown tired of the evil in Ninevah. While Jonah tried to run from God, like many of us find out, he could not. After spending three days in the belly of a great fish (1:17). Jonah repented for disobeying, and God forgave him.

The Book of Jonah holds many treasures, and the most important is that our God is patient. It takes much to incur God's wrath, but when it comes, it is devastating. Jonah reveals to us that God is forgiving. When we repent, truly turning from our sins, God forgives us. This is not just telling God we are sorry and continuing to sin. No, it is our concerted effort, even though we may struggle to continue avoiding sin. This underscores our accountability and responsibility in the process of true repentance.

The King of Ninevah took steps to ensure his entire kingdom was repented in ashes and sackcloth (3:7-8). God observed their repentance and relented, saving Ninevah from destruction. Like Ninevah, when we truly repent before God, He forgives His children. It is not just a day of fasting or self-denial; it is an acknowledgment of our sin. We no longer must cherish that sin that causes us to stumble. We see this in Ps.66:18, where the psalmist writes, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Through divine grace, God sees our devotion and continues to have patience with us.

One other golden nugget in Jonah is the foreshadowing of Christ. Jesus said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40 ESV). Jesus metaphorically used Jonah and the fish for his death, burial, and resurrection.

Some infer that Matthew was writing the words that Jesus spoke, which fulfilled the sign of the prophet Jonah. Christ preached repentance to a wicked and adulterous world as Jonah had done to the people of Ninevah. Matthew Henry offered, "The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave and then rise again.”[1]

I love that passage both in Jonah and Matthew. It is the consistent linking between the Old Testament and New that reveals God's prophetic story of Christ and human salvation. When we have been given faith by grace, we have assurances of our salvation. God knows we will sin; those truly saved will be convicted of that sin and repent before God. None of this can happen without accepting Christ as your Savior. Have you? Is He? If you do not know Jesus Christ, I urge you to seek Him today. It is urgent that you do so for your tomorrow may not come.

[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew 12:40 Commentary, https://Biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/12-40.htm