IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

God Relented

Date: Oct. 26, 2019

Passage

Jonah 3:1-10 (ESV)

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 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.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 3:10

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.

1. Jonah proclaims judgment on Nineveh (1-4)

This time Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and traveled to the large city of Nineveh: three days of witnessing evil and violence. He did not say, "Salvation comes from the LORD", but: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown." If God would hunt down a rebellious prophet, surely, he would not allow the wickedness of Nineveh to go unpunished!

2. Nineveh believes God's word and repents (5-10)

Although Jonah had no concern for those he preached to, they believed God, all of them fasting and repenting in sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The king even issued a decree of city-wide repentance and calling out to God. When God saw how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he threatened. The Holy God chose mercy. His justice would be satisfied on the cross of Christ. Our message today in Jesus is the message of God who shows mercy to all who repent and believe.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your mercy!

One Word: trust in God's mercy

Daily Bread

Truth in the Word of the Lord

Psalm 12:1-8

Key Verse: 12:6

  The words of the LORD are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

Read More

Intro Daily