Chapter 3:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 Obadiah Micah
Jonah 3
Concise Complete
Jonah sent again to Nineveh, preaches there. (1-4) Nineveh
is spared upon the repentance of the inhabitants. (5-10)
Verses 1-4 God
employs Jonah again in his service. His making use of us is an evidence of his
being at peace with us. Jonah was not disobedient, as he had been. He neither
endeavoured to avoid hearing the command, nor declined to obey it. See here the
nature of repentance; it is the change of our mind and way, and a return to our
work and duty. Also, the benefit of affliction; it brings those back to their
place who had deserted it. See the power of Divine grace, for affliction of
itself would rather drive men from God, than draw them to him. God's servants
must go where he sends them, come when he calls them, and do what he bids them;
we must do whatever the word of the Lord commands. Jonah faithfully and boldly
delivered his errand. Whether Jonah said more, to show the anger of God against
them, or whether he only repeated these words again and again, is not certain,
but this was the purport of his message. Forty days is a long time for a
righteous God to delay judgments, yet it is but a little time for an unrighteous
people to repent and reform in. And should it not awaken us to get ready for
death, to consider that we cannot be so sure that we shall live forty days, as
Nineveh then was that it should stand forty days? We should be alarmed if we
were sure not to live a month, yet we are careless though we are not sure to
live a day.
Verses 5-10 There
was a wonder of Divine grace in the repentance and reformation of Nineveh. It
condemns the men of the gospel generation,
matthew 12:41. A very
small degree of light may convince men that humbling themselves before God,
confessing their sins with prayer, and turning from sin, are means of escaping
wrath and obtaining mercy. The people followed the example of the king. It
became a national act, and it was necessary it should be so, when it was to
prevent a national ruin. Let even the brute creatures' cries and moans for want
of food remind their owners to cry to God. In prayer we must cry mightily, with
fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and devout affections. It concerns us
in prayer to stir up all that is within us. It is not enough to fast for sin,
but we must fast from sin; and, in order to the success of our prayers, we must
no more regard iniquity in our hearts,
psalms 66:18. The work
of a fast-day is not done with the day. The Ninevites hoped that God would turn
from his fierce anger; and that thus their ruin would be prevented. They could
not be so confident of finding mercy upon their repentance, as we may be, who
have the death and merits of Christ, to which we may trust for pardon upon
repentance. They dared not presume, but they did not despair. Hope of mercy is
the great encouragement to repentance and reformation. Let us boldly cast
ourselves down at the footstool of free grace, and God will look upon us with
compassion. God sees who turn from their evil ways, and who do not. Thus he
spared Nineveh. We read of no sacrifices offered to God to make atonement for
sin; but a broken and a contrite heart, such as the Ninevites then had, he will
not despise.
Chapter 3:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 Obadiah Micah
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
