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The Whosoever Study Bible
Whosoever will, may come.
jonah
Jonah ben Amittai · c. 780–760 BC
Chapter the Third

The God Who Relents

And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 
So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 
DOCTRINAL VERDICT
TIER 1: GOD RELENTS BECAUSE THE RESPONSE IS GENUINE

Jonah is one of the most important books in the canon for Thread 1 because it pushes the reach of God to its most uncomfortable edge. The Ninevites are Israel's worst enemies: the most brutal empire in the ancient world. And God sends a prophet to preach to them. They repent. God relents. This is the text that made Jonah furious: not because he was afraid of Nineveh, but because he knew exactly who God was: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. He knew God would forgive them if they turned. Jonah 4:2 quotes Exodus 34 directly.

Nineveh Turns: Thread 1 at Maximum Reach
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