I read this this morning, and I’m going to post the whole chapter here because it holds together so well:
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against 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, three days’ journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 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.
6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 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, 8 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. 9 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.
Jonah has finally done what the Lord had asked. Unfortunately, in the next chapter, he will express his anger that a city like Nineveh would repent, and he is sorrowful at God’s compassion on Nineveh. Jonah expresses a common heart position: that of pride and self-righteousness. His unspoken reality is that he thinks he is far better than the people of Nineveh. He saw God’s mercy in the storm and in the whale, and yet, he believes the Ninevites don’t deserve God’s mercy like he does. This is foolishness and a good heart-check for ourselves.
But also see here how speaking the truth in love to neighbors, to our culture, and to the lost is an effective thing. God can change anyone’s hearts – even those who seem so far from God. So don’t ever believe that someone is a lost cause. It is important for us, too, to earn a voice from loving our neighbors – from acting with integrity and offering the gospel in coherent but loving ways.