Unlikely Repentance
Teaching Pastor; Staff Governing Elder; Staff Director
Nineveh matters to God, which creates tension for Jonah, the Israelites reading his story, and us. Even more troubling is the fact that God’s prophet acts poorly, and the Israelites’ enemy is a model of repentance. While this text challenges our assumptions, it also reveals the incredibly merciful nature of God.
Study Questions
Application
People who are different from you and people who have sinned against you matter to God. What is your response to this truth? How should it impact the way you treat or speak of others?
Think about relationships or circumstances where you have been offended. Where in your life is God asking you to lay aside your entitlement and trust him with the outcome?
Key Points
God reveals himself to Jonah in a rare and personal way, yet Jonah only obeys under compulsion.
In contrast, Nineveh’s king receives only a message of judgment from a God he knows nothing of, and he responds by humbling himself.
Our culture’s humanistic worldview primes us to stand in judgment of God rather than condemn ourselves to justify his judgment.
The antidote to entitlement is humility, which requires us to obey even when we don’t understand.
God is not like us—he is merciful and forgiving to all who will receive him as he offers himself. This should free us to be merciful to those who have wronged us.