Jonah 3:9

Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? WHO CAN TELL IF GOD WILL TURN AND REPENT, AND TURN AWAY FROM HIS FIERCE ANGER, THAT WE PERISH NOT? - (cf. , "Who knoweth if He will return and repent?") Their acting on a vague possibility of God's mercy, without any special ground of encouragement, is the more remarkable instance of faith, as they had to break through long-rooted prejudices in giving up idols to seek Yahweh at all. The only ground which their ready faith rested on was the fact of God sending one to warn them instead of destroying them at once; this suggested the thought of a possibility yet of pardon. Hence, they are cited by Christ as about to condemn in the judgment those who, with much greater light and privileges, yet repent not ...

The mind and design of the king are here more distinctly stated, — that he thus endeavored to reconcile himself and the people to God. Some give a rendering somewhat different, “He who knows will turn and be led by penitence,” etc.; they read not interrogatively; but this rendering cannot stand. There is in the meaning of the Prophet nothing ambiguous, for he introduces the king here as expressing a doubt, _Who knows whether God will be reconciled to us? _We hence see that the king was not overwhelmed with despair for he still thought of a remedy; and this is the purport of the verse. But this may seem contrary to the nature of faith; and then if it be opposed to faith, it follows that it must be inconsistent with repentance; for faith and repentance are connected together, as we have observed in other places; as no one can willingly submit to God, except he has previously known his good...

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,...

Verse Jonah 3:9. _WHO CAN TELL_ IF _GOD WILL TURN AND REPENT_] There is at least a peradventure for our salvation. God _may_ turn towards us, change his purpose, and save us alive. While there is life there is hope; God has no pleasure in the death of sinners; he is gracious and compassionate. Himself has prescribed repentance; if we repent, and turn to him from our iniquities, who knows then whether God will not turn, c....

WHO CAN TELL IF GOD WILL TURN AND REPENT? - The Ninevites use the same form of words, which God suggested by Joel to Judah. Perhaps He would thereby indicate that He had Himself put it into their mouths. “In uncertainty they repented, and obtained certain mercy” . “It is therefore left uncertain, that men, being doubtful of their salvation, may repent the more vehemently and the more draw down on themselves the mercy of God” . “Most certain are the promises of God, whereby He has promised pardon to the penitent. And yet the sinner may well be uncertain whether he have obtained that penitence which makes him the object of those promises, not a servile repentance for fear of punishment, but true contrition out of the love of God.” And so by this uncertainty, while, with the fear of hell, there is mingled the fear of the loss of God, the fear of that loss, which in itself involves some love...

EXPOSITION JONAH 3:1 Part III. JONAH'S PREACHING IN NINEVEH; THE REPENTANCE OF THE NINEVITES. JONAH 3:1 _§ 1. Jonah is sent a second time to Nineveh, and obeys the command._ JONAH 3:1 THE SECOND TIME. He is forgiven and restored to his office, and the commission formerly given is renewed. Commentators have supposed that he went up to Jerusalem to pay his vows, and that the word of the Lord came unto him there. But all unnecessary details are omitted from

WHO CAN TELL,.... The Septuagint and Arabic versions prefix to this the word "saying", and take them to be, not the words of the king, but of the Ninevites; though very wrongly: or "who is he that knows"; which some connect with the next word, "he will return": that is, that knows the ways of repentance, he will return, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or that knows that he has sinned, as Aben Ezra: or that knows the transgressions he is guilty of, will return, as Jarchi; and so the Targum, "whosoever knows that sins are in his hands, he will return, or let him return, from them:'' but they are the words of the king, with respect to God, encouraging his subjects to the above things, from the consideration of the probability, or at least possibility, of God's being merciful to them: [IF] GOD WILL TURN AND REPENT, AND TURN AWAY FROM HIS FIERCE WRATH, THAT WE PERISH NOT? he speaks here not as...

Jonah 3:1. _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._ There is no preaching like that which Gods bids us. The preaching that comes out of our own heads will never go into other men's hearts. If we will keep to the preaching that the Lord bids us, we shall not fail in our ministry. Jonah 3:3. _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._ For those times, Nineveh was «an exceeding great city,» but it is far exceeded in size by this modern Nineveh of London. Jonah 3:4. And Jonah began

REPENT (_ See Scofield) - (Zechariah 8:14). _...

CHAPTER 3 Jonah Preaching in Nineveh _ 1. The repeated commission and Jonah's obedience (John 3:1) _ 2. The repentance and salvation of Nineveh (John 3:4) John 3:1. And now after Jonah's death and life experience the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, telling him to arise and go to Nineveh to preach there what the Lord would command him. And now he is obedient. Jonah arrived in the great city of three days' journey, and advancing a day's journey into it he cried out his message, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Following is the objection of higher criticism as to this statement: “If we were reading a historical description the narrative would be full of difficulties. A strange proph