Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
“Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
Jonah 3:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:4b-5 (NIV)
When God saw what they did
and how they turned from their evil ways,
he relented and did not bring on them
the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah 3:10 (NIV)
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.
He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord,
when I was still at home?
That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
a God who relents from sending calamity.
Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:1-3 (NIV)
INSIDERS & OUTSIDERS
JONAH’S STORY IS OUR STORY!
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard: Matthew 20:1-16
God is who this story is all about!
Jonah is about a generous God who cares, loves, forgives, and gives us second chances.