#DailyDevotion How Do You Repent Or Do You?
Jon. 3 6When the news came to the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7He had someone call throughout the city: “This is a decree of the king and his noblemen: Men and animals, cattle and sheep should eat nothing, get no food and drink no water. 8But every man and animal should put on sackcloth and cry mightily to God; people should turn from their wicked ways and the crimes they’re doing. 9Who knows, God may relent and be sorry and turn from His fury so that we’ll not perish.”
The people of Nineveh at Jonah’s message actually begin to repent. Then the news gets to the king himself and he makes an edict for the whole city, just in case anyone wasn’t repenting. He humbled himself, came down from his throne, put aside his royal robe and adorned himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. This was the customary way of mourning. They were mourning their sins. Do we ever mourn over our sins? Do we ever see the severity of them? There should be some distress over them at some time even though we know we are forgiven for Christ’s sake. I guess that is what Lent and Advent are for; to gain some realization of what we have been redeemed from by the blood of Christ.
Now this is a serious fast the king proclaimed. It would be nice if someone, one day, found a copy of the edict the king had published. You have to remember it was 2800 plus years ago. It was so serious even the animals, cattle and sheep were to eat nothing and drink no water. Dietrich in his commentary says this was to add their cry of suffering to that of the human populace of the city repenting.
“Who knows?” This phrase doesn’t indicate doubt but hope in the nature of God. When David ceased fasting after his first son from Bathsheba died, when asked why he stopped fasting replied, “When he was living, who knows if the LORD might have mercy on him.” In Joel 2 it was written, “13Tear your hearts and not your clothes, and turn to the LORD your God because He is gracious, merciful, slow to. get angry, full of kindness, and relents from disaster. 14Who knows–He may relent and leave behind Him a blessing–gifts of food and drink for the LORD your. God?” The LORD speaks through Joel His divine name revealed to Moses in Ex. 34:6 when He says, “He is gracious, merciful, slow to. get angry, full of kindness,. . .” As we see in the next chapter of Jonah, Jonah was worried just about the nature of the name of the LORD. And He wouldn’t be wrong.
10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their wicked ways, God relented from the disaster He threatened to bring on them, and He didn’t do it.
We should note, this fasting and repentance did not earn the LORD’s forgiveness. Forgiveness is His nature. It is the nature of His name. We cannot receive it if we don’t know we need it. The fasting and prayer merely prepared the people to receive the LORD’s mercy. It is not in the nature of the LORD to destroy people. It is His alien work. It is His nature to discipline sinners as we see in Ex. 34:6. We see in Ezek. 18 and 34 the LORD only wants to see the wicked turn and live. 2 Pet. 3:9 also tells us the LORD is patient with us not wanting any to perish but to repent and live. The LORD’s character is the same in both Testaments. He doesn’t want you to perish either. So turn from your sins and turn to Jesus for redemption and live.
Merciful, gracious, kind, loving and forgiving Father, even as You had mercy of Nineveh, grant us repentance unto eternal life for the sake of Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.