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Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Kaitlyn Kleppinger

As we continue through the season of Epiphany where we remember the journey of the magi and the ministry of Jesus, this passage in Jonah may seem out of place. However, revelations of God’s grace are woven throughout this small prophetic word.

 

Provisions of God’s grace are everywhere – even in this small section of narrative. Even from the very first verse where “the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time,” God is providing a pathway for grace to be received (3:1). Jonah runs away and dismisses God’s first message (John 1), but God speaks again, giving both the Ninevites and Jonah himself another opportunity to turn back to God. Jonah’s fear and hesitation doesn’t stop God from pursuing God’s people. Our fear and hesitation doesn’t stop God or God’s grace from pursuing us or the world. As we continue reading, we find that Jonah accepts God’s calling – perhaps begrudgingly – and journeys into Ninevah. It is interesting that he only goes a third of the way, perhaps not even reaching the city center…. Regardless, the message is proclaimed, “and the people of Ninevah believed God” (3:5). The passage says that “everyone, great and small,” participated in widespread fasting, a spiritual practice that invites the participants deeper into relationship with God.

 

Just like music, God’s grace is dynamic and moving, beautiful and passionate. In repentance and in other means of grace, God goes before us, inviting us into grace-filled relationship. Any invitation compels a response, and we are able to accept or reject what God invites us into. If we accept God’s invitation, our journey of transformation begins in and through God’s grace! As we continue to accept God’s grace-enveloped invitation, God works in us and through us, healing and transforming both our very selves and, through us, the world in which we live. We become vessels and embodiments of that transforming grace, and we are then called to invite others into this same rhythm.

 

This same journey is found here in this passage. God’s grace goes before the people of Ninevah, providing a pathway of forgiveness and reconciliation. At face value, Jonah’s message is one of impending destruction, but grace is still woven into it. The message itself is an invitation of grace and forgiveness, a chance for the people of Ninevah to choose something different than their current path. The people of Ninevah choose to believe, turning towards God instead of violence, and they respond to God’s invitation with a fast.

 

The declaration of fasting displays a community-wide desperation for forgiveness and God’s grace. It says in verse 5 that the people of Ninevah believed and then fasted, and this practice precedes their repentance: “they turned from their evil ways” (3:10). In the Wesleyan tradition, fasting is actually considered a means of grace in itself. Wesley preached that “fasting is a way which God has ordained for us to receive his unmerited mercy; God is not obligated to give us anything, but he has promised to freely give us his blessing.”[1] When participating in fasting, we intentionally remember our dependence on God, the primary source and giver of life, to sustain us. We posture ourselves in a place of emptiness, asking God to fill us and to meet our needs. For the people of Ninevah, and for all humanity, the need is great: we need forgiveness. The fasting of the Ninevites was a cry out for mercy in a posture of repentance. Unfortunately, we don’t get to know the end of the story, but we can hope that this repentance is the beginning of a beautiful story of transformation.  

 

There is also someone else who very clearly repents in this story: God’s very self. The text says: “When God saw what they [the Ninevites] did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it” (3:10). When it says that “God changed his mind,” the Hebrew verb that is used is נָחַם (nāḥam), which means “to be sorry, repent, regret, to groan, to lament.”[2] With these various translations in mind, this verse could also say, “God [regretted, lamented over, and repented from] the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them.” This is yet another instance of God’s grace in this narrative. God was confronted by the response of the people of Ninevah, their drastic turn towards the way of life, and God repented. God turned from destruction and turned towards life instead.

 

God’s mind being changed actually appears in other places in Scripture, as well, especially when considering the original use of the word נָחַם (nāḥam). Many of the other prophetic writings contain examples of this. In Amos 7:3 and 6, for example, the prophet pleads with God against the calls for judgment, and “the LORD [relents].” God’s mind turned away from destruction. Another more commonly used example is found in Exodus 32 after the people of Israel had created a golden calf. God had pronounced judgment and wrath upon them (Exodus 32:9-10), but Moses pleads for a different response: “Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people” (Exodus 32:12). Moses compels God to remember the promises made to the Israelites, “and the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14). In Exodus and Amos, and in Jonah, God responds to the calls of humanity, turning from judgment and towards grace. God allows God’s own self to be influenced by the relationship with humanity. This is another great act of grace.

 

It can be easy to get entangled in the questions of sovereignty when considering this concept, but perhaps the primary focus is relationship. Like any relationship that we have experienced, we become influenced and changed by the people with whom we interact. For example, our families and close friends shape us in ways that strangers might not. The intimacy of relationship naturally creates a space for mutual transformation. When we are close to others, we are invited to be our true selves, while simultaneously welcoming someone else’s true self – a true act of vulnerability and hospitality. Perhaps God is inviting us into the same kind of relationship, where we can bring all of ourselves and be transformed in intimacy and vulnerability – a holy and sanctifying relationship, another rhythm of grace.

 

[1] “When You Fast -- John Wesley.” https://www.biblebb.com/files/jw-001fasting.htm.

[2] Blue Letter Bible. “H5162 - Nāḥam - Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (Wlc).” https://www.blueletterbible.org/wlc/gen/1/1/s_1001.

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