and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all."
a. Now that Jonah has been reconciled to God he can begin a new to fulfill his calling.
b. This time he accepts his call without delay or hesitation.
c. The expression in Hebrew is "rising, Jonah went." It implies that Jonah obeyed God's command immediately.
d. Jonah has come to the conclusion that he cannot escape this call and so if you can't beat God you might as well join him.
e. A part of the reason that the Lord keeps referring to Nineveh as "the great city of Nineveh," has to do with its immense size.
f. The text indicates this by stating that it is so large that it took three days to see it all.
g. In the next chapter we learn that over 120,000 people inhabited it, which in modern terms would be more like 120,000,000.
h. Archeologists have discovered the walls of Nineveh that had a total urban perimeter of over seven and a half miles (Bruckner 100-101).
i. The narrator's intention in recording the colossal dimensions of the city was to convey the magnitude of the prophet's task.
j. Jonah trudges for a whole day and yet he has not reached the heart of the city.
k. He feels small, one man against a vast metropolis. Lost like a needle in a haystack inside this gigantic Vanity Fair, this Sodom of a city, the tiny figure feels he can go no further (Allen, NICOT).
l. But go he does!
B. Willing Messengers
1. Illustration: "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience." (Towzer, A.W.)
2. Revival requires preachers willing to preach the Word.
a. 2 Timothy 4:2 (NLT)
Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
b. Preachers cannot preach messages that just make people feel good.
c. Preachers cannot preach nice stories that give us goose bumps.
d. Preachers must preach the Word!
e. Preachers must preach the truth!
f. Preachers must the Word whether it is popular or comfortable
g. Preach the Word!
3. Revival requires preacher who will preach unashamedly.
a. Romans 1:16 (NLT)
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
b. For revival to happen preachers cannot hold back.
c. For revival to happen preachers cannot water down the message.
d. For revival to happen preachers must take the message given by God and deliver it!
Transition: Once the preacher obeys, revival requires...
II. Humility of the Hearers (4-8).
A. People Believed God's Message
1. Not that Jonah has changed his priorities; once he gets to the city he gets right to work.
2. In v. 4 we read, "On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
a. The phrase "Jonah entered the city, he shouted," comes from a Hebrew word that means, "letting loose," or "untying."
b. In