Revival Fire Fall

other words, Jonah preached the wallpaper off the walls!
c. The verb means, "to pierce" and shows that he held nothing back in his preaching.
d. Whatever his reservations were before he has set them aside, and he is now giving it everything he's got.
e. He proclaims that Nineveh will be completely destroyed if they do not repent.
f. The word that is used in Hebrew is very interesting. It can either mean "destroy," or "turn around," which is the idea of repentance.
g. They have a choice, they can be stubborn and die or they can change and live (Bruckner, 102).
h. Why forty? Conceivably as a typical waiting and testing period: compare Israel's forty years in the wilderness and Jesus' forty days (Allen, NICOT).
3. The people respond to Jonah's preaching. It says, "The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow."
a. The result of Jonah's preaching is that the people of Nineveh believed God's message.
b. It is important for us to see that the message they believed came from God and not from Jonah. Jonah merely delivered the message that was given him by God.
c. Not only did the people believe the message, but they acted upon it.
d. The responded to the message by declaring a fast and putting on burlap (or sackcloth).
e. Fasting is a means of seeking God's mercy and wearing sackcloth was a symbol of repentance.
f. They believed the word of God and repented of their sins, giving evidence by their actions (Bruckner, 102).
g. The response to Jonah's preaching is astounding. The news of it spreads like wildfire throughout Nineveh.
h. Its citizens make good use of the breathing space allotted to them.
i. They accept en masse the divine source of Jonah's message, believing its author has the power to carry out his threat (Allen, NICOT).
4. Not only did the people respond, but even "the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes."
a. Jonah preaching was so powerful and so profound that even the king repented.
b. This is seen by the four actions that he takes in response to Jonah's preaching.
c. First, he steps down from his throne, which is what one says we a monarch is abdicating his position.
d. Second, he takes off his royal robes, which is a sign of humility.
e. Third, he dressed himself in sackcloth those indicating that he is surrendering his comfort.
f. Finally, he sat on a heap of ashes, which indicates his sorrow for what he had done (Bruckner, 102).
g. The king at once abdicates his high position in face of the sovereign power of God revealed through Jonah's words.
5. Furthermore, the king then leads the people in repenting before God. In v. 7 we read, "Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all."
a. Now the king gets together with his nobles and they intensify the fast.
b. Not only are the people supposed to fast, but now the animals are included as well.
c. On top of that, not only are they not to eat anything, but they are not to drink anything either.
6. Then look what the king does. He says, "People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and