The God of Second Chances

Did you ever play a game as a kid, and when you messed up, you asked for a ‘do over’? You wanted a second chance. You just knew if you had another shot at it, the outcome would be different. Well today, we’re going to see how God gave Jonah a ‘do over’. 

God is a God of Second Chances

Jonah 3:1-3 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 

The Lord spoke to Jonah a second time – what an encouraging statement. God didn’t have to use Jonah. He could have dismissed him, and just written him off. There were plenty of other prophets he could have used. He didn’t even have to use a prophet if he didn’t want to. God is God. He could have communicated in an entirely different manner to the people of Nineveh if he wanted, through signs and wonders. But God didn’t give up on Jonah. God wasn’t only desiring to do something through Jonah, he was desiring to do something in Jonah. 

The same applies to you and me. If God has called you to do something and you’ve found yourself hesitating or even running like Jonah did, He not only wants to do something through you, he wants to do something in you. He wants to grow your faith. He wants to help you come to a greater understanding of his goodness and his great love for you. Maybe he’s trying to help you understand in a deeper way just how much you need him. Whatever it is, God is not giving up on you. 

It really shouldn’t surprise us that God gave Jonah a second chance. It’s just part of his nature. He longs to forgive. He seeks to redeem and reconcile. It shouldn’t have surprised Jonah, either. Jonah knew how many second chances God had given the nation of Israel. Time after time we see God’s people rebel and worship idols. Disaster comes upon them and they cry out to God. God comes in and rescues them. Shortly after they start to drift away again. Disaster overtakes them, they cry out, God steps in. It’s like a bad record that just keeps repeating. 

The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His character doesn’t change. He is still a God of second chances. Maybe you feel like you’ve burned up all your chances with God. If you’re still on this side of the grave and Jesus hasn’t come back yet, God is ready to give you another chance. 

God’s Message is Simple and Powerful

Jonah 3:4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty Days from now Nineveh will be destroyed.

That’s the message? All of this running away was over that? Seems like a whole lot of drama over a simple message. These words probably weren’t the only words Jonah spoke, but they were the central theme of the message. It wasn’t an eloquent message filled with persuasive words. Jonah simply passed on the very words God had directed him to deliver. The words of God are powerful! With his words, God spoke the universe into existence. The words of God have all the power they need.

[Related: How God Reveals Himself to the World]

Notice, too, that this was a message of judgment and destruction. This wasn’t a message about how much God loved the city of Nineveh. Yes, God is a God of love. Yes, he’s compassionate and merciful. Yes, his grace is amazing! But God is also just. He is holy. He hates sin and one day all of those who die without putting their faith in Jesus are going to face his judgment. And if we love those people, we need to let them know that. 

1 Corinthians 1:18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 

The apostle Paul knew the power of God’s simple message. He said the cross is foolish to those headed for destruction, but for we who are being saved it is the very power of God. He worked to keep his message simple and centered around Jesus and the cross. 

Jonah was emboldened by this simple yet powerful message. He shouted it to the crowds. He wasn’t hesitant this time around. He didn’t walk around whispering this message in the shadows or speak it in code. He spoke exactly what God had told him to speak and he made the most of his second chance. As unlikely is it may have seemed, the people of Nineveh responded. 

Every Generation gets to make its own choice

The Assyrians were the last people you would expect to repent. They were known for their brutality and violence. In a time where torture was commonplace, the Assyrians turned it up a notch. They would have mass executions by impalement. They were known to skin conquered people alive and then hang their skins up on the city wall as a reminder to anyone who might want to disobey. But in spite of all this, they repented at the preaching of Jonah. God’s Word penetrated their heart. 

Jonah 3:5 (NLT) 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.

The people of Nineveh believed God’s message. Repentance always begins with believing God. In the case of the people of Nineveh, they believed that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days. That is one of the reasons they fasted and put on burlap. They were mourning. They weren’t primarily mourning that they had sinned before a holy God; they were mourning that they were going to be destroyed. When God said Nineveh was going to be destroyed in 40 days they believed it was really going to happen! 

Jonah 3:9 “Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” 

The Ninevites were pleading to God’s mercy. They were hoping their change in attitude and behavior would cause God to relent, but they didn’t have assurance that he would. They didn’t have a relationship with God. They didn’t know about his longsuffering and his patience. Maybe you can relate to that. You’ve wondered if God is willing to forgive you. You recognize you’ve sinned against him. You know you’ve run and you’re not sure he wants to forgive you. We have this amazing promise in the New Testament about his forgiveness when we confess our sins to him. 

1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

God saw that the Ninevites had repented and he relented on the destruction he had threatened. He’s a God of miracles who is willing to let everyone off the hook for their sins, and he’s willing to do that for you if you’ll come to him and ask for his forgiveness.

[Related: Getting Right with God]