John Calvin Commentary Jonah 3:5

"And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them." — Jonah 3:5 (ASV)

I overlooked one thing in the third verse: Jonah said that Nineveh was a city great to God. This form of speech is common in Scripture, for the Hebrews call anything divine that is superior or excellent. So they speak of the cedars of God, the mountains of God, and the fields of God when these are superior in height or in any other respect. Thus, a city is called the city of God when it is renowned beyond others. I wished to briefly allude to this subject because some, with too much refinement and even childishness, say that it was called the city of God because it was the object of God’s care, and a place where He intended to exhibit a remarkable instance of conversion. But, as I have said, this should be understood as the usual way of speaking in similar cases.

I now return to the text: Jonah says that the citizens of Nineveh believed God. From this, we gather that Jonah’s preaching was not so brief that he failed to introduce his discourse by declaring that he was God’s prophet and that he did not proclaim these commands without authority. We also gather that Jonah denounced ruin in such a way that, at the same time, he showed God to be the avenger of sins. He reproved the Ninevites and, as it were, summoned them to God’s tribunal, making their guilt known to them.

For if he had spoken only of punishment, the Ninevites would undoubtedly have rebelled furiously against God. But by showing them their guilt, he led them to acknowledge that the threatened punishment was just, and thus he prepared them for humility and penitence.

Both these things may be gathered from Jonah’s statement that the Ninevites believed God. For if they had not been persuaded that the command came from heaven, what kind of faith would it have been? Let us then understand that Jonah had spoken of his calling in such a way that the Ninevites felt assured he was a heavenly herald; this was the basis of their faith. Furthermore, the Ninevites would never have believed to the point of putting on sackcloth if they had not been reminded of their sins.

Therefore, there is no doubt that Jonah, while crying out against Nineveh, at the same time made known how wickedly the people lived and how grievous their offenses against God were. Thus it was that they put on sackcloth and humbly fled to God’s mercy; they understood that they were deservedly summoned to judgment on account of their wicked lives.

But it may be asked, how did the Ninevites come to believe God, since no hope of salvation was given to them? For there can be no faith without an acquaintance with the paternal kindness of God; whoever regards God as angry with them must necessarily despair. Since Jonah then gave them no knowledge of God’s mercy, he must have greatly terrified the Ninevites, rather than calling them to faith.

The answer is that the expression should be understood as a part representing the whole. For there is no perfect faith when people, being called to repentance, humbly submit themselves before God; yet it is a part of faith. For the Apostle says in Hebrews 11:7 that Noah through faith feared. He deduces the fear which Noah felt on account of the prophetic word he received from faith, thereby showing that it was faith in part and pointing out the source from which it proceeded.

At the same time, the mind of the holy patriarch must have been moved by other things besides threats when he built an ark for himself as the means of safety. We may thus, by understanding a part for the whole, explain this passage—that the Ninevites believed God. For since they knew that God required the deserved punishment, they submitted to Him and, at the same time, sought pardon.

But the Ninevites undoubtedly derived something more than mere terror from Jonah’s words. For if they had only understood this—that they were guilty before God and were justly summoned to punishment—they would have been overwhelmed and stunned with dread and could never have been encouraged to seek forgiveness.

Since then they humbly prostrated themselves before God, they must certainly have conceived some hope of grace. Therefore, though they were touched with penitence and the fear of God, they also had some knowledge of divine grace. Thus they believed God; for though they were aware that they were fully deserving of death, they still did not despair but resorted to prayer.

Since then we see that the Ninevites sought this remedy, we can be assured that they gained more benefit from Jonah’s preaching than the mere knowledge that they were guilty before God; this certainly ought to be understood. But we shall speak more on the subject in our next lecture.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since there is so much timidity in us that none of us is prepared to follow where You may call us, we may be so instructed by the example of Your servant Jonah as to obey You in everything; and that, though Satan and the world may oppose us with all their terrors, we may yet be strengthened by a reliance on Your power and protection, which You have promised to us, and may go on in the course of our calling, and never turn aside, but in this way contend against all the hindrances of this world, until we reach that heavenly kingdom, where we shall enjoy You and Christ Your only begotten Son, who is our strength and our salvation. And may Your Spirit give us life and strengthen all our faculties, so that we may obey You, and that at length Your name may be glorified in us, and that we may finally become partakers of that glory to which You invite us through Christ our Lord. Amen.