3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” – Jonah 3:3-4
Having learned the lesson that resisting the will of God is both futile and counter-productive, Jonah now obeys the call and goes to Nineveh.Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. The idea behind this statement probably refers to how long it would take to walk around the city of “Greater Nineveh” – the metropolitan area around the city.
Jonah emphasized to the people of Nineveh what would happen if they did not repent – the city would be overthrown in judgment. Undoubtedly, this was not Jonah’s whole message to the people of Nineveh; but clearly it was his emphasis. The word “Overthrown” is the same word applied to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The situation Nineveh found itself in was dire to say the least
Jonah preached this message with earnestness. A fire was born in the belly of Jonah after his time in the belly of a fish. Such earnestness comes with the importance of the message. This has to do with immortal souls dead in sin, hanging on the brink of perdition. The soft-speaking, gentle-toned preacher is never likely to awaken souls . . . But earnestness of Jonah differs greatly from loudness. Earnestness is widely different from that noisy, blustering, screaming rant, that manifests more turbulence than passion for Christ.
This begs the question; how earnest are you when you talk about God? When conversations about religion or spirituality come up in your daily life? How do others perceive your earnestness? We can be loud and noisy, but if our heart is not earnest in our compassion others will know. Be earnest in your conviction for Christ!