Obadiah, Jonah 1-3

“And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth …” (3:5). Jonah has been called the anti-prophet, because while most prophet/preachers want to help people hear God’s voice, Jonah closed his own ears. Called to preach to the evil Ninevites, enemies of Israel, Jonah fled instead, ending up at the bottom of the sea. After God mercifully rescued Jonah, he went to Nineveh and preached with as few words as possible (3:4), yet the Ninevites quickly repented.

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster …” (3:10). God’s mercy is infinitely, shockingly greater than our own.