God’s mercy to relent

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. – Jonah 3v10

The story goes on. Jonah rushed to Ninevah to preach and the call the people there to turn from their wickedness. When he did the people ‘believed God, proclaimed a fast, and mourned for their sin.’ The believed that God would judge their sin so they turned to Him. The king of Ninevah then laid aside his sackcloth and ashes and proclaimed that the people were to serve God from that day forward.

At that point everything changed for Ninevah. God saw that they had repented from their sin. These were not just words, but they actions supported what they said they did. Their works proved that they had turned from their evil ways.

So God relented. He did not bring the disaster that was due them. There is a sad story that goes with this. Jonah was mad at God when all these people turned to God, but that is perhaps a story for another day.

But let’s get back to the lesson for us. Praise God that He does relent from doing what sin deserves.

When Adam and Eve sinned they did two things into the human race. They broke the connection with a pure and holy God, and they passed on the sin nature to all mankind. The penalty for sin is death, both physical and spiritual. At from that point on every human deserved one thing. We all deserved to die in our sin.

But God in His grace and mercy relents. He gave man a chance. He planned from that very moment a way for us to avoid death.

He sent His Son to provide us a way out. Much like the Ninevites if we believe God and turn to Him we will not get all that is due us. When we do, like Ninevah, our actions will reflect what takes place in our hearts. We once all waked as children deserving God’s wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, with the great love with which He loves us provided a way for us to benefit from His merciful relenting.

Praise God that He is a God who relents!