The Pulpit Commentary — Jonah — Section 81

from their evil way." Then is the threatened doom to come P No; "God repented of the eYil, that he hnd 8aid that he would do unto them; and he did it not." And yet in ot.ber Scriptures God is 81\id not to repent. Words can only faintly portray a human friend. How feeble, then, a.re all words to declare God I Words that seem to us to contradict each other are necessary to convey to ua a fuller, clearer view of him, If in one Scripture God is said not to repent, or" change his mind" (as the word mean8), that is true. If in another he is said to do so, that is also true. Thll Scripture fear- lessly decla.res bolh. It makes no attempt to harmonize them. We may be unable to do so. And yet we may believe both ; confident that they are in harmony if we cannot harmonize them. Men repent, or change their mind, in reference to sin. God repents, or changes his mind, in reference to the sinner. I. h Hrs OWN NATURE Gov 1s CHANGELESS. What changes there are in earth and i;ky, the seasons, human life and experience I "Man continueth not in one stay." With God" is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He never ceases to be almighty. omniscient, " the only wise God." He says, " I am the Lord, I change not "(Mal. iii. 6)'. This was the Divine message by Balaam to Balak: " God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent; bath he said, and shall he not do it?" et.c. (Numb. xxiii. 19, 20). In other words, no enchantment, no divination, coutd avail against Israel. What were Balak's bribes to God? He could fulfil his promises to Israel-for he was almighty; he would, for he was faithful. Further, in various Scriptt"·es (Gen. vi. 3; Jer. xviii. 7; as well as here) we are taught- II. THAT Goo REPEl>"'TS, OR CHANGES ms MIND. Some would limit this to God's altered dealings with men; t.o his acts, never to his feelings. They hold that in his feelings he is ever the same to men ; that none of the affections found in us ha.ve any counterpart in him ; that he looks down upon all human changes-sorrows, joys, con- flicts, defeats, triumphs-cold, calm, unmoved, immovable I What I a God only thought, only will? No mercy, no pity, no sympathy, no love? Unlovely. creed I "God is love." Then he has the feelings of love, without, indeed, the imperfections that may mingle with ours. He is "the Father of our spirits." Our emotions are the image of his; in him " without spot," or defect, " or any such thing." It is no mere figure of meaningless speech that speaks of him as "angry with the wicked," as "pitying them that fear him," as rejoicing over his penitent creatures; as repenting concerning Nineveh. With no idle threatening was Jonah sent to the Ninevites. God then meant destruc- tion. And ha.d the people not repented, it would have come. But the very threatening was blessed to them. They saw the grea.tness of their sin in the greatness of the imruinent punishment. And when their state of rebellion and .defiance ceased, their city came into a new relation to God, "and room was made for the word to take effect; • the curse ea.useless shall not come.'" God knew that the city would be spared. Yes. But he also knew that, when spared, it would be another city-a city not of violent rebels against him, but of penitent subjects. God is righteous in all his ways. He rewards every man ACCOrding to his works. It was in accordance, then, with his nature, that when the Ninevites turned Crom their evil courses with true heart-sorrow, he should tum from the fierceness of his anger. There is warning here. God's threatening& ate not to be trifted with. Remember the destroyed sinners "in· the days of' Noah;'' ultimately these very Ninevites; and the Jew," tribe of the wandering foot and ·weary breast," is witness to-day through all lands to the fact that when a warned nation repents not, God is faithful to his warning. And so with the individual. Let the warned sinner "fle,e Crom the wrath to come." What consol,a,tion, too, in this narrative.( God is "not willing that any should peruh; but that all should come to repentance.'! How willing-how revealed in Christ, who came to "call sinners to repentance" I Turn from sin. God will turn to you. From a.far he will see yotL He will run to meet you. He will kiss into forgetfulnesa all ;your sins. He waits to be gracioua, • "He .deligbteth in mercy."-G. T. C. <JII, IV, 1-11.] THE BOOK OF JON All. 10