Repent And Live

Aaron Beard

            Even before he came to the city he knew exactly the job set before him by the Lord to do.  The message he was to preach had been given to him, so entering Nineveh he began crying out, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). While this statement is all we have recorded of what Jonah said, we know the Ninevites knew exactly what this meant – repentance!  It was for this purpose the prophets were called and this is a common thread running throughout all of their messages.  Jeremiah made this point as he addressed the nation of Israel saying, “I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me” (Jeremiah 35:15). Prophet after prophet rose up calling God’s chosen people to repent of their ways, yet the overwhelming majority of them refused to hear (Jeremiah 5:3). Some became angry at the prophets message, went to great lengths to restrain them, and some even resorted to murder! Even in the face of all the persecution and rejection, the prophets still heralded forth their message.

            What is meant when we speak of the prophets preaching a message of repentance? Repentance is a feeling of regret, a changing of the mind, and/or a turning from sin to God. This is the exact picture the prophets paint when urging the people to repent. While the word “repent” is not used very often throughout the prophets, the same idea is found in the word “turn.” The Lord said through Ezekiel, “As I live… I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn, from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11).  When one repents, he simply turns away from sin and turns back to the Lord. Jeremiah and the other prophets preached a repentance which had two sides to it.  He wrote, “…So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions (ASV)” (Jeremiah 18:11). True repentance involves a turning away from one’s sinful actions and a changing of the heart. 

            The prophets made it abundantly clear that repentance meant more than just feeling sorry about sin, but turning away from practicing it.  While Ezekiel 18 is often turned to in an effort to refute the doctrine of Calvinism, it gives a clear picture of repentance that pleases the Lord. Ezekiel wrote, “Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die” (Ezekiel 18:27-28).  When one truly repents, he has a commitment to stop doing that for which he is repenting (Jeremiah 44:5). Ezekiel went on to say, “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin” (Ezekiel 18:30). Throughout his discourse on the false proverb spreading through Israel, Ezekiel constantly referred to the importance of turning from all of one’s sins. God demands complete repentance, not leaving it up to us as to which sins we will give up and which ones we will continue to practice.  If we are going to please God, we must give up anything and everything that goes against His word

            While the visible aspect of repentance is a change in the way one lives, this cannot be the case until one first changes the heart. This means a change in one’s attitude toward sin itself and the Lord.  Zechariah said, “…Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do’” (Zechariah 1:6). They not only repented of their sins, but they humbly recognized that they were deserving of what was coming their way! Joel had just painted a picture of the day of judgment the Lord was bringing on their land. He described it as “a day of darkness and gloominess” and “great and very terrible” (Joel 2:2, 11).  Immediately following his description of this day Joel says, “Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments; return to the Lord your God…” (Joel 2:12-13). It was common during these days for one to tear their clothing as a sign of deep sadness or repentance. The prophets’ message was that it is not enough to simply tear our clothes over sin, but it must begin with a changed heart.  Dealing with this problem in the Pharisees Jesus said, “…You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). Nothing had changed between the time of Joel and Christ and nothing has changed since. It is easy to get caught up in striving to make ourselves look great on the outside to the neglect of the inside. If we are really wanting to rid our lives of sin, changing the outside is important, but we need to come to the realization that it cannot be done unless the inside (the heart) changes first!

            Even though the picture the prophets painted of the destruction that was coming upon the people of God was terrible, there was always hope if they would humble themselves and repent.  The prophets taught that if they would repent the Lord might turn away their judgment.  Joel wrote, “…Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and he relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him…” (Joel 2:13-14). While many were bent on doing evil in spite of the warnings, there were some who reacted to the call to repentance with great despair.  Jeremiah dealt with this mindset when he spoke of impending doom.  His message was this: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you.  Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good’” (Jeremiah 18:11).  Realizing their spiritual condition they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart” (vs. 12).  What a sad statement to make! They have been given the opportunity to repent; however, they see themselves as being too far engulfed in sin to turn back to the Lord. Sometimes people will react to God’s call to repentance in quite the same way today. It can be a very humble response to one’s realization of his sinfulness and the judgment he expects to receive from the Lord. Within the context of describing the certainty of God’s judgment Peter writes, “The Lord… is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  As long as we are alive and in this body, no matter how deep into sin we may find ourselves, God is waiting and longing for his children to return to Him!

            After hearing Jonah’s preaching, the Ninevites exhibit one of the greatest examples of repentance. One of the things that makes their response to his preaching so remarkable is that they were a Gentile nation (Nineveh is the capitol of Assyria). They did not have the law given from Mount Sinai nor did they live under the same guidance from the Lord with which Israel lived, yet at the end of Jonah’s preaching the entire nation repented!  Jonah 3:5 says, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” It seems that there was not anyone whose heart was not affected by what they had heard! Even the king shared in this repentance.  What follows shows well what God feels when He sees such a deep display of changed hearts and lives.  Jonah 3:10 says, “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.” The same kind of heart which responded in repentance then to the preaching of God is needed today in every heart and life.