📢 An 8-Word Sermon

Jonah 3:1–10

Some of the most powerful sermons in history have been the shortest. In Jonah 3, we encounter one of them—just eight Hebrew words (five in English) that shook an entire empire to its knees. This wasn’t because of Jonah’s eloquence. It was because Jonah finally spoke exactly what God told him to say.

1️⃣ The Word Came Again

“And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.’” (Jonah 3:1–2)

Jonah had run from God, been swallowed by a fish, and cried out from the deep. But now the Word comes again. Not a new message. Not a softened one. The same commission—“preach what I tell you.”

God didn’t need Jonah’s creativity. He needed Jonah’s obedience.

2️⃣ Jonah Preaches with Obedience, Not Opinion

“So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” (Jonah 3:3)

This time Jonah goes. No resistance. No excuses. He enters Nineveh—a vast, violent, and pagan city known for unspeakable cruelty. Assyrian records brag about their torture methods and public displays of brutality. Yet into this hardened culture walks a reluctant prophet…with no signs, no songs, no miracles—just a warning.

3️⃣ The 8-Word Sermon

“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4)

That’s it. Eight Hebrew words. A message of judgment, not grace. A warning, not an invitation. But it was the Word of the Lord—and it struck like lightning. The effectiveness wasn’t in Jonah—it was in the divine authority behind the words.

📜 The 8 Hebrew Words of Jonah’s Sermon

“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” – Jonah 3:4

וְע֛וֹד (ve-od) – “Yet” or “still”: Indicates a grace period or remaining time.
אַרְבָּעִ֥ים (arba’im) – “Forty”: A biblically significant number tied to testing, judgment, and transformation.
י֣וֹם (yom) – “Days”: Marks the countdown; this is a fixed window.
וְנִֽינְוֵ֑ה (ve-Nineveh) – “And Nineveh”: The subject—the people and the city.
נֶהְפָּֽכֶת (nehpākhet) – “Will be overthrown”: A passive verb meaning to be overturned, reversed, or destroyed.

🗝️ Literal rendering: “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

This warning carried dual potential: judgment or transformation. The Hebrew word נֶהְפָּֽכֶת can imply ruin—or dramatic change. Nineveh’s repentance made it the latter.

📣 Preaching Note: The power of preaching is not in how much we say, but in whether we say what God says. Jonah didn’t embellish. He didn’t edit. He just obeyed—and God did the rest.

4️⃣ A Nation Turns

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:5)

From the slums to the palace, the entire city responded. They didn’t dismiss the warning. They didn’t argue or delay. They believed—and they repented. The outward signs (sackcloth and fasting) revealed an inward sorrow.

5️⃣ The King Steps Off the Throne

“For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.” (Jonah 3:6)

This brutal king—the ruler of a violent empire—steps down, strips off his royal garments, and humbles himself before God. He issues a decree of national repentance, calling everyone (including animals!) to fast, cry out to God, and turn from evil.

“Who can tell if God will turn and repent…?” (Jonah 3:9) — There’s no presumption. Just desperate hope in the mercy of a holy God.

6️⃣ Mass Repentance: Possibly One Million Souls

At the end of Jonah (4:11), God says there are 120,000 people in Nineveh who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—likely referring to small children. If so, the total population—counting adults—may have been well over one million.

All it took was a short sermon from a humbled prophet, and an entire city turned.

🌍 Revival Insight: When God speaks through a surrendered servant, no audience is too hard, no heart too far, no city too wicked. One obedient voice can spark a movement of mercy.

7️⃣ God Responds

“And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” (Jonah 3:10)

God saw more than their fast—He saw their change. Repentance is not just emotion; it’s transformation. And God, rich in mercy, spared the city.

📝 Final Reflection: Speak What God Says

Jonah’s greatest moment wasn’t being rescued by a fish—it was finally preaching God’s Word without apology. And that 8-word sermon became one of the greatest revivals in biblical history.

What might God do if we stop editing His message and start proclaiming it?