Uncertainty was a hallmark of ancient Near Eastern religion. The worshipers of false gods never really knew how to please—and appease—the gods they worshiped. If a worshiper of such gods could figure out 1) which god they had angered, 2) how they had angered him or her, 3) and what would make that god happy, even then they still couldn’t be sure that they would be forgiven. What a terrible way to live. The true God, however, is different, and “when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (v. 10).

The New Testament book of Hebrews drives home God’s approachability and willingness to forgive sinners. Not only is He compassionate toward repentant sinners—just like we see in the book of Jonah—but God has also given people “a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God” (Heb. 4:14). This high priest can “empathize with our weakness” because He “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (v. 15). And rather than causing us to shrink back from approaching God, Jesus our high priest enables us to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (v. 16).

Neither the sailors in Jonah 1 nor the king of Nineveh in chapter 3 knew if God would forgive them because a God who would forgive and who had made Himself known was foreign to their worldview. Our God is utterly and entirely different, and He welcomes us to His “throne of grace” and invites us into intimate relationship with Him. What a gift that we don’t have to wonder whether or not the Father will forgive us!

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