Jonah 3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 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.
Even though God accurately declares the end from the beginning, God would have us understand that there are also conditional prophecies pertaining to nations and individuals, in which the human agent, by their own choice, can change the outcomes, for conditional prophecies often leave the ball in the human court. Case in point was Nineveh, that great city, whose sins and iniquities had reached unto heaven, in so much that their probation would soon be closed.
God sends Jonah with a prophecy that clearly states that their city would be destroyed in 40 days. But if they so choose, they could cause the prophecy not to come true, and by their own choices, they could change the word of God through Jonah into a “No”. The ball is entirely in their court, just as it was with pharaoh, Judas, Peter, and you and me.
In other words, the outcome and fulfillment of the prophecy rested solely with the people of Nineveh, and God would have no problem whatsoever, if His declaration isn’t carried out, for as we stated before God was seeking to save Nineveh not destroy them, just as He would have saved pharaoh if the king had repented.
Jonah 3:10 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.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!