Ninevites Repent

How did the Ninevites respond to God's message that Jonah proclaimed to them?
Jonah 3:5 tells us that they believed, called a fast, and put on sackcloth.
Why would they call a fast and put on sackcloth?
Let's take a closer look at wearing sackcloth. What does it indicate about the person doing it?

How many times is sackcloth mentioned in Jonah 3? List the verses and note what is done along with wearing the sackcloth.

If you looked up "sackcloth" in the Holman Bible Dictionary, you would find this definition: A garment of coarse material fashioned from goat or camel hair worn as a sign of mourning or anguish, also marked by fasting and sitting on an ash heap.

To learn more about this practice of wearing sackcloth, you could find "sackcloth" in the concordance at the front of Strong's, find other verses that use this word, and look them up. The first mention of sackcloth in the Bible is in Genesis 37:34. What did Jacob do besides wear sackcloth when his other sons told him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal?
The second time this word is used is in 2 Samuel 3:31. What does David tell the people to do when Abner is killed?
Read Esther 4:1-3. The Jews have just learned that they are to be exterminated in Persia. How do they respond?
What else do people do besides wear sackcloth?
Why did people lay on ashes or put ashes on themselves? What did ashes symbolize?
Read 2 Peter 2:6. What were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah reduced to? Who reduced them? For whom were they to be an example?
Read Ezekiel 28:18. God is condemning Tyre. What does God say He has done to them? Why did He do it? What have they been turned to?
Read Malachi 4:3. What are the wicked going to be?
So, what do you think ashes might represent?
Complete destruction, God's wrath, and death might be a few words that come to mind. Ashes are a symbol of human mortality and of the humility needed by humans as they approach God, the One who created them and will judge them.
Read Job 42:6. What do dust and ashes symbolize in this passage?
Read Matthew 11:21. What does Jesus say that the people of Tyre and Sidon would have done in sackcloth and ashes?

So when people tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, heaped ashes on themselves or lay on ashes, wailed, wept, fasted, lamented and mourned, what were they doing before God? What was their visible behavior evidence of?
In Jonah 3:5 and 6, we see that along with wearing sackcloth, the Ninevites also fasted and sat on ashes. But most importantly, what did they do in verse 8?
How do these actions remind you of what Jonah did in chapter two?
How did God respond to Jonah's action in chapter two?
How did God respond to the Ninevite's actions in chapter three?
What does this teach us about God?