The people of Nineveh heard Jonah first, and once they did, there was an immediate response: they called for a fast and put on sack cloth. As with every system, information flows from bottom to top, especially when they happen at the grassroots. So when word reached the king, his response was also to tear his robe, put on sack cloth and sit in ashes. It was from that position that the decree was issued:
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands (Jonah 3:7b,8)."
While it is easy to focus on Jonah and his message, the image of the people of Nineveh and their king comes to mind. The people responded to the call to repentance even before their king heard it, and when he did, his response was a carbon copy of what the people had done. At that point, the king was simply one of his own people.
His words served only to reinforce their resolve and that is how the entire city was delivered: because it’s citizens and leadership shared a common goal. Leaders and followers as a primary requirement ought to be headed in the same direction. Even if not to the same place, there must be sufficient reason to want to move together. If not, neither has any reasonable chance of attaining success because the king will become a dictator and his citizens, rebels.
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