Jonah

What is the book of Jonah about? Well, it’s not simply about a great fish (mentioned only four times), or a great city (named nine times), or even a disobedient prophet (mentioned eighteen times). It’s about God! God is mentioned thirty-eight times in these four short...

Read Jonah 1:1-3 1. We know that Jonah is a prophet from 2 Kings 14:25. In verse 1 we see God giving clear instructions to His prophet. How is this instruction communicated? a. Does God speak directly to people today? b. By what means might God speak to you? 2. Though...

Read Jonah 1:4-6 1. Jonah thought he was safely on his way to Tarshish and away from God. But how wrong he was! Who sent the great wind? A. Our God does indeed have power over nature. How is this power demonstrated in Matt. 8:23-24? B. This great wind on the sea...

Read Jonah 1:17 - The Plan of God 1. Consider the phrase “had prepared.” What does this tell you about God’s role in the circumstances in which Jonah finds himself? 2. In the children’s books and movies about Jonah, the belly of the big fish often looks like a large...

Read Jonah 3:1 - The God of the Second Chance 1. Compare Jonah 1:1 with Jonah 3:1. 2. It may seem strange, but Jonah 3:1 is the favorite verse of some people. It is a verse full of hope. Do you see the hope in it? 3. Our God is surely the God of Second Chances. In...

Read Jonah 3:1-4 - Jonah Obeys 1. Compare Jonah 1:2 with Jonah 3:2. 2. Compare Jonah 1:3 with Jonah 3:3a. a. Consider the multiple steps taken by Jonah the first time God spoke to him. Now look at the simplicity of Jonah’s response when given a second chance. Can you...

Read Jonah 4:1 - Jonah’s Heart Revealed If this book had ended at the last verse of Chapter 3, history would have portrayed Jonah as the greatest of the prophets. After all, preaching one message that motivated thousands of people to repent and turn to God was no mean...

Read Jonah 4:5-8 1. For what reason did Jonah leave the city? If he had stayed in Nineveh, how might God have used him? Jonah may have planned to stay at the east side of the city for a while. What might indicate this? 2. God is very present in these circumstances and...