Jonah - NAS

1. Jonah Had a Different Idea than God Had.

Jonah 1:1-3 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai __________, [2] "Arise, go to ____________ the great city and cry against it, for their __________________ has come up __________ Me." [3] But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship _________ was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Nineveh was to the north and east of where Jonah lived. But Jonah chose to go west to the sea and get on a boat going even father west. Verse 3 says that Jonah was going to Tarshish to get away from the ______________ of the Lord.

2. Jonah Tried to Run Away from God.

Jonah 1:4-9 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. [5] Then the ____________ became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to ____________ it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. [6] So the ____________ __________________ him and said, "How is it that you are ______________? Get up, call on your god. ____________ your god will be ________________ about us so that we will not perish." [7] Each man said to his mate, "Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. [8] Then they said to him, "Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your __________________? And where do you come from? What is your ____________? From what __________ are you?" [9] He said to them, "I am a __________, and I fear the LORD God of __________ who made the sea and the dry land."

Where did the ship's sailors find Jonah? __________________.

3. The Sailors Did Not Want to Do What Jonah Suggested.

Jonah 1:10-14 Then the men became ________________ __________________ and they said to him, "How could you do this?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the ______________ of the LORD, because he had told them. [11] So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?"-for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. [12] He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." [13] ____________, the men rowed ___________________ to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even ______________ ____________ them. [14] Then they called on the LORD and said, "We ________________ pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put ______________ blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have ____________."

The sailors prayed a prayer to the Lord. They said, we earnestly pray, O Lord, that you do not let us _______________ on this man's account.

4. And So, Jonah Went for a Whale of a Ride.

Jonah 1:15-17 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. [16] Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a ________________ to the LORD and made vows. [17] And the LORD appointed a great fish to ____________ Jonah, and Jonah was in the ____________ of the fish three days and three nights.

What might Jonah have been thinking as he was thrown from the boat? Do you think he wanted to be thrown into the water? ___________.

5. Read Jonah's Prayer in the First Nine Verses of the Second Chapter of Jonah.

Jonah 2:1-9 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, [2] and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. [3] "For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your ______________ and billows passed over me. [4] "So I said, 'I have been ______________ from Your sight. _____________________ I will look again toward Your holy temple.' [5] "Water ___________________ me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. [6] "I ________________ to the roots of the ________________. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. [7] "While I was ______________ away, I __________________ the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple. [8] "Those who regard vain idols Forsake their _____________________, [9] But I will ________________ to You With the voice of _____________________. That which I have vowed I will pay. ________________ is from the LORD."

1) Was Jonah in any distress? ___________________

2) Did Jonah think he would escape from the deep? ________________

3) In verse nine Jonah said where salvation comes from. Can the Lord give salvation to whomever He wishes? _______________.

6. God Did Something Unusual.

Jonah 2:10 Then the LORD ________________ the fish, and it ____________ Jonah up onto the dry land.

7. Jonah Answers God's Second Call.

Jonah 3:1-4 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, __________, [2] "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and ______________ to it the _____________________ which I am going to tell you." [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an ___________________ great city, a three days' walk. [4] Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be __________________."

What is Jonah's message? "Yet ___________ days and Nineveh will be __________________".

8. How Does Nineveh Respond?

Jonah 3:5-9 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the ______________ to the least of them. [6] When the word ____________ the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered ____________ with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. [7] He issued a _____________________ and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. [8] "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God ________________ that each may turn from his wicked way and from the ______________ which is in his hands. [9] "Who knows, God may turn and relent and ______________ His ____________ anger so that we will not perish."

1) Did the people of Nineveh believe in God? _________________

2) Did the king of Nineveh take Jonah's message seriously? _________.

9. Did God Destroy Nineveh?

Jonah 3:10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented __________________ the calamity which He had ______________ He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

What can be learned from this? ____________________________

______________________________________________________

10. Did Jonah Know That God was Merciful?

Jonah 4:1-4 But it greatly __________________ Jonah and he became angry. [2] He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a ______________ and _______________________ God, slow to anger and abundant in _________________________, and one who relents __________________ ______________. [3] "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." [4] The LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?"

1) Jonah said, ___________ is better than __________ to me.

2) God said, do you have ___________ reason to be _____________?

11. What Is with the Worm?

Jonah 4:5-8 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a ____________ for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. [6] So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to ____________ him from his __________________. And Jonah was ________________ happy about the plant. [7] But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it ______________ the plant and it withered. [8] When the sun came up God appointed a ________________ east wind, and the sun beat down on ____________ head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is __________ to me than life."

What can be learned from this? ____________________________

______________________________________________________

12. Was Jonah Thinking Clearly?

Jonah 4:9-11 Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death." [10] Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and ______________ overnight. [11] "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 ____________ who do not know the __________________ ____________ their ____________ and left hand, as well as many ____________?"

1) How many people lived in Nineveh? _________________

2) Did God want Jonah to share His concern for the people of Nineveh? _________.

3) What have you learned from the story of Jonah?

4) Do you thing the story of Jonah is a true story? ______.

13. Jesus Referred to Jonah.

Matthew 12:39-41 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; [40] for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the ______________, and will condemn it ____________ they ______________ at the ________________ of Jonah; and behold, ________________ ____________ than Jonah is here.

1) Did Jesus believe the story of Jonah? ___________.

2) The people in Jesus time believed the story of Jonah and his warning to Nineveh. Jesus said that someone greater than Jonah was in their midst to warn them. Who was He referring to? _________________.

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