Jonah - NIV

1. Jonah Had a Different Idea than God Had.

Jonah 1:1-3 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: [2] "Go to the great city of ____________ and preach against it, ____________ its __________________ has come up before me." [3] But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and __________ for Tarshish to flee from 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 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a ____________ storm arose that the ship __________________ to break up. [5] All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to ____________ the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. [6] The ____________ went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." [7] Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this ______________." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. [8] So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this ____________ for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your ____________? From what people are you?" [9] He ______________, "I am a __________ and I ____________ the LORD, the God of __________, who made the sea and the land."

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

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

Jonah 1:10-14 This ________________ them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was ____________ away from the LORD, ____________ he had already told them so.) [11] The sea was ____________ rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" [12] "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he ____________, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." [13] ____________, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. [14] Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for ____________ an ______________ man, for you, O LORD, have done as you ____________."

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 Then they took Jonah and threw him ________________, and the raging sea grew calm. [16] At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a ________________ to the LORD and made vows to him. [17] But the LORD ______________ a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside 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 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. [2] He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. [3] You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and ______________ swept over me. [4] I said, 'I have been ______________ from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' [5] The ________________ waters __________________ me, the deep __________________ me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. [6] To the roots of the ________________ I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. [7] "When my life was ebbing away, I __________________ you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. [8] "Those who cling to ________________ idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. [9] But I, with a song of _____________________, will ________________ to you. What I have vowed I will make good. ________________ comes 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 And the LORD ________________ the fish, and it ____________ Jonah onto dry land.

7. Jonah Answers God's Second Call.

Jonah 3:1-4 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: [2] "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." [3] Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very ________________ city--a visit ______________ three days. [4] On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He __________________: "Forty more 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 The ________________ believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the ______________ to the least, put on sackcloth. [6] When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. [7] Then he issued a _____________________ in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste ______________; do not let them eat or drink. [8] But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let ______________ call ______________ on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their ______________. [9] Who knows? God may yet relent and with __________________ turn from his fierce 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 what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the ___________________ he had __________________.

What can be learned from this? ____________________________

______________________________________________________

10. Did Jonah Know That God was Merciful?

Jonah 4:1-4 But Jonah was greatly __________________ and became angry. [2] He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to ______________. I knew that you are a ______________ and _______________________ God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending ______________. [3] Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." [4] But the LORD replied, "Have you any right 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 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made ____________ a ____________, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. [6] Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his __________________, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. [7] But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it ______________. [8] When the sun rose, God provided a ________________ east wind, and the sun blazed on ____________ head so that he grew faint. He __________ to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

What can be learned from this? ____________________________

______________________________________________________

12. Was Jonah Thinking Clearly?

Jonah 4:9-11 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." [10] But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. [11] But ____________ has more than a ____________ and twenty ______________ people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many __________ as well. __________ I not be concerned about that great city?"

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 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a __________________ sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh will stand up at the ______________ with this generation and condemn it; for they ______________ at the ________________ of Jonah, and now one ____________ 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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