Lesson: Jonah 1:1-2:10 (NIV based)

THEME for chapters 1-2: THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD - The Lord is in control when everything else is out of control.  We need to rely on Him and look for a lesson He is trying to teach us; maintain personal integrity and do what He asks, leave the results to Him even when serving in a disagreeable situation.

GOD:
  ACTIVITIES:
    1. Sending Jonah to Nineveh  (1:1-2)
    2. Great wind (1:4)
    3. Caused Jonah to fall into a deep sleep (1:5)
    4. Casting of lots to fall on Jonah (1:7)
    5. Seas getting rougher (1:11)
    6. Great fish to swallow Jonah and keep him alive (1:17-2:10)
    7. Cause the fish to vomit Jonah (2:10)
  PURPOSES:
    1. Salvation of the wicked Ninevites
    2. Salvation of the idolatrous sailors
    3. Repentance and service of rebellious Jonah
    4. Provide a Biblical account for future believers'
       edification
  INDUCED RESULTS:
    1. Salvation and deliverance of the sailors
    2. Repentance and deliverance of Jonah

JONAH:
  FAITH:
    1. Prophet of God (1:1; 1:12)
    2. Rebellion (1:3)
    3. Repentance - limited (3:3)
    4. Faith that the Lord would deliver him (2:2, 6, 9)
  PRAYER:
    1. Call from the depths of despair (2:2)
    2. Hurled into the deep (2:3)
    3. Rescued by the Lord (2:6)
    4. Foolishness of the pagans (sailors?) (2:8)
    5. Song of thanksgiving from drowning ! (2:9)
    6. Pledge to keep his vow(?) (2:9)
  ACTIONS:
    1. Runs from the Lord (1:3)
    2. Heads in the opposite direction of Nineveh via the port
       city of Joppa on to a boat for Tarshish (Phoencia) (1:3)
    3. Witnesses to the sailors (1:9, 12)
    4. Encourages the sailors to throw him overboard (1:12)
    5. Swims (1:15-17)
    6. Prays inside the fish (2:1)

SAILORS:
  FAITH (and actions):
    1. Idol worship or false gods (1:5)
    2. Superstition and casting lots (1:7, 8, 10, 11)
    3. Depended on works - threw cargo overboard (1:5), rowing
       back to land (1:13), threw Jonah overboard (1:15)
    4. Feared the Lord (1:10, 14, 16)
    5. Offered sacrifice to the Lord (1:16)
    6. Made vows to the Lord (1:16)
  PRAYER:
    1. To their gods (1:5)
    2. To the Lord (1:14)

NINEVITES:
  SIN:
    1. Wickedness had come before the Lord (1:1), evil ways and
       violence (3:8);  [wicked (Nahum 1:15), vile, carved images,
       cast idols, a place with temples for the pagan gods, (Nah.
       1:14), `city of blood' (Nah. 3:1), prostitution and
       witchcraft (Nah. 3:4), endless cruelty (Nah. 3:19)]
    2. Had a previous experience or encounter with Jonah to cause
       his reaction (1:3)

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
-The wickedness of Nineveh must have been excessive.

- Jonah tries to run from the Lord.

- Lord is in control when everything else seems to be out of control.

- Men turn to the Lord when they are in deep distress.  Why do we wait until then?

- All is doomed - all is lost.  But the Lord has not abandoned me.

- Jonah's prayer sounds a lot like Psalm 30:2-5, along with other phrases in Psalms.

- The sailors, Ninevites, and the king believed.  It sure didn't take long to persuade them.  Apparently they quickly abandoned their idolatry.

- Jonah's anger at God was unjustified.  I wonder if Jonah had previous dealings with the Ninevites that caused him to have such a bad attitude towards them?

- Jonah wants to play God.  He even has the nerve to find a good seat to view their destruction.

- God of details - God of miracles - God over big fish.

- Jonah's relationship with God, whether good or bad, affected others around him.

- Jonah's misguided values, critical attitude, selfishness, self-pity, anger, and judgmentalism sure are easy to spot.

- Jonah should have repented at the time when his sin was exposed to the sailors instead of requesting to be thrown overboard.  Throw sin overboard.

QUESTIONS:
    1. Were Jonah's actions justified?  What was Jonah's real sin, the heart of his problem or the reason for his disobedience?  racial, rebellion, judgmentalism (desire to play God), disagreement/fear, lack of faith, unwillingness to serve the Lord?

    2. Would Jonah be justified if in the past, the Ninevites had killed his son and raped his daughter?

    3. What method did God incorporate to change Jonah's mind?  self-security, troubled situation, exposure of sin, entrapment in an impossible situation, acknowledgment of sin, dependence upon God

    4. Does God punish us today when we fail to do His will - or just when we are openly rebellious?
     - He disciplines and not punishes believers; but it seems like punishment at the time; we look back after the discipline and see we needed it

    5. Did Jonah's activities or lack of activities affect others around him, even people he had never met before?

    6. Do our sins and activities affect others?  eternally?

    7. Does the Lord control little things in our lives just as He controlled big things in Jonah's life?

    8. When the Lord asks us to do something (through His servant a pastor for example), what should be our response?  even when we have bad personal feelings?

    9. Where can we run to hide from God?  omnipresence and omniscience

    10. Why do we wait so long to call out to the Lord when we are in deep distress?

Big Idea:  WE NEED TO DO WHAT THE LORD ASKS, RELY ON HIM, AND LOOK FOR ANY LESSON HE IS TRYING TO TEACH US.

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Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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Updated: 12-29-14