Jonah: Taking Part In God's Big StorySample

PREVIOUSLY IN JONAH...

Jonah eventually obeys God and gives the message God had given him to the Ninevites. When the Ninevites heard the message, they believed God and turned from their evil ways. God saw their response and chose not to bring on them the destruction He had threatened because of their sinful ways.

Read Jonah Chapter 4

Questions

1. In this chapter, we gain more insight into what Jonah’s motives were all along, and also the incredible nature of God’s love and forgiveness. What reason does Jonah give for not wanting to go to Nineveh in the first place?

2. Read through the way Jonah describes God in verse 2. 

a) What does this verse reveal about who God is?

b) How might this help us see the kind of life God invites us to live?

3. Think about how God provided the plant and then a worm to chew the plant so it would wither. What do you think God wanted Jonah to understand by doing this?

4. Jonah couldn’t accept that God wanted to show mercy and kindness to people who he saw as enemies. One challenge for us to think about from this chapter is how we treat all the people in our lives. What do you think God is saying to us through the book of Jonah about how He sees the world and its people?

5. Why do you think extending love and forgiveness to all people, no matter who they are or what they have done is important to God?