Jonah

=Jonah=

== Summary: The Lord spoke to Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh so he headed in the opposite direction and boarded a ship. When the ship was at sea a huge storm arose and even the most seasoned sailors were terrified and prayed to their gods. They woke Jonah up and told him to pray to his god so that the storm would go away. Jonah told them about how he defied his god and then he told them to throw him over board. The sailors reluctantly threw Jonah off the ship and the storm instantly died down. God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. He prayed to God and told him that he would go to Nineveh. After the three days and three nights the fish spat Jonah out. God once more told Jonah to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah went to Nineveh. He told the people of Nineveh that in forty days God would destroy their city. All the people of Nineveh even the king prayed to God and asked for forgiveness. Jonah sat outside the city and waited for God to destroy it. When he did not he got angry and asked God why he had not destroyed the city as he had said. God said that the people of Nineveh had changed their ways. Jonah was very mad and said that it would be better if he was dead. Jonah sat outside the city on a hill so God sent him a bush to shade him. Jonah was happy with the bush. Then God sent a worm to kill the bush. This made Jonah very angry again. Then God told Jonah "Why are you so concerned with a bush which you did not tend to or grow? Why should I not be concerned with the city of Nineveh where there are more then 120,000 people there who can not tell their right hand from their left?" ==

Discussion Questions:
1.) Why do you think Jonah fled from God the fist time? 2.) Nineveh was a symbol of cruelty and violence do you think that God really wanted to destroy them? 3.) What do you think the sailors thought about God after they threw Jonah off the boat? 4.) What do you think God meant by "more then 120,000 people who can not tell their right hand from their left?

Outside Material:
Jonah being spat out the large fish. media type="youtube" key="N5LkB6uKDg4" height="315" width="420" align="center"

Veggie tales movie Jonah and the Whale trailer.

Study Guide/Quiz Questions:
1.) What does Jonah suggest to the sailors to end the storm? 2.) How does the sailors reaction to God's message compare to the reaction of the Nineveh's reaction. 3.) How many nights and days did Jonah spend in the fish? 4.) What was Jonah's message to the Ninevites? 5.) What did Jonah say when God didn't kill the Ninevites and when God killed the bush that shaded Jonah?