JONAH - PART 4

PRAY TO BEGIN

Read Jonah 4:1-11

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What things stand out to you from this final passage from Jonah
2. Jonah’s description of God in verse 2 is a quote from Exodus 34 in which God is describing himself in a positive way. Why is Jonah viewing these characteristics of God as a negative?

3. What does Jonah’s anger at God show about how he views the City of Nineveh?

4. Verse 6 shows God ‘saving’ Jonah what is Jonah saved from?

5. What does Jonah’s reaction to the plant’s life and death show about what he values and cares about?

6. How does God describe how he views the people of Ninevah?


APPLY:
1. Do you find yourself feeling more passionate about yourself being saved from ‘discomfort’ than you are about the people of Sydney being saved from judgement?
2. Do you tend to feel that Sydney is deserving of compassion/ pity? Why?
3. What things in your life would be different if your view of the city was more aligned with God’s than with Jonah’s?

WEEKLY CHALLENGE:

Take the time to go for a prayer walk around your area. Intentionally looking for areas of need and praying for those you see as well as the homes, businesses, schools and places of leisure around you.