Lesson 4 (Preaching, the King's Decree, and Repentance)

Lesson 4

Preaching, the King's Decree, and Repentance

Jonah 3:1-10

1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Questions for ages 2-4 years

1. What did God tell Jonah to do now that he was out of the belly of the great fish?

2. What did Jonah do this time?

3. What was the message that God wanted Jonah to preach to Nineveh?

4. Did the people believe Jonah's words from God?

5. How many people believed Jonah?

6. What did the king do when he also heard the message from Jonah?

7. What did the king command the people to do?

8. What did the king hope would happen if they did what the king commanded?

9. Did God overthrow the city as Jonah said?

10. Why did God not overthrow the city?

Questions for ages 5+ years

1. Did Jonah's actions prove that he had truly repented?

2. Who was going to destroy Nineveh?

3. How do we know that the people believed God?

4. Why was it important that the king took off his robe and left his throne?

5. Who did the Ninevites acknowledge was the determiner of good and evil?

6. What made the Ninevites believe that God could change his judgment over Nineveh?

7. Was God lying to the Ninevites about being overthrown in forty days?

8. Did the Ninevites deserve to be overthrown and destroyed by God?

9. Did the Ninevites want justice or mercy from God? What is the difference?

10. Why did God forgive the Ninevites?

Additional True or False Questions

1. Because Jonah was unwilling to preach to the Ninevites God let Jonah go back home.

2. Jonah went to Nineveh as God had commanded the second time.

3. Jonah's message was to beg the Ninevites to love God because God loved them.

4. The Ninevites demanded that Jonah prove what he was saying was true.

5. All the people of Nineveh believed the Word of God spoke by Jonah.

6. The king believed that God could pardon their sins if they would repent.

7. The Ninevites said they believed God, but continued to doing evil.

8. God was never really going to kill the Ninevites, he only wanted to scare them.