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Running the Other Direction
1. When you were a child, how did your mother call you to dinner?
Read Jonah 1
2. The people of Nineveh were worshiped multiple “gods,” warred aggressively against their neighbors (including Israel), and treated their captives ruthlessly. Why would God send a prophet to people like this?
3. When God calls, Jonah runs in the opposite direction. How did other prophets react to the call of God? (Is. 6:1-8; Ex. 4:10-16; Hos. 1:2-3)
4. How did Jonah’s response to God affect other people?
5. The sailors were most likely animistic pagans (worshiping the spirits of the ocean, mountains, rivers, trees, etc.) What did they learn about Yahweh on this day? How did they ultimately respond to Him (v. 16)?
6. When Jonah ran, why didn’t God assign a different prophet to complete His mission?
7. Has God ever given you an assignment you refused to fulfill? Is there an assignment you are running from now?
8. What mission do you think God is calling you to today?
9. The theme of Jonah is the greatness and grace of God. You can see His greatness in His dominance of the wind and waves, and His grace in the warning to the Ninevites, the sparing of the sailors, and the swallowing of Jonah. How do you want to respond to God’s greatness and grace today?
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