The Message of Jonah: The Book of Jonah reveals God’s sovereign rule over mankind and all creation. Creation came into being through Him and responds to His every command.
Thus, obeying God’s will brings blessings to us and to others through us; disobedience brings discipline.
The book of Jonah shows that the God of the Hebrews has concern for the whole world. And that’s good news for you and me!
Key Verse
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.
9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation is from the Lord.”
Jonah 2:1-2, 9 (NASB)
Available Lessons
Content Outline
Setting and Timeline
“The nation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity.
Spiritually however, it was a time of poverty; religion was ritualistic and increasingly idolatrous,
and justice had become perverted.
Peacetime and wealth had made her bankrupt spiritually, morally, and ethically
(cf. 2 Kin. 14:24; Amos 4:1ff.; 5:10-13).”
Dr. John MacArthur
“God had called His people to be a blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:1-3),
but like Jonah, the Jews refused to obey.
And like Jonah, they had to be disciplined; for Assyria would conquer Israel,
and Babylon would take Judah into captivity.
Jonah’s book magnifies the sovereignty of God as well as the love and mercy of God.
Jehovah is the ‘God of the second chance,’ even for rebellious prophets.”
Dr. Warren Wiersbe
“What is the story about if not God’s mercy? There is the mercy of God to Nineveh, which made Jonah angry.
There is the mercy of God to Jonah himself, for Jonah certainly did not deserve it.
There is even the mercy of God to the pagan sailors mentioned in Jonah 1.
All were recipients of God’s mercy.”
Dr. James Montgomery Boice
“As God probed Jonah with questions about his values, priorities, and actions,
we should answer those questions too.
We all arrive at a similar crossroads at some point. When the book of Jonah ends,
we see the procrastinating prophet who had still not made up his mind.
But his moment of hesitation becomes a moment for each of us: God’s call is on our lives right now,
and He has a mission for us today. Will we go the wrong way? Or will we go with Him all the way?”
Dr. David Jeremiah
About the Author
References
- The Minor Prophets Volume 1 (Hosea – Jonah): An Expositional Commentary by James Montgomery Boice
- Be Amazed: an OT Commentary on the Minor Prophets by Warren W. Wiersbe
- The MacArthur Bible Commentary: by John MacArthur
- The Bible Project: Jonah