“Jonah the Runaway Prophet”

​B I B L E  B I T S  &  B I T E S
Devotions for Families

Season: Prophets
Episode 3: “Jonah the Runaway Prophet”
Today’s Bible Bite: Jonah

Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLIabZc0O4c (The Bible Project – Jonah)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOSadLyqshg (Saddleback Kids – Jonah)

“The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 ‘Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.’ 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD.” (Jonah 1:1-3a)

God had a job for the prophet Jonah, but he didn’t want it. God wanted him to warn the people of Ninevah that he was going to the destroy the city because they were so wicked. Jonah didn’t like the Ninevites and wanted to see them punished; he didn’t want to warn them and so tried to run away. But, as a prophet of God, he should have known that was impossible. He got on a ship heading for Tarshish…in the opposite direction. God sent a storm and Jonah told the sailors they needed to throw him overboard. Was he still trying to get away from giving God’s message? If he was, it didn’t work because God sent a big fish to swallow him **gulp** in one bite.

After three days, God had the fish spit Jonah up on shore…eww, gross! Jonah then obeyed God and gave the message to the Ninevites. All the people said they were sorry and promised to change. Jonah really hoped God would still choose to destroy them, so went up onto a hill outside the city to watch and see what would happen. When God decided to spare the people, Jonah was really annoyed. He accused God of being too soft…too compassionate. But God didn’t want to destroy all the people and was very happy when they changed.

Think about it...
• God wanted Jonah to do a job. What was it?
• Jonah didn’t want to warn the Ninevites. What did he do instead?
• God was determined to have Jonah give the message, so had a big fish swallow him. What do you think it would have been like in the fish?
• After Jonah gave the message, he really hoped God would destroy the Ninevites. Why did God change his plan?
• Sometimes God wants us to do things we would rather not. What can we learn from Jonah’s story?
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Prayer: Thank you, God, for saving the people of Ninevah and giving them a chance to change. Help us to always be willing to obey you, even when we would rather do something else. Help us never to try to run away like Jonah did.
~ Pastor Jane