Online Bible Study

Jonah Flees From The Lord

Jonah was a prophet who God called to preach in the foreign city of Nineveh. Jonah tried to run away from God and was swallowed by a great fish.

When the fish returned him to land, Jonah went to Nineveh and warned the people about God’s judgment. Jonah learned, to his dismay, that God would forgive even a heathen city if the people were sorry for their sins.

Jonah 1:1-17 

1. The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:

2. "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."

3. But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

4. Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

6. The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.

7. Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

8. So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"

9. He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."

10. This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

11. The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"

12. "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

13. Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

14. Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased."

15. Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

16. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

17. But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

1. Did you ever try to run away from home? How far did you get?

2. What do you suppose Jonah was thinking as he fled to Tarshish?

God can get another Prophet. God is going to get mad.

God will never find me. Nineveh doesn’t deserve anything.

3. If you were Jonah, how would you have felt about the storm?

4. What is something you think God may be asking you to do now?

5. In your spiritual life which direction are you running?

    Away from God? With God? Back to God? Behind God?

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