These small group studies of Jonah 3 extensive cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, lessons to learn, and applications.  Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.

Jonah 3 Bible Study – Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

Outline

I. God gives a second chance (1-2)
II. Jonah obeys (3-4)
III. The Ninevites repent (5-10)

I. God gives a second chance (1-2)

Discussion Questions

• Did Jonah rush to obey God immediately after being rescued to dry land?
• What do these verses tell us about God’s character?
• Do you see God as strict, compassionate, or both?
• What other Biblical characters were given a second chance?
• How does it encourage you knowing that God gives second chances? Does He give third and fourth chances?
• Should you give second chances to others?
• In what practical ways can you imitate God’s compassion that He displayed toward Jonah?

Cross-References

Lamentations 3:22-23 – The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Exodus 34:1 – The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

Genesis 22:15 – And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. A second chance –

Jonah 3:1-2 – Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”

It is not recorded how long after Jonah was vomited onto dry land that God commanded him a second time to go to Nineveh. It appears that it happened quickly. Neither does it say that Jonah rushed to do it on his own. If Jonah was already on the way to Nineveh, it is unlikely that God would have told him, “Go to Nineveh.” Therefore, it is likely that Jonah was not yet going, which is why it was necessary for God to tell him again.

The second chance God gave to Jonah gives us insight into His character.

A. Compassion –

The entire book calls attention to God’s compassion. He displays it toward the Ninevites, but it is even more apparent in how He treats Jonah. Jonah could not claim ignorance. Because he was a prophet, he should have known better than to willfully rebel against God. We tend to be more forgiving of people who make mistakes accidentally or out of ignorance. Yet God was willing to forgive even Jonah’s intentional and willful sin.

Moreover, He didn’t only forgive Jonah, but He restored the office of prophet to him. Jonah wasn’t forgiven and then placed on the shelf. It is very likely that on the surface, Jonah did not want the job and would have rather been forced to retire. But that was not better for him. Nor would it have been more fulfilling. It would have been sad for Jonah decades in the future to look back with regret and shame, knowing he had never obeyed. That type of remorse can wreck a person.

Real compassion is not primarily concerned with a person’s comfort or convenience in the moment, but with their long-term good. God does not experience time as we do, likely existing completely outside of the timeline we experience. He could see “future Jonah” and know the guilt that might plague him for leaving this task unfinished.

It was compassion that gave Jonah a second chance.

Compassion is not something that he, or we, deserve. Jonah did not deserve to receive God’s words again. He didn’t deserve God’s attention, salvation, or forgiveness. Mercy is not something we deserve. If we deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy.

David, Peter, and Manasseh were all given second chances.

Reflect – Has God given you a second (or more) chance in some area of your life?

Application – Do not despair and think that God has left you and you can never turn back to God. If you have fallen, get up. Ask God for a second chance and resolve to obey Him fully the next time around.

B. Correction –

God’s character is not split into different pieces that contradict each other. Discipline is not the opposite of compassion. Correction is not the opposite of empathy. Love is not the opposite of justice.

It can be equally true that God showed compassion to Jonah and that God was firm, even strict, with Jonah. We see both in the story. God continues giving Jonah opportunities. He saves Jonah from the storm, the sea, the fish, and his own rebellion. That is compassion.

But God also sent the storm and the fish. He also compelled Jonah to finish the job. At no point did God say, “Ah, you don’t want to do it. Never mind Jonah. Go have a rest and I will find someone else.”

God was firm. He had given a clear command to Jonah and Jonah was required to obey. From this, we see the perfect, holy character of God. His moral backbone is unyielding.

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We see a similar case in Exodus 34. The people had broken multiple commandments by creating a graven image and worshipping it. The first stones the Ten Commandments were written on were shattered by Moses. In a sense, it was symbolic of the fact that they had broken God’s law.

Yet God did not change the Ten Commandments. He did not water down the law or lower His standard. He didn’t make them easier to follow. The new stones had the exact same commands written on them. If a person wants to come back to God, they must do it on His terms.

The same happens with Jonah. He gets a second chance, but God’s command is exactly the same: “Go and preach in Nineveh.”

Application – Do not mistake God’s compassion for negotiation. If you need a second chance, fully repent, ask for strength from the Holy Spirit, and resolve to obey fully.

Another area we can apply this truth is toward our children. As God is a Father to us, we can learn from Him how to parent our children. As we disobey God, so our children disobey us. In Ephesians 6:1, they are commanded by God to obey their parents. Parents should require obedience from their kids. If they don’t obey the first time, correct and discipline them. Then give them another opportunity and require them to do the same thing they didn’t do the first time.

An example:

You tell your child to clean his room. When you come back, you discover he was playing a video game instead. Correct him and discipline appropriately. Then tell him again, “Clean your room.” He gets a second chance to obey, but the instruction is still the same.

That is not a lack of compassion. It is teaching our children how to submit to God’s authority. That could save them from endless heartache and pain in the future. Teaching them full obedience is the most compassionate thing we can do.

Proverbs 3:11-12 – My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 13:24 – Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

II. Jonah obeys (3-4)

Discussion Questions

• What do you see about Jonah’s character here?
• Was he fully repentant?
• Is it better to obey with a bad attitude or not at all?
• How would you rate Jonah’s preaching?
• What do you see about Nineveh and its size?
• Are the tone and words of preaching important or are they not relevant because any seed can grow?

Cross-References

Genesis 22:3 – So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Exodus 40:16 – This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Jonah arose and went to Nineveh –

Jonah finally obeyed. That was a big deal. He really didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Previously, he had chosen death by drowning in the middle of the ocean instead of preaching to Nineveh. The change marked a significant turning point for Jonah. He was not yet perfect. Neither had he learned to fully embrace God’s compassion. But at least, he did what God told him to do. Though his attitude was not perfect, the message he preached did lead to perhaps hundreds of thousands of people being saved.

Jonah had grown, but was not fully grown yet.

The same is true of us. We are all on a journey. True born-again believers grow. God sanctifies us. He grows us through His Word, people, circumstances, and discipline, as was the case with Jonah. But that does not all happen in a day.

Application – Reflect on where you are in your walk with God and where you were. Have you grown? If so, stop to thank God for the progress He has empowered you to make.

Then reflect on areas you are still weak in and would like to grow. Stop to thank God that He has not stopped working on you and plans to continue shaping you. Don’t give up and keep pressing on.

Philippians 1:6 – And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

2. The great city of Nineveh –

Nineveh is described as “an exceedingly great city, three days journey in breadth.”

This is yet another Biblical account that skeptics dismissed. Nineveh had long since disappeared. However, in the 1800s, archaeological excavations proved that Nineveh was one of the largest and most magnificent cities in the ancient world.

It was the capital city of Assyria under King Sennacherib (705-681 BC). The city proper had an enclosed area of about 1850 acres and the suburbs likely extended well beyond that. Massive stone and mudbrick walls roughly fifty feet ( 15 m) high surround the city and extend 7.5 miles (12.5 km) in circumference.

Was it a three-day journey?

If Jonah speed walked from one city gate to the other city gate at the other end of the city, he could have done it much faster than three days.

However, Jonah likely started preaching well before entering the city gates. Excavations show that in other ancient cities, residential areas spilled well past the walls. As cities grow, the area inside the original walls did not provide enough space for all the residents and many would move to cheaper lodging outside.
Also, Jonah was not speed walking. He was preaching. That meant frequent stops to share the message from the Lord with the crowds. It could easily take three days or more to go through the city, warning the residents of God’s pending judgment.

If you are interested in archaeological evidence for the Bible, check out Joel Kramer’s channel, Expedition Bible, on YouTube. He has a great video on how discoveries in Nineveh are evidence for the Biblical account.

Suggested Video – Bible Evidence Uncovered at Nineveh

3. Jonah’s “sermon” –

Jonah 3:4 – And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Jonah would not win any awards for his preaching. It is possible he said more than this and this is a very simplified account of his message. However, when we look at the full context of the book of Jonah, it fits that his message likely was short, to the point, and lacked compassion.

Here are elements that we do not see in his message:

• A call to action – There is no evidence that Jonah called them to repent or place their faith in God.
• Compassion – There is no evidence of empathy or compassion. Jonah does not urge them to take action or sympathize with their predicament.
• Apologetics, illustrations, explanations – Jonah was straight to the point and didn’t elaborate.
• Mention of God – Verse 5 does mention that they believed God, which indicates Jonah probably mentioned that this judgment was going to be sent by God. However, the way his message is recorded emphasizes the coming judgment.

It feels as if Jonah is proclaiming that God’s judgment is coming without a clear call to repentance to avoid that judgment.

Taking his reluctance to go to Nineveh and this recorded message together, we can conclude that his sermon was not the most powerful ever preached.

Yet God used it to save a city.

Reflect – What do we learn from this?

A. Even poorly sown seeds can grow and bear fruit –

Some seeds are sown better than others. A careful farmer plows the soil, removes rocks and debris, and prepares the earth to receive the seed. He pays attention to plant the seeds the right depth in tender soil to maximize their chance of growth. That is good and right. The farmer should do this.

Perhaps a hired hand working for the farmer may go into the field and quickly and randomly scatter the seed about to finish his job. This is not wise and is not being a good steward. Yet even that poorly sown seed can grow.

Your sermon or gospel presentation does not have to be perfect to win souls for the Lord. Some people believe that they need to go to seminary or become an expert before they can share with others. It is important to do our best for the Lord and present His Word clearly, accurately, and with great conviction and wisdom. Yet we should not wait until we can share a perfect message to begin sharing with others. Jesus told the man who was possessed by demons and had been converted to “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19). He surely was not an experienced preacher yet. But he could sow seeds.

God is the one with the power to transform hearts, not us. It is not through sheer persuasion that you can bring a person into the kingdom of God.

It is the “power of God” (Romans 1:16), so we should not be ashamed.

B. Be humble –

You do not save people. Your preaching does not save people. God saves people. He can use even poor sermons to touch people’s hearts. His Word is living and active.

When you share the gospel or preach a sermon or teach a class and there is a huge and positive response, be humble. It is not about you. The Holy Spirit was at work and you should be thankful. Do not get a big head and start to think that you are the star of the show.

When you share the gospel or preach a sermon or teach a class and no one seems to respond, be humble. Do not be discouraged. It is not about you. The Holy Spirit can still use that seed and do His work in His time and way.

We are called to faithfully deliver the message. It is not our job to save people or make them obey. Keeping our role in its proper perspective can help us be humble.

C. Be confident –

Our shortcomings and imperfections do not bind God’s hands or constrain His ability to save. No one will end up in hell because you stumbled over your words, stuttered, or shared an illustration that wasn’t clear.

Knowing that God’s power saves (and not our wisdom or persuasive ability) is deeply encouraging. It takes the pressure off of us. It releases us to speak God’s Word with confidence without fear or trepidation about how people will respond. It gives us confidence that if we are faithful to accurately deliver God’s Word, He will use it to transform lives. We might not know how He will use it. We might not even see the results. But that seed can grow even long after we have forgotten about it.

The Desert Sand Verbena is a wildflower that grows in the desert of the US Southwest. The seeds can lie dormant in the earth for many years, waiting for the right conditions to grow. You could walk over the land and there is only barren dirt as far as the eye can see. You might conclude that nothing can grow there.

But when there is the right amount of rain in the right season, these dormant seeds can bloom. And the desert suddenly is full of bright purple flowers.

The seeds you plant in people’s hearts may not visibly grow before your eyes. But God can bring the water and cause growth years later.

Application – Diligently study the Scriptures and share the Word (2 Timothy 2:15). But place your confidence in God alone to save.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 – My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

III. The Ninevites repent (5-10)

Discussion Questions

• How did the Ninevites respond to the message?
• What attitude did the king demonstrate?
• What can we learn from them?
• Did Israel normally respond with such humility when the prophets preached to them?
• What does their repentance, in spite of Jonah’s weakness, highlight about God’s character?
• What lessons can we take away for today from this passage?
• What can we learn about God from His relenting?

Cross-References

Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Joel 2:12-13 – “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Nehemiah 9:1 – Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The Ninevites repent –

Jonah 3:5 – And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Word came to the king of Jonah’s message and he set the example for the people. He “covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.” Then he made a proclamation and told all of his subjects to do the same for three days.

In addition, he encouraged everyone to “call out mightily to God,” and “turn from his evil way.”

The king reacted quickly. Unlike many other proud sovereigns who ignored God’s warning (Pharaoh, King Nebuchadnezzar, etc.), this king humbled himself. Kings are used to luxurious living, fine clothes, tasty foods, all the pleasures that life can offer. He gave up these worldly pleasures as an outward symbol of his change of heart.

Such repentance was remarkable. Assyria was a powerful nation and Israel was small and weak compared to them. The king could have easily mocked God as other Assyrian kings such as Sennacherib did (2 Kings 18-19). Jonah was not standing at the head of a powerful army. He was a single man preaching an incredible message, a message that would have been easy to dismiss or scoff. As of yet, there was no visible evidence that anything was going to happen. It was the word of one man, an enemy of Assyria, who would have celebrated its destruction.

Yet he and his people believed God. Then they acted on that belief. It seems very possible that we will see this Assyrian king and many of his people in heaven one day.

Reflect – What lessons can we learn from this account?

A. God can and does save anyone.

The Assyrians were wicked and cruel people. Yet they were not beyond God’s ability or desire to save.

B. A leader has a lot of influence and can impact his people for eternity.

In the ancient world, when a king faithfully followed the Lord, his people generally followed the Lord as well. But when a king turned to idolatry, his subjects often followed him into idolatry.

Leaders in the modern world have a large influence as well. That is true of politicians, pastors, teachers, and parents. If you have a position of authority, recognize that you can impact people for eternity. Be careful to lead them well. Always lead them to the Lord.

C. We should be quick to repent.

2 Corinthians 7:10 – For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Those who repent receive forgiveness. God’s wrath will be averted. While Jonah did not give a good example of humble repentance, the Ninevites did. They offered no excuses. They didn’t negotiate. They simply fasted, confessed, and beseeched the Lord for help.

D. God sends the message to people who would receive it.

Clearly, the Ninevites would be willing to receive the message from God and change. Therefore, God sent it. What about the other Gentile kingdoms of the Old Testament? Would they have repented if they had the chance?

Scripture does not directly answer that question. Likely, they would not have, since God did not send a prophet to them as He did with Jonah and Nineveh. God is sovereign over all of this. Scripture teaches us that He does not want any to perish.

E. Gentiles in the Old Testament could be, and were, saved.

Ruth and Rahab were saved. God healed Naaman the leper. King Nebuchadnezzar and much of the Babylonian court knew of God and had opportunities to believe. The Persian court in the time of Daniel was also exposed to the truth. Here, many of the Ninevites were saved. It has always been God’s plan to reach the nations of the world, not only Israel.

2. God relented and spared them –

Jonah 3:10 – When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

When the Ninevites repented, God forgave them. This fits with His character that is revealed throughout Scripture and in His dealings with humans.

Reflect – Did God change His mind?

No, and yes.

God’s character, purposes, and eternal plan never change. He is always just, merciful, and loving. He forgives those who earnestly seek Him. God is perfect and cannot be improved like we need to. Neither does He learn new information as we do.

He is all-powerful and all-knowing.

Yet His actions toward people change according to their responses. Those who charge heedlessly on and ignore His warnings will face the judgment promised. Those who heed the warning and repent will be spared.

Jeremiah 18:7-10 – If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.

Jeremiah clearly explains how God’s warning of judgments against nations works. It is, in fact, through warnings of judgment that God often brings people to repentance. Often, there is an implied condition.

Consider this. A deer jumps into the road in front of your car. Your daughter is in the passenger seat and shouts, “Deer! You’re going to hit it!” Because they shout, you instantly hit the brakes. The deer runs off and you are fine. You don’t hit it. Do you immediately turn to your daughter and say, “Liar! I didn’t hit it.” No, you thank her for warning you. Her warning changed what you did. It was implicit that you would only hit it if you did not heed the warning.

The term “God relented” is also written in what theologians call anthropomorphic language. That means it is written from a human perspective in terms we understand. From our standpoint, it looks like God changed His mind.

God is sovereign. His ways are mysterious and unfathomable to us. Even though He is sovereign over all and knows the past, present, and future, our actions and choices are still important. Humans have real agency and real responsibility. Only God knows how these two sides of the coin balance perfectly.

Application – Be thankful that God is compassionate and merciful. When we repent, He forgives. That is one of, if not the most, encouraging truths in all of Scripture.

Exodus 34:6-7 – The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…