These small group studies of Jonah 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 1:10-17 Inductive Bible Study

Jonah 1:10-17

Consequences of Disobedience-

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Summary-After Jonah told the sailors about the God he served, and they put it together with what he had already told them of his flight from God’s presence, they became extremely afraid. They asked him how the sea could be made calm again, and he told them to throw himself into it. Fearful of exercising this solution, the men rowed for land using their own strength, but failed. The storm worsened. Left with no other option, they called to God not to hold them responsible for Jonah’s blood and threw him in. Instantly, the sea calmed. Seeing His power, the sailors feared God, offered Him sacrifices and made vows. Mercifully, God appointed a big fish to swallow Jonah and keep him safely in its stomach for three days and nights.

Central Teaching- God mercifully uses even his child’s disobedience to bring others to Himself and bring His child back to the right path.

Key Words- frightened, sea, calm, storm, great, Lord, fish, three

Key Verse- 1:15

Ten things this passage says-

  1. The sailors were extremely frightened when they heard who Jonah was and what God he served.
  2. Jonah had already told them that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord.
  3. The sailors asked Jonah what they could do to calm the increasingly stormy sea.
  4. Jonah said they must pick him up and throw him into the sea, and then it would be calm.
  5. Initially, the sailors were unwilling to do this, and rowed desperately for land.
  6. Their method caused the sea to become even stormier. Their own strength was insufficient.
  7. Finally, they decided to use God’s method, and prayed that God would not cause them to perish for what they had to do, and would not hold them accountable for Jonah’s blood.
  8. They picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea calmed.
  9. The sailors feared the Lord greatly, and offered him sacrifices and made vows.
  10. The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah for 3 days and 3 nights.

Ten things this passage does NOT say-

  1. The sailors didn’t attach any more importance to Jonah’s God than to their own.
  2. Jonah had been dishonest about his reasons for being aboard the ship.
  3. After his revelation, the sailor’s did not know who to go to for a solution to their predicament.
  4. When Jonah told them the solution, they immediately embraced it.
  5. The sailor’s self-reliant methods were successful, and they rowed to safety.
  6. The sailors didn’t care anything about Jonah, but were only concerned with saving their own hides.
  7. Throwing Jonah into the sea had no effect on the storm.
  8. The sailors thanked their own gods for saving them, and never thought of Jonah’s God again.
  9. Jonah died in the raging sea.
  10. The “great fish” is just a metaphor for a period of 3 days and nights Jonah spent on his own, repenting before the Lord. There was really no great fish.

What did this passage teach me about God?

He, alone is God. There is no other.

He has power over wind, waves, fish, men’s hearts, and everything else.

He is omnipresent. Even in the belly of the fish, He was there.

His ways work, while man’s ways fail.

He can use even his child’s disobedience to turn man’s heart to Himself and accomplish His plan.

He hears even the prayers of the unbelieving, and sometimes has mercy on them.

He is meant to be feared.

How does this passage apply to my life?

God is not going to just “forget” about my disobedience and let me do my own thing. He will patiently and lovingly work on me until I agree with Him.

There is nowhere I can run from God.

My own methods are helpless in fixing problems, though they are quite effective in creating those problems.

God can use all things together for my good, and for the good of those I come into contact with.

My disobedience creates a bad testimony for those I am in contact with.

Questions-

Why were the sailors so frightened at Jonah’s response? V10

What did the sailors say in response? V10

What did the sailors’ question convey about their understanding of the situation? V10

How had Jonah related to the sailors prior to the storm? V10

What did the sailor’s question reflect about their concern for themselves? V11

What did the sailor’s question reflect about their concern for Jonah and their attitude of fair play? V11

How was God increasing the pressure in order to force the action He desired? V11

What was Jonah’s answer to stopping the storm? V12

What did this say about Jonah’s attitude concerning obeying the Lord? V12

What did this say about Jonah’s knowledge of the cause of the storm? V12

Can you think of another solution which might have calmed the storm and avoided Jonah’s encounter with the fish? V12

Can you think of a verse that displays God’s attitude towards this kind of actions? V12 Proverbs 21:3

How did the sailors try to solve the problem in their own strength? V13

What was the result of the sailors’ efforts? V13

What can this teach us about seeking to make right a wrong using our own methods? V13

At last, what was the sailors’ response to the situation? V14

What did their prayer display about their attitude towards God? Towards life? V14

How did their attitude towards Jonah’s life compare with his attitude towards the lives of the Ninevites? V14

What did they do with Jonah next? V15

How did this action affect the storm? V15

What did this effect display about the power of God? V15

After the sailors saw the calmed sea, what was their reaction? V16

What specific events would have indicated to them that Jonah’s God was the true God, worthy of worship and praise? V16

How did the sailors’ responses differ from Jonah’s, though they were heathens, and he was God’s prophet? V16

How did God use Jonah’s disobedience to change the lives of the sailors? V16

How did God preserve the life of His prophet? V17

What aspects of this were miraculous? V17

How did this act display God’s mercy and grace in Jonah’s life and in the lives of the Ninevites? V17

Cross References-

Jonah 1:10-

Job 27:22

22 “For it will hurl at him without sparing;

He will surely try to flee from its power.

Jonah 1:3

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Gen 3:8

8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Ps 139:7

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Prov 27:8

8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest,

So is a man who wanders from his home.

Hos 7:13

13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me!

Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me!

Jonah 1:16

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

Mark 4:41

41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Jonah 1:11-

1 Sam 6:2-3

2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.

2 Sam 24:11-13

11 When David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and speak to David, “Thus the LORD says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.” So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”

Mic 6:6-7

6 With what shall I come to the LORD

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Ps 37:7

7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Acts 27:20

20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

Jonah 1:12-

2 Sam 24:17

17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

John 11:50

50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”

Josh 7:12

12 “Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.

Josh 7:20-21

20 So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”

1 Chron 21:17

17 David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”