GROUP STUDY QUESTIONS WEEK 1 (Chapter 1)

1.)

Have you ever felt

a call or a prompting from God, but thought “if God would just tell me why, I would obey”?

2.)

Did God disclose his plan at this time to

Jonah? Is an understanding of God’s plan necessary for us to be obedient?

3.)

What are some of the reasons that could have

caused Jonah to run away? What are some of the reasons that cause us to run away from what God desires for us?

What are areas of our lives where we tend

to invest in our own agendas, desires, and goals ahead of what God desires?

In verse 4, why do you think God sent

the storm? What are ways God disrupts our lives to help bring us back to repentance and obedience?

Have you ever reached out to God asking for help just wanting to

“escape from a consequence” without having the repentance of the heart? Have

you ever tried to make a deal with God saying “God, if you ____, then I will ___”? That is an example of a conditional heart desiring escape without repentance. What concerns God most is the condition of your heart?

7.)

What are things that lull us into a deep spiritual sleep - oblivious to

what God is doing around us, and the effects we are having on others?

10.)

In

what ways do you think choosing sin in what seems like your private life can have an adverse effect on others?

11.)

What are

things YOU declare you believe in, but struggle to act upon?

13.)

What is key in v. 12 is Jonah’s acknowledgement of his disobedience and its

effects on the sailors. What are things in your life that you could give to God that might calm a storm?

14.)

Why do you think

we tend to overlook those things? How does not acknowledging the weight of our sin affect the way we live our lives…or the way we make choices?

Why is it important for us to understand the extent of the consequences of our

disobedience?

What other instances can you think of where God used miraculous

intervention beyond what science can explain?

Credit to Kenton Hargis for inclusion of some of his Jonah study notes/questions, and the IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament (John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas) for insight/commentary.

GROUP STUDY QUESTIONSWEEK 2 (Chapter 2)

1.) What is Jonah’s posture at this point of his story?

What emotions did Jonah go through during this time in Jonah’s life

3.) Have you ever had an instance in your life where God intervened at a very specific moment to save you from something? If so, what happened, and what did God save you from?

4.) Who

actually “hurled” Jonah, and why is Jonah saying that the Lord hurled him?

Is Jonah blaming God for his circumstance in v. 1-3? If not, what is he

acknowledging?

Describe the type of perspective does Jonah have on his life that causes

him to describe his experience this way. How does Jonah explain the events in his life? Do you spend time reflecting on the role God has played in your own life? When you share about experiences in your life to others, do you mention God’s role in those experiences?

7.) When has God acted in your life through an interaction with someone else?

Why

do you think chapter 2 is important in the book of Jonah- aka “The prayer of thanksgiving?”

9.) What does this tell us about who God is? What does this tell us about the state of Jonah’s heart?

How do things get moved from our short-

term memory to our long term memory? How do you think Jonah was able to

“remember” the Lord

What happens when

we live out lives that are transparent- where we can share about not only the past but also what is going on in our current lives? What can God do in a person living

transparently that can’t be observed in a person who lives a secluded life?

Who might Jonah be referring to in v.8?

why do you think Jonah is stating “Salvation comes from the Lord?” at the

end of verse 9?

12.)

How can

you relate to Jonah so far?

Credit to Kenton Hargis for inclusion of some of his Jonah study notes/questions, and the IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament (John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas) for insight/commentary.

GROUP STUDY QUESTIONSWEEK 3 (Chapter 3)

1.)

Why do you think the Lord chose to use Jonah even after

Jonah’s fit in chapter 1? Why do you think God so persistently chased after Jonah? What does this tell us about the character of God and his pursuit of us?

2.)

How do you think Jonah

felt having to proclaim this message in a spiritually hostile area?

What do we know about the city of Nineveh?

4.) Was Jonah’s message a prophetic one or a missionary one?

What other reactions might the citizens of Nineveh had

in the absence of any instructions on how to avoid destruction or attain salvation?

Why do you think they believed Jonah?

What is a similar message in modern days where one might be told their

destruction or death will be upon them within a specified time period?

What would your reaction be upon receiving a diagnosis that stated

you only have 40 days to live? What would be on your to-do list? Would you have

reacted like the king of Nineveh? How did he react?

What does this tell us about God?

Do you think there is a correlation between how good you

are and the amount of prayers you have answered?

Shouldn’t God’s

judgment be more fair?

Credit to Kenton Hargis for inclusion of some of his Jonah study notes/questions, and the IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament (John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas) for insight/commentary.

GROUP STUDY QUESTIONS WEEK 4 (Chapter 4)

1.) Why did Jonah feel this way in v.1? 2.) Do you agree with how Jonah reacted?

Does v.2-3 sound like a typical prayer?

What does this tell us about what prayer looks like- does this sound different than what you’re impression of prayer is? Have you ever prayed with words like that?

So why is Jonah so upset to

the point he states what he does in v.3? In other words, why did Jonah flee in Ch.

1?

Did Jonah know that the Ninevites would repent?

Compare Jonah’s reaction to God’s mercy for him in Ch. 2 to his reaction to God’s

mercy for the Ninevites in Ch. 4. Why is Jonah’s reaction different?

What character flaws/sins do we see in Jonah that keep him from extending

compassion the way God had?

What practices/disciplines can help keep you from developing these issues that

Jonah had when viewing other people?

9.) How would you describe God’s reaction in v.4? Does it appear that God is angry

with Jonah for his lack of understanding?

What can we observe about the

relationship between Jonah and God here?

10.) have you ever thought about whether it is important to understand why you are angry, and whether it is “right” for you to be angry, just like how the Lord questioned Jonah?

Do you think that at the moment

Jonah acknowledged God’s role in the plant being raised up for his comfort? Is it possible that you may have missed acknowledging the hand of God in the simple

things of life? How do you determine if something is the handiwork of God?

12.)

What does

Jesus say about it in Matthew 5:21-26?

What is the Lord teaching Jonah about Himself (the Lord)?

Why do we compare ourselves to other people, and why do we get upset when

someone has it better?

15.)

Does what you’ve learned from the Lord in the book of

Jonah change your perspective on those scenarios?

But what does God

care about most? Why did he extend grace to you, and to even the people of

Nineveh?

17.) Of the things we’ve learned about prayer, obedience, anger, grace, thanksgiving, etc. What impacted you the most?

Credit to Kenton Hargis for inclusion of some of his Jonah study notes/questions, and the IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament (John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas) for insight/commentary.