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Jonah episode 3 - Who do you obey?

Jonah learns about God's forgiveness.
Contributed by David & Goliath (DG)
CC BY-NC-ND
Personal & teaching use permitted Personal & teaching useCommercial use prohibited Commercial useDerivative works prohibited Derivative worksA.I. adaptations prohibited A.I. adaptations
Story also available on our translated website: German
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Jonah was grateful because the Lord had mercy on him. The Lord could have punished him for his disobedience and let him die when he was thrown into the sea, but instead God wanted to teach Jonah a lesson. When God asked him to go to Nineveh a second time he obeyed. – Slide 1
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Jonah began to walk the streets of the great city of Nineveh announcing, ‘If you do not repent of the evil things you do, God will destroy this city. In 40 more days, if you do not repent God will punish you.’ – Slide 2
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His message created quite a stir among the people of Nineveh. Who this man who says God will destroy us if we do not repent? What if he is right? What if, after 40 days our city is destroyed? How can we be saved? <br/>They started to fast and pray to God. It didn't take long for word to reach the King of Nineveh. – Slide 3
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Rather than get angry with Jonah, the King took off his robe, and according to the custom of the time covered himself in rough cloth and sat down in the dust, to show God how sorry he was. The king sent a proclamation for every to stop eating, put on sackcloth and plead with God for mercy. He said, ‘Let us turn away from our evil lives. Who knows? Maybe God will stop being angry and we will not die.’ – Slide 4
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Well God did hear their cry. He saw the people beginning to change their evil way of living and He saw their sincere desire to change. God had mercy on them and decided not to punish them. – Slide 5
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When Jonah saw what happened he got angry with God. Instead of being happy that these people had repented he was annoyed. – Slide 6
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He fumed with God, ‘This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I ran away to Tarshish. I know that you are a God who is kind and shows mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love. You would rather forgive them than punish them. Now, Lord please take away my life it is better for me to die than to live.’ <br/>The Lord responded, ‘Jonah do you think it is right for you to be angry? – Slide 7
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After this Jonah left and sat down east of the city still hoping God would destroy Nineveh. It was a very hot day and Jonah looked for a shady place to get some shelter. God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head. The shade from this plant was the only thing that eased Jonah’s anger and kept him calm. – Slide 8
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The next day God sent a worm that chewed the plant and it died. When the sun rose, God sent scorching wind and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. This made Jonah very angry. – Slide 9
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He said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’ <br/>But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ <br/>‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.’ – Slide 10
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The Lord replied, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?’ <br/>Jonah was speechless and God had the last word. He had been taught a lesson in the hardest way. – Slide 11
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Slide 12