First Baptist Church Ottawa
Our Online Church School Lesson - January 21, 2024
Jonah Converts Nineveh - Jonah 3:1-10
Today’s Scripture: Jonah 3:1-10
Today’s Theme: Jonah Converts Nineveh
Opening Prayer: Dear God, thank you for allowing us to gather here today to learn more about Jesus. Please help our ears to listen, our minds to learn, and our hearts to love as we hear the stories of His work. Amen.
Today’s Lesson: Has your mom or dad ever told you to do something? They may say “Hey, can you please hang up your coat?” Or they might say, “Hey, can you please clean up your room?” Or they might say, “Hey, please finish your homework!”. Often, you don’t respond, or you whine, or you get distracted…and then they have to tell you a SECOND time. “Hey, go hang up your coat!!!!!”. Hopefully by the second time they ask (or tell) you to do this, you get the idea. You FINALLY do what they ask.
Jonah was like this too. Who was Jonah? Jonah was a prophet who lived about eight hundred years before Jesus was born. Jonah was called by God to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against its wickedness. However, Jonah disobeyed God and tried to run away from God and his obligation by boarding a ship to Tarshish, which was an city located in what is now modern southern Spain. In response to Johah’s disobedience, God sent a great storm that threatened to sink the ship. In a panic, the sailors cast lots to determine who was responsible for the storm. The lot fell on Jonah, and he confessed that he was fleeing from God. Jonah also told the sailors that if they threw him overboard, the storm would stop. The sailors refused to do this and kept on rowing, but when their efforts failed, they eventually had no choice but to throw Jonah overboard. The storm calmed and the sailors offered sacrifices to God.
Jonah’s troubles, however, were just beginning. God sent a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Still alive and conscious inside the creature’s belly, Jonah was trapped. Imagine the fear, anxiety and claustrophobia Jonah must have experienced in that situation! In the darkness, Jonah finally turned to God in prayer and asked for forgiveness. After three days and three nights, God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land. It was there that Jonah received a second command from God to go to Nineveh and preach to its inhabitants about their wickedness.
This time, Jonah obeyed. As he entered the great city, he began to prophesy, "In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown.” After Jonah walked across Nineveh, the people began to believe his word and proclaimed a fast. The king of Nineveh put on sackcloth and sat in ashes, proclaiming fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer and repentance. The entire city was humbled and broken, with the people (and even the animals) wearing sackcloth and ashes. God, seeing their repentant hearts, spared the city.
Today’s scripture describes Jonah’s journey to Nineveh and what happened there. Let’s read it now and then discuss it some more:
Jonah 3:1-10
3:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying,
3:2 "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."
3:3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across.
3:4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
3:5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
3:6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
3:7And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
3:8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
3:9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Jonah warned the Ninevites that God wasn’t happy. God was going to judge Nineveh and it wasn’t going to be pretty. And do you know what the people did? They believed! Jonah didn’t have to show them a miracle or preach a lot or really do much at all. God moved their hearts and they immediately believed him. Then the news reached a pretty powerful guy. The King heard that God wasn’t happy and he immediately warned his people to shape up and change from their sinful ways. The people fasted and put on sackcloth–this was their way to show they were sorry and wanted forgiveness. They prayed to God asking for mercy. And what do you think God did? God changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. The Ninevites knew they deserved God’s judgment. They repented, changed their heart and God showed them mercy.
Mercy is kind and forgiving treatment when we deserve much worse. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. God always wants us to repent, he doesn’t want to punish us, he wants us to turn to him and have him forgive us. How did God show all people mercy? It was through his son, Jesus. God sent Jesus to come to earth and be our Rescuer. Jesus lived a perfect life and then died on a cross as a sacrifice for all of our sins. Then he rose again three days later. Through God’s mercy, we get the gift of salvation in Jesus.
God just asks us to do one thing, the same thing Jonah asked the Ninevites. Repent! Turn away from sin and bad stuff and turn to God. He loves you and he wants you and he’s got lots of mercy. When we turn to God and welcome Jesus as the one who saves us, we will get eternal life with God.
Discussion:
After Jonah warned the Ninevites, what did they do?
Which powerful man also heard the warning?
What did the king ask his people to do?
What did God do when he saw their actions?
What does this chapter tell us about God?
What does MERCY mean?
Have you ever needed a second chance like Jonah did? What happened?
Jonah used his second chance well and so did the Ninevites. They turned to God and were saved from destruction. God, however, gave us MORE than a second chance, He gave us Jesus. Because of Jesus, no matter how good or bad we are, we are always forgiven by God. Isn’t God so cool? He showed Jonah mercy, then he showed the Ninevites mercy AND he shows us incredible mercy now! Let’s close in prayer and thank God for his great gift of mercy.
Closing Prayer and Offering: Dear God, thank you for our lesson today. We have heard the story of Jonah and realize that, no matter how much we sin, if we turn to you with contrite hearts and ask for forgiveness, you will offer us mercy. Thank you for this gift of mercy, which was offered to us through the death of perfect Jesus. We are so grateful that you love us so much. We love you, too, God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Today’s Craft: When people hear the name, “Jonah”, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the image of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. Jonah’s adventure is just THAT famous. You can make your own version of Jonah’s experience with the big fish. All you need for this craft is a piece of craft foam (any colour), glue, scissors, a wooden clothespin, a template of Jonah (found below) and markers or coloured pencils to colour in the template of Jonah.
Color pattern of fish and Jonah
Cut out the fish and Jonah
Cut fish in half following line
Line fish halves on clothes pin with tail just covering the metal part of the pin (1 ½” of the pin will be visible)
Glue top half of fish on upper part of clothes pin
Glue bottom half of fish on lower part of clothes pin
Glue Jonah on the lower half of clothes pin behind the lower half of the fish
Crafts, colouring, puzzles and fun!
Choose from the resources posted below to add a little creativity to this week’s lesson.
