Today’s passage: Jonah 1:1-6
Helpful thoughts:
- Jonah was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 700’s B.C
- Ninevah was a city in Assyria (Close to modern day Mosul, Iraq). They were Israel’s enemy.
- Tarshish was believed to be the western most part of the world at the time. So, Jonah was probably fleeing toward Spain.
- There is a lot of hurling or throwing going on in this chapter. God hurled the wind, the crew hurled their goods. And soon, they would hurl Jonah.
- The crew most likely consisted of multiple nationalities since they were all praying to different god’s of their own.
- The pagan crew already starts rebuking Jonah:
- They rebuke him for not caring for their well-being.
- They rebuke him for not thinking his God might save them.
Questions to consider:
- Why did God tell Jonah that He wanted him to go to Ninevah (Don’t think ahead yet!)? Why would Jonah run away from speaking condemnation on his enemy (This will be answered later)?
- In what ways were the rebukes from the crew legitimate?
- Is there a command from Scripture that you have “fled from God” over? What is it about that command that you do not like?