QUESTIONS FOR
JONAH Chapter 2
DAY 1 “Just the
Facts”
vs 1 What did Jonah do?
vs 2 What motivated Jonah to pray? Was
his prayer heard?
vs 3 How does Jonah describe his
situation?
vs 4 What did Jonah think had
happened? What hope does Jonah express?
vs 5-6 What does Jonah describe? Whom
does Jonah speak to? Why?
vs 7 What happened to Jonah? What did
the *Lord do?
vs 8 what does a person forfeit when
they trust in empty things?
vs 9 What promises did Jonah make to
the *Lord? What did Jonah say about the *Lord?
vs 10 What did the fish know of the
*Lord? How did the fish show it understood?
Day 2 Character
Study
(In this section we seek to examine the main
characters of the text through the use of Inference[1] questions. These questions require you to make conclusions
using the text as evidence to support your answers. List scripture reference(s)
to support your answers.)
Jonah
Jonah uses the third day of his “fish belly”
experience to seek God.
1.
Throughout his prayer, does Jonah attribute
blame to anyone for his predicament? If
so, to whom?
2.
Jonah makes mention of the “holy
temple” in verses 4 and 7. Think about
the significance of the temple in Jewish life and explain what Jonah means when
he makes reference to it. (Look up the
following verses– God speaks to Moses regarding the purpose of the tabernacle –
the precursor to the temple -Exodus 29:42-43; 30:6, and David’s testimony
regarding the temple Psalm 27:4.) How
does Jonah referencing the temple indicate hope and a change of heart towards
God?
3.
What is similar about Jonah’s
confession in vs 9 and the sailors’ behavior in 1:16?
4.
“Salvation belongs to the Lord” is the
concluding statement of his prayer. I
believe this is the fact Jonah is most assured of. The word salvation (Hebrew – yeshuah) -
means deliverance. Keep in mind, Jonah is still in the fish’s belly when he
utters these words. At this point, from
what has the Lord delivered Jonah?
5.
How would you characterize this prayer:
a prayer of confession? praise? thanksgiving? petition? or a combination of these? Explain your answer.
6.
Does this chapter teach us anything
about God’s character? If so,
what ?
7.
Does anything about this prayer strike
you as odd? List any oddities you
find or questions you have. (I found
it very odd he did not ask to be delivered from the fish.)
Day 3 Praying Jonah’s Prayer & Memory Verse
“ …. hardly any
of the words in Jonah’s prayer are original.
Instead he borrows virtually [every] phrase or idea straight out of
Psalms (3, 16, 18, 31, 42, 69, 120, and 139). For as long as the Psalms have
been around, people of faith have used them to learn how to pray, and it’s
simple enough to understand why: there
are moments in our lives when we simply don’t know what to say to God—moments
when we’re so angry, so confused, or so flat out uninspired that we can’t choke
out even the simplest prayer. In such
moments, the Psalms become the words of life….In our moments of sadness,
confusion, and anxiety, praying Psalms helps us move beyond our helpless into
the realm of God’s helpfulness. They
move us out of our own smallness and into God’s bigness. Whatever our circumstance, the Psalms show us the way when we can’t find
it on our own.”
References from the Psalms
found in Jonah’s Prayer
Jonah 2
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Psalm
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vs 3
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42:7
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vs 4
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31:22
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vs 5
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69:1, 18:4
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vs 6
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16:10
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vs 7
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3:4
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139 all of this Psalm,
especially vs 7-9
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When you can’t find
your own words, borrow someone else’s.
When you can’t find
your own hope, borrow someone else’s.
….Praying borrowed
words has a way of guiding us into the presence of God in those moments when we
can’t seem to find the way ourselves.
As you read through Jonah 2 today, think about how you could
use the thoughts of this prayer to pray for yourself and those you care
about. Underline or highlight any of
Jonah’s thoughts or expressions that you have ever thought or said or need to
say to the Lord.
(If
I can be honest …I remember reading 2:4a “I
am cast out of your sight” and thinking – “Yes Lord, that’s exactly how I
feel, like You just aren’t seeing how
serious my situation is here. You’ve
turned Your back on me.” I’m thankful
that God let me express that thought and then, like He did with Jonah, He
reminded me: “Just because you – Sheila Matthews - think something is so,
doesn’t make it so.” What was Jonah
reminded of ? Verse 2:4b – “yet I will look again toward thy holy
temple.” – fellowship with God was possible. )
Today’s assignment will be for you to take phrases and
statements from Jonah’s prayer and pray them to the Lord. Think about the items you highlighted or
underlined and use them as a starting point or “prompt”.
You can pray for yourself or for someone else. Perhaps as you were reading Jonah’s prayer,
someone came to mind, maybe someone else (besides yourself) who may be having a
“fish-belly experience” right now. You
can use Jonah’s prayer as you pray for them.
For your own encouragement, I suggest you write out your
prayers.
Here is
a section of a prayer I prayed using Jonah’s prayer as a “prompt” to address
certain issues in my own life.
My Prayer from Jonah 2 from
the ESV text:
2 I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
- Dear God I thank You that even in the middle of my mess, I can call out to
you. I’m glad You said: “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and
saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psa_34:18
; and “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psa_51:17 and you heard my voice. – Thank you for
hearing me.
3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of
the seas, and the flood surrounded me; - I feel like I’m drowning sometimes because of
the situations I find myself in. Some
are the consequences of my own choices and others are situations over which I
have no control. In all of this, I know
You are with me, and everything is under Your control.
6 you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my
God. – time and time again I can look back on how You have delivered
me from very dangerous situations, and horrible decisions I’ve made. Like when I ….
7 When
my soul fainted within me ,I remembered the
LORD, and my prayer came to you – UNLIKE Jonah, help me to pray not just when I am
fainting, but BEFORE I FAINT. I remember
Your words “Men ought always to pray and not to faint” Luke 18:1
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their
hope of steadfast love. – help me to forsake empty idols in my life,
especially the idol of my own understanding.
May there be nothing else I put before You.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will
sacrifice to you; - I will
thank you for all of the blessings in my life.
Please help me to remember thanksgiving is a sacrifice with which You
are well pleased and which You deserve.
what
I have vowed I will pay.- remind me of those promises I have made to
You, help me to sort through which ones are motivated by Your will and what
things I have said foolishly. Help me to
see how You have equipped me to fulfill everything You have called me to
do. Salvation belongs to the LORD! – I have
begun to understand only a small fraction of what this statement means. Continue to show me the utterly wonderful
ways in which you show Yourself to be my Savior, Redeemer and Keeper. Help me to understand Your awesome power to
save not just me, but all who put their trust in You.
Memory
Verse
“Thy word have I
hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee”
-Psalm 119:11
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How is your
memorization coming along? I found it
helpful to break down some of the words in the memory verse.
Think
of an interesting way to memorize at least one verse. Be prepared to share with the group how you
did it!
Ideas:
·
Put
the words to a tune?
·
Act
out the words?
·
Write
out the verse ten times, twenty? thirty?
Day 4 Key
Words/Phrases - “Temple”
For this chapter I
chose word TEMPLE as “key” because it appears to be a place of significance
for Jonah’s change of mind.
Mentioned in vss 4 and 7,
the temple . Commentaries abound with thoughts of whether or not Jonah was referring
to the actual brick and mortar temple in Jerusalem, or if to the heavenly
temple of God. Regardless, Jonah’s
prayer conveys the earnest intent of his heart to commune with God, to meet
with Him on holy ground. Not under
condemnation, but fellowship.
Look at the following Psalms
that note “holy temple”. What appears to
be the expectation of the person who looks to the holy temple:
Psalm 5. “holy temple” – vs 7
Psalm 65:1-8 “holy temple” – vs 4
Psalm 42 has bee very near and dear to me. It has been a reminder to me not simply to
allow my present circumstances to have the “final word”. I have often had to have a “conversation
with myself” as this Psalmist did Verse
4 refers to the temple -“the
house of God”. Read the Psalm and list what the writer states he needs to keep in
mind.
(Two commentaries on Psalm 42)
· E.W.Bullinger’s The Companion Bible: When (the Psalmist) wrote this it is evident
his mind was fluctuating between despondency, and hope. What the particular
occasion was, is not expressed; but it is generally believed that it was upon
the rebellion of Absalom, when he was driven away from the house and service of
God. The distress he was in, at this time, is finely and poetically set forth,
aggravated with these three considerations:
(1) His absence from the worship of God in his
tabernacle.
(2) The severe insults and blasphemous reproaches
of his enemies; and,
(3) The sad comparison which he could not but make
between his present miserable circumstances, and those of his former prosperous
and happy state. … The general contents are, He longs for the public
service of God, Psa_42:1-4. Stirs himself up
to trust in God, Psa_42:5-9. Reproached by his
enemies, still hopes in him, Psa_42:10, Psa_42:11.
·
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
…. How often have the people of
God occasion to use the language of this psalm! In a world of trouble and
sorrow such as ours is; in a world where the friends of God have often been,
and may again be, persecuted; in the anguish which is felt from the ingratitude
of children, kindred, and friends; in the distress which springs up in the
heart when, from sickness or from any other cause, we are long deprived of the
privileges of public worship - in exile as it were from the sanctuary - how
imperfect would be a book professing to be a revelation from God, if it did not
contain some such psalm as this, so accurately describing the feelings of those
who are in such circumstances; so adapted to their needs; so well suited to
direct to the true source of consolation! It is this adaptedness of the Bible
to the actual requirements of mankind - this accurate description of the
feelings which pass through our own mind and heart - this constant direction to
God as the true source of support and consolation - which so much endears the
Bible to the hearts of the people of God, and which serves, more than any
arguments from miracle and prophecy - valuable as those arguments are - to keep
up in their minds the conviction that the Bible is a Divine revelation. Psalms
like this make the Bible a complete book, and show that He who gave it “knew what is in man,” and what man needs in this vale of tears.
Day 5 Application
1. What are some of the “lying vanities” - empty
and false beliefs - you’ve observed in life? What have those vanities cost you? What have you forfeited as a result of
entertaining them?
2. Has God called you to sacrifice
anything? What? When? How?
3. Have you made any vows to the Lord you
have yet to fulfill? What?
4. Can we be confident God will hear our
prayers even if we are suffering the consequences of our disobedience? (See FN )
5. Most of us know “someone” who goes
glibly from day to day never giving thought to God’s demands on their
life. Then, they find themselves in the
belly of a great fish and they’re suddenly calling on the name of the Lord. Why do you think some of us – oops! I mean, “some
people”, have to be in danger of drowning before we
remember God?
