Repentance

First Thoughts

1. We don’t know where Jonah was when God came to him the second time, but imagine the journey. Without a doubt, it was a multiple day trek to get there. What would be going through your mind during that long journey if you were Jonah? How would you feel? 
2. How would you define repentance? What does it look like?

Read Jonah 3

Introduction

So, at this point it seems Jonah’s back on track. Pause for a moment. Almost a quarter of the whole Bible is made up of books known as the Prophets. If looking at the Hebrew Tanakh (the Hebrew ordering of the Old Testament), even more would be considered from the Prophets. These crucial parts of Scripture reveal the historic failure of Israel to remain faithful to God’s covenant. The Prophets were covenant watchdogs called to be God’s mouthpieces, declaring covenant blessings that were at risk and even the impending curse of God’s judgement. As we read through the book of Jonah, we have to ask the question, what are the actions, inactions, words, and attitudes of this prophet named Jonah revealing to us? Clearly, it has a different method and intent compared to the typical books of the Prophets. 

Story Reflections

1. Compare Jonah 1:13-16 and Jonah 3:5-9. How are the sailors and the Ninevites similar in their response? How do their actions compare with Jonah’s actions so far?
2. Highlight the words “turn,” “repent,” and “relent” in Jonah 3. In each instance, who is the object of these verbs? What do you think of the idea of God “relenting”? How does it fit with your view of His character? 
3. Read Exodus 32:11-14. This text describes what God was going to do because of the Golden Calf incident. Compare the story of the Israelites to the Ninevites in Jonah. Is God being consistent regardless of the subject of judgment?
4. Count how many words are in Jonah’s proclamation. In Hebrew, it is five words. Why so few words? What does this tell us about what the author wants us to think? What does this tell us about Jonah? Considering the result, what does this reveal to us about God? 
5. Read Matthew 11:20-24. Who are the unrepentant in the Matthew text? How does Jesus react to the unrepentant? What are the differences between the groups Jesus is comparing?
6. Read Luke 11:29-32. How is Jesus comparing Himself to Jonah? What kind of a “sign” is He? 
7. In the same Lukan text, Jesus speaks of the “Queen of the South” (1 Kings 10:1-13) and the “men of Nineveh” (Jonah 3). What did they do that the current evil generation did not? How would you explain the language of “rise up at the judgment”?
8. Have you ever ignored something God impressed on you more than once? Explain.

Choices Ahead

Three main characters are present: God, Jonah, and the Ninevites. Or, generically, God, a representative “believer,” and a representative “enemy.” God, through Jonah, calls the Ninevites on the carpet for their evil (Jonah 1:2). 

From king to beast, yes, everything with a heartbeat was called to mourn, fast, and “turn” in the hopes that God may also “turn,” which is exactly what happened. The entire story has a subtext that is inescapable. 

Jonah got an opportunity to repent. Now Nineveh is given an opportunity to repent, which literally leads to God repenting (the same Hebrew word for “turn” is used to describe both the Ninevites’ and God’s action). God is on a mission to bring all of creation back to Himself. He is offering an open door to all. 

Have you walked through this door? Do you know someone who needs to? Sometimes the people inside the church have forgotten that His grace revealed an open door to them, for the purpose of revealing an open door to others. Think of it like divine chivalry. God holds a doorway to salvation open for us, teaching us to invite others through the same door. How can we be better at this kind of chivalry? Who in our lives should we be leading to this door? Write them down. Pray for them as a group. Whether by fear or lack of concern, repent of your tendency to make them find it on their own.