Lesson # 3

Obadiah & Jonah

Scripture Readings:

Day 1: Obadiah

Day 2: Jonah 1

Day 3: Jonah 2

Day 4: Jonah 3

Day 5: Jonah 4

Obadiah

What do we know about the prophet Obadiah? Not much! This preacher did not relay the funny thing that happened to him on the way to church. He got right to the point, and the point was that Edom was going to be busted! We do know that his name means “servant or worshiper of Jehovah.” Some scholars suggest that Obadiah was the earliest writing prophet of the Old Testament, just before Joel.

1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the ________ ______ concerning ________; We have heard a rumour from the ______, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up ___________ _____ ___ ________. Obadiah 1

2. Was Edom a proud or humble people? Use scripture to support your answer._______

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Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Doesn’t this verse describe Edom perfectly? They must have felt that they were untouchable up there in the clefts of the rock. Because of their pride and complacency, Edom would fall, never to rise again! v.15-16

3. What sort of men was God going to destroy out of Edom? v.8___________________

4. Were the men really wise or were they wise according to the wisdom of this world?

1 Corinthians 1:20 Explain your answer.______________________________________

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5. For thy violence against thy _________ _______ shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou __________ ___ _____ __________ _______, in the day that the _____________ carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and ______ _____ ______ ___________, even thou wast ___ _____ ___ ______. Obadiah 10-11

Not only did Edom refuse to help their brethren, they rejoiced at their calamity!

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.v.12 Have you ever gloated over someone’s misfortune?

6. _________ ____ when thine _______ falleth, and let not thine heart be _______ when he __________: Lest the ______ _____ ___, and it ___________ ____, and he turn away his wrath from him. Proverbs 24:17-18

Obadiah concludes his sermon with judgment for the house of Esau and restoration for the house of Jacob.

7. What judgment was pronounced for Esau/Edom? v.18________________________

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Jonah

We are probably all familiar with the reluctant preacher, Jonah. Just mentioning his name causes children and adults alike to start singing, “Who did, who did, who did, who did, who did swallow Jo-Jo-Jonah!” We learn that Jonah’s name means dove and that he is the son of Amittai. Different from the prophets we’ve read, Jonah is actually a book about Jonah rather than a record of his prophecies.

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:1-3 Can a man run from God? Maybe the saying, “You can run but you cannot hide!” is fitting here. I wonder what Jonah’s thinking was. Did he think, “These people are wicked, surely God will change His mind!” Maybe Jonah did not want to preach to Nineveh because they were Gentiles.

1. Can you think of any New Testament examples of Christians carrying the gospel to the Gentiles?___________________________________________________________

2. What pivotal event caused the apostles to realize that the gospel was for all?_______

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I am starting to think that Jonah was self-centered. God said, “go” and Jonah said, “no!” “I don’t want to. I don’t like those people.” Then Jonah got on a boat and slept! How did he not know that God would come looking for him? How did he not realize that he was putting these sailors in danger? Have you noticed that self-centered people have an unusually high opinion of themselves? The question has come up in reference to prison ministry, “Do they deserve the gospel?” The one asking the question is like Jonah.

3. But ____ _____ _____ as an ________ thing, and all our ___________________ are as _________ ______; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our _____________, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

God sent a terrible storm. Jonah eventually told the sailors to throw him overboard. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Jonah 1:12

So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:15-17

We may have encountered skeptics that claim that Jonah’s narrative is just another fish tale. We may have been skeptical ourselves! I have a few questions for the skeptics: If an evolutionist, how is Jonah’s account more fantastic, improbable or impossible than believing that life came from non-life? If a creationist, why is it difficult to believe that God, who created the heavens and the earth, could prepare the belly of a great fish for Jonah’s temporary prison?

4. Jonah is a real, historical person. Using your concordance, find passages outside of this book that refer to Jonah and list them here:________________________________

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Jonah prays and God answers!

5. Then _______ _________unto the ______ _____ _____ out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine ____________ unto the ______, and ____ _______ ____; out of the belly of hell cried I, and ______ __________ ___ ______. Jonah 2:1-2

6. And the ______ spake unto the _____, and it vomited out _______ upon the dry land. Jonah 2:10

And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. Jonah 3:1-2 This time Jonah obeyed God. He preached that their great city would be overthrown in 40 days. The people repented, even the king! They fasted and wore sackcloth. They cried out to God, gave up their evil practices and turned from their violence. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Jonah 3:10

7. “and God repented of the evil” Jonah 3:10 Look up the word evil in your Strongs. What is the idea here? Was God really going to do evil (like we use the word today) to Nineveh? ______________________________________________________________

8. But it ___________ _______ _____________, and he was ______ _______. And he ________ unto the ______, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a __________ God, and _________, slow to _______, and of _______ _________, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, __ ______, ______, I beseech thee, ____ ______ ______ ____; for it is better for me to die than to live.

Jonah 4:1-3

Picture this: Your preacher just finished preaching a “Gospel meeting.” Everyone repented! Every single person wants to make their lives right with God. This meeting has to be moved outside, next to a large body of water because so many want to be baptized to wash away their sins. Acts 22:16 You would expect that your preacher would be elated. You would expect that he would want to preach that same sermon over and over again, in every city. But instead, you find him sulking! He’s angry. He didn’t think these people were fit for the gospel. He only wanted to preach to the “good people.” He wanted to preach to the people that looked and acted like him. He wanted these people to get what they deserved.

Jonah is comforted by a plant. And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. Jonah 4:6 Jonah’s comfort is shot lived. God sends a worm to destroy the plant and an east wind and scorching sun to beat down on Jonah‘s head. Jonah returns to his pity pot and tells God that he wants to die! God points out that Jonah pities this plant that he did not plant or grow and only lived for a day. He asks Jonah, And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? Jonah 4:11

9. Jonah does not record his answer to God about sparing Nineveh. What do you think his answer might have been? Did he see the light?______________________________

Have a wonderful week!